[DrDIYer]

I am laying marble tile (complete rookie...) and wondering how much waste I should calculate when I order the tile. From what I understand, I want to try to order it all together so it comes from the same lot and will look similar. So, I don't want to overkill it but don't want to come up short either.

I measured my foyer this morning. While there are many curves, I measured what it would be if I took out the curves and made it square, thus overestimating a small bit. I then rounded up each measurement to the next foot.

My tile is 12x12 and is white carrara. I will be cutting each tile so I'm sure I'll botch a couple on the learning curve. I come up with 212 square feet with my overestimated measurements. The professional tile guy estimated 220. Should I go over that? Is it tragic if I have to order more later?

Thanks for the help!

 

[joecaption]

Tile styles and colors change all the time. Make sure you have more then enough, Any left over should be kept for any future repairs that might be needed.

 

[DrDIYer]

Thanks for the feedback. So, if 212 feet is what I really "need" how much would you guys recommend? How many will the average person botch or break cutting or laying? Should I go as high as 250, or is that overkill? Thanks!

 

[ToolSeeker]

Most Pro's allow 10% but as a newbie I might allow 15% unless your putting them on diagonal then add more. Wow you have picked a pretty tough tile for your first job. You know to, use white thin set, and to keep thin grout lines, and do not use a sharpie or magic marker to mark your cuts, and you need a rubbing stone for your cut edges, and marble has a grain so be careful how you lay them or your pattern will not look right. If we can help with any thing else let us know. Good Luck.

 

[DrDIYer]

ToolSeeker et al-Thanks so much for your advice and willingness to help! I am thinking about 250 should be a good number for me.

As for picking a tough first job, yes, I'm probably in over my head but I'll find a way to stay afloat! Am I doing something totally crazy?

With that said, I'm going to learn a lot, but I know very little. I would be very appreciative of any tips, articles I can read, videos I can watch, etc. I have been scouring the internet reading everything I can, but I don't pretend to know what I'm doing yet.

I am in the process of doing a full renovation on our house and am doing some work myself, which I thoroughly enjoy. I think this will be fun and a good skill to acquire. Plus, I have been unable to find a reasonable price quote from a reliable person. I have priced the materials at $1500 or so and there are only ~200 square feet of tile but the quotes I've gotten to lay it have been just under $7000, which from my research is pretty pricey. I figure I can spend $1500 on materials, $1000 on a saw, totally ruin all the tiles, order $1500 more, and still come out ahead $3000 ahead. However, the money isn't the only driving force here....if I can do anything myself I always prefer to do that.

Any direction anyone can provide is very appreciated and if you guys think I'm nuts to even consider this, please let me know.

 

[DannyT]

are you sure your floor will support marble?

why do you need to cut each tile?

 

[DrDIYer]

Well, I am not certain it will support marble but I've had several professionals price the job and they have not raised that as an issue. So, I assume but am open to opinions. Plus, I think there is some work that needs to go into the floor to make sure it is good and stable. There was thick ceramic tile in this room that I removed so there has been heavy tile before.

The reason why I have to cut each tile is because the design we want places a black 2x2 tile in the middle of every group of 4 white carrara tiles. So, every white carrara tile needs one corner clipped. I know it will make the job harder, but that is what we really want and I figure if I get a nice saw and get it set up to make a reproducible cut it shouldn't take that long.

 

[DannyT]

there are many "professionals" (no offense intended to any of the pros on this site) that won't think twice about putting the tile down on a floor that doesn't meet the required deflection for marble. you need the size and unsupported length of the floor joists and the spacing from center to center to calculate that. what is the subfloor made of? most likely you will also need an additional layer of plywood over the existing subfloor to make it stiff enough for marble. hopefully one of the tile pros will chime in with a more detailed description of what is needed for a correct installation. what is on the floor now?

 

[JetSwet]

there are many "professionals" (no offense intended to any of the pros on this site) that won't think twice about putting the tile down on a floor that doesn't meet the required deflection for marble. you need the size and unsupported length of the floor joists and the spacing from center to center to calculate that. what is the subfloor made of? most likely you will also need an additional layer of plywood over the existing subfloor to make it stiff enough for marble. hopefully one of the tile pros will chime in with a more detailed description of what is needed for a correct installation. what is on the floor now?

Not only marble but any tile for that matter.

 

[DrDIYer]

Thanks again for the replies. The short answer is that the floor is also a work in progress and I'm open to suggestions on that as well.

If you guys scroll down 15 threads or so in this forum you'll see a post "Help laying marble floor tile." That is also a thread I started and includes a lot of details about the floor. I posted a lot of information and still need to get more. Instead of restate everything in this thread it may be helpful to keep the posts on in that one. I am most appreciative of any assistance!

 

[ToolSeeker]

I admire your attitude and I think you will do fine. A word of caution "don't over analyze it" you can get too much info. I mean if you had heavy tile on there before and didn't have cracked grout or cracked tiles what would lead you to believe you'll have them now.