Deep Singh

Can someone explain the difference between limestone, porcelain, marble etc. Pros and cons please

ps its for bathrooms

PG

think along these lines:
porcelain = laminate flooring,
limestone = engineered wooden flooring,
marble = solid oak flooring.

Deep Singh

Thanks. Does that mean marble is also high maintenance like solid wood floors? Can you put marble tiles on the wall aswell or is that stupid?

GCollier

Stating the obvious...limestone and marble are both natural stone materials, porcelain is a man-made ceramic. Marble is iirc effectively limestone which has been subject to certain geoligical conditions...high pressure and the like, and it's much harder than limestone.

Both marble and limestone are available in a huge range of different colours and appearances depending on what other minerals were available when they were formed. They're also available in a number of different grades. Do a search on google and you'll find a number of stone merchants in the UK, many of which will send you free samples of their stone.

I've recently had a white moleanas limestone floor and skirting laid in my cloakroom, and it looks very nice indeed. I paid someone to do it - but if you intend to do it yourself you'll need diamond cutting wheels as regular blades just can't get through it.

You can put limestone and marble tiles on walls as well as floors, though for walls you probably want a thinner tile (15mm max). Bear in mind that both materials are very porous and need to be sealed with a proper stone sealant, or they'll just end up looking a mess. Porcelain won't suffer from this potential problem.

For a bathroom I'd invest in some underfloor heating. It's a very nice feeling to step out of the shower/bath onto a lovely warm and natural stone floor

Gary.

Luan Pra bang

marble is also a nightmare to lay properly and should be left to professionals

Deep Singh

Have no intention of laying it myself!!

Gary, once the stone is sealed is that it ie no further major maintenance required? Also any longevity issues or will it outlive me??

Thx
Deep

GCollier

I don't think there's much in the way of ongoing maintenance with a stone floor, other than normal cleaning with a stone floor cleaner. I think they do need re-sealing occasionally though (every few years), and you can get products to strip the sealant off and re-seal if the surface gets badly stained.

In terms of longevity, I think it would outlast several generations, not just you

I did originally intend to lay my floor myself - got the diamond cutting wheels and tools and everything, but had such a painful job gutting the cloakroom and getting rid of the existing cladding and multiple layers of tiles, I decided to leave the installation to the pros.

Gary.

Deep Singh

Thanks mate