Marble. A great stone that associated many with the ancient classical empires. It is found in the richest and best architecture and no classically designed home can go without it. The Romans and Greeks made their pillars from marble to hold up their villas, their artists crafted exquisite pieces of sculpture with it and ever since marble has been associated with refined tastes and culture.

First of all – where does marble come from? Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from regional or, rarely, contact metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks (either limestone or dolomite rock). While this might sound quite difficult, it simply means that the rock changes. Now the point is – how does this rock change. This metamorphism is caused by exceedingly hot temperatures in the ground where the rock is changed into marble, temperatures so hot that any fossils and sedimentary textures in the rock are completely destroyed.

Pure white marble is formed from the change enacted by these scorching hot temperatures in very pure limestones. The characteristic swirls, or veining, found in marble are most commonly due to the mineral impurities originally present in the limestone as layers of smaller grains. Green marble gets it's color from serpentine more often than not.

Marble makes for a very soft tile and when using it the tiler should be very careful when preparing the surface area that the marble floor tiles will be adhered to.  It is imperative that the subfloor is completely even and made of a material that is has very little bounce or flex. If there is a bounce or flex in the subfloor the marble will crack. This is due to it being very brittle. Marble is similar to many ceramics in that it has tough corrosive strength in that you can push on it very hard and very little will happen, but as soon as you bend it even the slightest amount it will show a fault.

That isn't to say that are marbles are fragile. You can find marble that is nearly as durable as porcelain or granite even though it is softer. You have to specially order these types as they are not commonly available. However, all marbles are doomed to ugliness if they are brought into contact with sand or acidic liquids (yes that's right, don't spill lemon juice on your marble floor). If you keep those away from the marble and make sure that your subfloor is made of the proper material then your marble floor tiles can and will last you many many sparkling lovely years.

Which brings us to the final and all important point. Humans have an immense love for beauty and there is rarely anything as beautiful as marble. Having marble tiles in your house makes it look elegant, refined and gives it a sparkling finish. What more do you need?