People often associate marble tiles with classic, white stone that has a cloudy grey swirl. Alternatives for marble floor tiles can include a variety of finishes, measurements, colors, and vein designs.

You may be taken aback to learn that marble is ordinarily fashioned out of sedimentary rocks, including limestone and dolomite. The rocks experience drastic changes in composition and structure when the earth’s crust shifts due to high temperature and pressure, resulting in a strong, recrystallized marble stone. The look of marble can be quite varied, depending on the composition of the sedimentary rock it is derived from and the particular transformation conditions it underwent. No matter what, however, it will typically always feature characteristic curved stripes.

It is useful to understand the various types of marble in order to make sensible choices.

Geographic Origin

Retailers typically assign names to the varied kinds of commercial marble they sell based on the place they are mined from. Marble deposits can be found all around the world, yet most of the marble used in homes as architectural material comes from Italy, Spain, and other locations in southern Europe. The look of the marble typically reveals information about its source. Below is a compilation of the most in-demand varieties of marble and their related quarries.

Carrara Marble

This popular white or pale gray marble featuring delicate gray veining is one of the most faint-hued marbles used for floor tiles. Carrara in the northernmost part of Tuscany, Italy is the origin of the quarrying. Carrara marble is a highly accessible choice due to the abundance of quarries that are actively producing it. It is generally accepted that the vast majority of marble used for residential purposes has been the Carrara variety. As the supplies of Carrara marble are decreasing, alternative varieties of marble are likely to become more popular in the near future.

Calacatta Marble

Calacatta marble has a white hue and is distinguished by its distinct veins that can be anywhere from gray to a golden brown color. Coming from the Apuan Mountains in Carrara, Italy, this is a premium quality stone that can be used in the production of countertops and flooring tiles. It is available in both honed and polished finishes. Calacatta and Carrara marble are both quite similar, but Calacatta has more visible veining. This is an uncommon and pricey variant of marble.

Statuary Marble

This marble is known as Statuario and it originates from the Carrara area of Italy. It distinguishes itself from classic Carrara marble with a lighter background and less distinction in color. The veins found in most materials are generally composed of both lighter and darker shades of gray. This Italian marble is similar to Calacatta, but it is a much more costly and rare form.

Breccia Onicada Marble

Breccia onicada is an Italian quarried marble that features warm, dark tones such as creamy browns and reds. It is used both for countertops and floors. Sometimes, it is viewed as a type of limestone and the patterns in the rock are more intricate than those of the majority of marbles. The phrase “breccia” is used to describe rocks that have a combination of broken pieces and a finer material that holds them together. This jagged, fractured design creates an aesthetically pleasing look for the stone.

Arabescato Orobico Marble

This marble is exceptionally dark with wavy streaks of light grey to brown. This type of marble is of the highest quality and originates from the Brembana Valley in Northern Italy.

Emerador Marble

This marble comes in a range of different brown hues with delicate grain and unique lines. It is quarried from three different regions of Spain. A dark hue is an ideal selection for floors that get a lot of foot traffic, as well as for a fireplace mantle.

Crema Marfil Marble

This beige stone has a creamy texture and a yellow, cinnamon, or golden hue with subtle darker veins. Sometimes, it is promoted and sold as a variety of limestone, just like Onicada Breccia. It is quarried in Spain.

Beautiful marbles can be found from Turkey, Greece, and other places. These could be costly, however they could come in exceptional shades, like a rich crimson or emerald.

Surface Finish

Different surface styles can be used to finish marble tile. The four most prevalent types of marble treatments are a high-gloss polish, a matte honed look, the antique surface of tumbled, and the brushed texture.

Polished Marble

The appealing feature of a marble floor is that it can be polished to a very high standard. It’s possible to polish the material until it shines brightly and feels completely smooth to the touch. Marbles that have lighter color will give off a sort of luminescence when polished tiles are placed on them, the light from the room being able to seep slightly into the rock and bounce off in a gentle glow.

There are several drawbacks to polished marble floors. They are very slippery, especially in wet environments. They are prone to damage and this will be particularly apparent when illuminated in bright light. Blemishes are more apparent in dark, single-toned marble surfaces compared to lighter or multi-hued tiles.

Honed Marble

The marble is ground down until it is flat and velvety, yet not to the point where it is slippery and shiny. These tiles permit you to enjoy the allure of marble without being worried about slips.

Marble that has been fine-tuned typically does not have the same vividness of hue as a shiny, fully polished rock. The end result still has a low amount of friction, causing it to be slippery, and it can be damaged if one does not handle it carefully.

Tumbled Marble

Marble tiles are made by spinning them around in a drum filled with rocks, sand, and other materials, which give them chips, scratches, and rounded corners. The resulting tiles have a rustic, natural look. Tumbled marble has a great texture that makes it perfect for bathroom showers since the end result reduces the chance of slipping.

Each piece of tumbled marble is slightly different. The tiles may all be around the same size, but their shapes will be slightly different, and not all of them can be expected to be a precisely rectangular square or have an unvarying texture. The appealing aspect of honed materials is their unevenness.

Brushed Marble

The surface of marble tile is rubbed using abrasives until a worn and aged appearance is produced. The brushing technique creates a surface that has small holes and needs to be coated frequently so that it cannot get stained. The floor ought to be wiped down often since dust usually accumulates in the crevices of the texture.

