Thailands Marble and Granite

[dirtydog]

Marble and Granite are really cheap in Thailand, this grey marble in Salaburi in 30cm by 30 cm slabs is about 250baht per square meter to buy, now the cheapest grade "A" ceramic tiles are going to cost 180baht per meter and they haven't got the class of marble.

The only problem with marble is that it stains easily, ie soap, booze etc will stain it as it is slightly pourous.

They also do this grey marble in 10cm by 20cm slabs, but that does look a bit bitty and there is a lot of color variation, these cost 100baht per square meter, the most commonly used size is 30cm by 60cm at 450baht per square meter.

The slabs vary in thickness so cement is used to lay marble, also your base floors wont be level anyway so it's cement and sand to stick these down.

Thailand also imports granite and marble from Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Africa and Italy, obviously all the imported stuff is bloody expensive, a differant marble tomorrow

[Gerbil]

Hmmmm.... Thinking of replacing my downstairs ceramic tiles with granite or marble. How do you get the old tiles up though?

[dirtydog]

We use a jack hammer, but as they cost about 13,000baht most Thais will use a hammer and coal chisel.

[Thetyim]

If it's porous and stains easily what would you advise for kitchen work surfaces.

[dirtydog]

Granite of course

[Gerbil]

We use a jack hammer, but as they cost about 13,000baht most Thais will use a hammer and coal chisel.

Hmmm.. It's going to be messy

[Thetyim]

How much are granite tiles, what sizes and can you get a light coloured type
I have only seen dark granite

[dirtydog]

Hmmm, Granite is for next week..... Oh well...
With both marble and granite the bigger the slab size you buy the more expensive it is per square meter, this granite is reasonably light colored, mid greys with cream and black speckles, a square meter in 40cm by 80cm slabs is 550baht per square meter, with kitchen counter top you pay per meter length, ie you may need a 2 meter piece and a 3 meter piece, using this granite which is about the cheapest it would cost to buy about 2,500baht per meter length, obviously then you have to pay for the front edge to be rounded off, also the cut outs you need to fit your sink and hobs etc.

[Thetyim]

Must admit I think the marble looks a lot better.

Is the staining a serious problem ?
If we avoid red wine and beetroot would that be OK
Why is soap a problem ?

[dirtydog]

You can protect marble from stains with some sort of wax, not sure how often it needs redoing though, how bout some nice black granite, this is all imported from Africa and China, think Vietnam has it too, buying it by the meter in 60cm by 60cm slabs it will cost a bit under 6,000baht, buying it by the meter length a bit more than that

[Spin]

most Thais will use a hammer and coal chisel.

Typical of them. Making a chisel out of coal is foolish, it's far too brittle and is more suited to burning in fires.
Smart westerners like DD use a cold chisel, these are made of cold forged high-carbon steel and will do the job nicely.

[dirtydog]

Back to marble, this one I don't like as the patterns are too pronounced and there is too much difference in each slab, 30 by 30cms slabs go for less than 300baht per square meter.



30 by 60 cms slabs about 500baht per square meter.

[Dougal]

If you come across this type DD can you let me know the price?



We aren't laying them on the floor, this is just to enable the tiler to find slabs with reasonably matching patterns.

[dirtydog]

Oh Dear, i think you will find that they are 600baht per square meter, now I am not saying Oh Dear about the price, have a little dig on one slab where the white bits are, yep alas that is wood filler, very soft and easy to dig out, ie very powdery, imagine how long it lasts when you mop the floor once per week try the smallish round areas first and work your way out till you have dug it all out, thats how your floor will look in a few years

[Gerbil]

So, can you nail the black stuff on the ceiling or not?

It may sound strange, but I actually have a valid reason for asking this, believe it or not

[daveboy]

^
Maybe you should pm him

[tango]

I use Bosny "LiquidWax", 'for marble and stone', and it does the job of protecting out marble-topped table. Price forgotten, comes in a rectangular, metal, 1 liter container, yellow with orange band top and bottom. Bought at a local hardware store in CMai. For your info. Cheers....

[dirtydog]

Some nice marble and granite designs you can use to highlight your floor.

[dirtydog]

[dirtydog]

[dirtydog]

[NickA]

Are there any extra difficulties in laying a granite/marble floor as opposed to a tiled floor?

[dirtydog]

The laying of marble and granite on the floor is the same for tiles on the floor, just the cutting is differant, marble and granite are thicker and need to be kept cool, so we use these beasties, you can see on the bottom right a small nozzle and lever, this is connected to a rubber tube and you gravity feed water through it to run onto the cutting wheel.

[flash]

No real added difficulties, you will need a wet saw, as for stains I use a stain guard that you put on 24 hours before grouting and then another coat 24 hours after grouting. Its expensive but it works well.

[NickA]

^What I mean is, will the average Thai worker do a proper job of laying marble/granite or do you need a specialist?