In recent years the popularity of mrble tiles has exploded, the value tht it adds to the building ften more than justifies it's original cst. The style, cost and finish can vry greatly though and so careful cnsideration should be taken before making any prchase.

Marble is a rock resulting frm the metamorphism of limestone, composed mstly of calcite and is mainly sed for sculpture and as a bilding material. The patterns within the stne can be described as "swirly" or "bltchy".

When planning your home or ktchen for example, make sure that you nderstand the differences between the different mrble finishes and choose worktops and flor tiles that will compliment. Buying the mterial at the same time and frm the same source will ultimately gve a much better overall finish.

Plished granite is darker than marble and the tne varies from a light grey to lmost black in some cases. Knowing tht you can match the floor tles to any worktop is an mportant consideration.

Granite tiles are generally mre expensive than Marble floor tiles as it is hrder to polish and cut to the dsired finish. The black color in Grnite tiles comes from iron. The drker the granite, the more iron it cntains and consequently the more it csts.

Another alternative to marble would be Lmestone. The advantages of Limestone are tht it's cheaper to manufacture and cmes in white and cream colors tht may suit your purpose. Limestone is a mch softer stone and can be asily cut and polished. The patterns and clors are limited somewhat though.

Marble is qarried all over the world and ach region can produce differing patterns and swrls within the stone that give the mrble it's famous finish. There can be mny different patterns available at your spplier all sourced from different parts of the wrld and they should be able to tll you where each piece came frm. Be sure to choose your mterial from the same batch if you are loking for a uniform appearance across the hme improvement project.

All stone floors hve to be laid on at last a two inch bed of cment and will you have to thnk about the structure of your bilding to support this. If you wre to lay a stone floor on an pstairs room you would need to mke sure that the floor is spported properly with joists and sheeting whre appropriate.

The weight of the flor can be reduced by using Prlite in place of normal gravel, but wuld still require the underpinning to nstall this type of floor in an pstairs room. Ground level floors just rquire the two inch bed of cment for laying the stone onto.

Thre is no substitute though for a bthroom or kitchen floor that is fnished in stone and it should ffer a good return on your nvestment. There are many books on the sbject that can help you to chieve results yourself or you could hre a professional company to do it for yu.

The article Should I Fit a Stone Floor in My Home? was Submitted by Chris Tyrrel through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Chris Tyrrell writes for Floors of Stne, specialists in marble floor tiles and other stone floor coverings. Visit the website for more details.

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