The marble counter in my bathroom is badly stained and the stains can’t be removed. Can I tile over it and what’s the best way to do this?
you could but I would assume that there might be a product capable of lessening the stains or at the least uniformly staining and sealing the entire slab again, to hide the stains. I say this because I really like marble and it would be more valuable than the tile over it.
But, in order to tile over it, you would want to thoroughly rough the surface of the marble with a tool like a side grinder, with a stone cutting blade. Uniformly creating a rough surface on the marble top would be easy by moving the spinning blade across the counter top in a side-to-side motion. But be careful! Side grinders are very powerful, and when the blade is spinning it is capable of easily cutting through bone, and it will quickly pull in any fabric that it touches (i.e. shirt sleeve). So, once the top is roughed, I would then make shallow vertical cuts in a grid like fashion on the counter top, about 4-6" apart and about 1/16"-1/8" deep, to receive the mortar when I install the new tile. I would then proceed as normal with the new tile installation, as if I were doing it over a cement board.
March 30th, 2010 at 1:05 am
you could but I would assume that there might be a product capable of lessening the stains or at the least uniformly staining and sealing the entire slab again, to hide the stains. I say this because I really like marble and it would be more valuable than the tile over it.
But, in order to tile over it, you would want to thoroughly rough the surface of the marble with a tool like a side grinder, with a stone cutting blade. Uniformly creating a rough surface on the marble top would be easy by moving the spinning blade across the counter top in a side-to-side motion. But be careful! Side grinders are very powerful, and when the blade is spinning it is capable of easily cutting through bone, and it will quickly pull in any fabric that it touches (i.e. shirt sleeve). So, once the top is roughed, I would then make shallow vertical cuts in a grid like fashion on the counter top, about 4-6" apart and about 1/16"-1/8" deep, to receive the mortar when I install the new tile. I would then proceed as normal with the new tile installation, as if I were doing it over a cement board.
References :
I am an experienced tile setter, but have never actually done an install over marble. I am however confident in the method I have outlined.