Other Different Types of Marble

Arabescato Marble

  • Arabescato 1: an off-white and white type of marble with swirls of dark-brown and black throughout.
  • Arabescato Arni: similar to the Arabescato 1, but the swirls are much darker in color.
  • Arabescato Carrera: similar to the Arabescato 1, but the white and off-white parts are a little larger and look like shapes in some areas.
  • Arabescato Faniello: this version has very subtle swirls and stripes, and the off-white parts of the marble are more pronounced, showing very little, if any, white in the design.
  • Arabescato Fantasia: more white than any other color, with subtle swirls of dark-brown and black.
  • Arabescato Fantastico: this version is almost all off-white, almost yellow-like, and it has patches of the dark-brown color in it.
  • Arabescato Mossa: white and off-white like the Arabescato 1, but the dark-brown and black areas are more pronounced and noticeable.
  • Arabescato Rosso Orobico: this one is quite different from the other Arabescato versions because it is mostly light- and dark-brown, along with swirls of burgundy and black; in addition, there is very little off-white and no white in this version.
  • Arabescato Vagli: this one is almost solid white and has swirls of black in it, giving it quite a unique look.

Azul/Azzuro/Bardiglio/Beola/Nero Marbles

  • Azul Cielo: this marble is a beautiful shade of medium-blue and has white splotches throughout it.
  • Azul Macaubas: this marble is light-blue and has dark-blue streaks throughout it.
  • Azzuro Aquamarina: with a variegated light-blue and white design, this is a must-have for lovers of the color blue.
  • Bardiglio Bluette: this marble has various shades of a brownish-grey, which is a beautiful and neutral color that many people love.
  • Bardiglio Imperiale Chiaro: an almost solid brownish-grey color highlighted by subtle dark markings throughout.
  • Bardiglio Imperiale Scuro: this marble is a dark greyish-brown color and has stripes and markings of a darker color.
  • Bardiglio Nuvolato: this is a marble with various shades of plum and has off-white/white markings throughout it.
  • Bardiglio Nuvolato Apuano: this one has streaks of various shades of grey and a little off-white, and it is quite an eye-catcher.
  • Bardiglio Scuro: this marble is dark greyish-brown in color and has subtle white markings throughout it.
  • Beola Bianca: a light brownish-white marble with darker markings that look like dots and some stripes.
  • Beola Grigia: this one has a beige background and is covered in large and small splotches in dark-brown and black.
  • Beola Verde: a two-toned marble with colors of brownish-gold and off-white.
  • Nero Belgio: a solid black marble with no markings or other colors.
  • Nero Marquina: a striking contrast of a dark-red/burgundy background and stripes and markings in white.

Bianco Carrara Marble

  • Bianco Carrara 1: a neutral-toned marble of beige and light-brown.
  • Bianco Carrara 2: very similar to the first one, but with a few subtle differences.
  • Bianco Carrara 3: this marble is light-beige with very few markings on it.
  • Bianco Carrara 4: this marble is medium-brown and has markings of a darker brown color.
  • Bianco Carrara 5: similar to the first one, but its splotches are larger and more pronounced.
  • Bianco Carrara C: medium-beige throughout, this marble has a few subtle streaks of a darker brown.
  • Bianco Carrara C-D 1: this marble has medium-beige and light-beige throughout and subtle markings of a medium- to dark-brown color.
  • Bianco Carrara C-D 2: this one is similar to C-D 1, but it is a tad darker.
  • Bianco Carrara D: a little lighter in color, this marble has off-white and beige colors throughout, with markings of medium- to dark-brown colors.
  • Bianco Carrara Extra: this marble is a very light off-white color and has medium-brown markings throughout it.
  • Bianco Carrara Venato: this one is a bit different than the others, because it is a striking white color and has streaks that are dark-brown or black in color.

Bianco Statuario Marble

  • Bianco Statuario Carrara 1: a very subtle marble that is almost all white except for a few subtle markings of a medium-brown color.
  • Bianco Statuario Carrara 2: similar to number 1, but its markings are yellow instead of brown.
  • Bianco Statuario Extra: this marble looks similar to puffs of clouds and has an off-white color and a few medium-brown markings.
  • Bianco Statuario Mossa: a beige marble with a few darker markings.
  • Bianco Statuario Venato: this marble looks like cotton and is colored white with dark markings throughout.

Botticino/Breccia/Calacatta Marbles

  • Botticino Classico: in a beautiful shade of medium-brown/beige, this marble also has markings of light-yellow and medium-brown throughout.
  • Botticino Fiorito: similar to the Classico, but the markings are larger and more pronounced.
  • Breccia Aurora Classica: this is a very busy marble with various shades of brown, beige, off-white, and yellow.
  • Breccia Dorada: this marble is very dark and consists of colors of dark-brown and deep-orange.
  • Breccia Oniciata: this one consists of off-white and medium-brownish orange colors; subtle but attractive.
  • Breccia Pernice Rossa: another busy marble with colors of dark-brown, dark-beige, chocolate-brown, and a little bit of off-white.
  • Calacatta: a beautiful, neutral-toned marble of off-white and markings of medium- to dark-brown.
  • Calacatta Crestola Tedeschi 1: another neutral-toned marble of off-white with markings of medium-brown and black.
  • Calacatta Crestola Tedeschi 2: similar to Tedeschi 1, except this one’s markings are a little darker.
  • Calacatta Fantasia: an off-white marble with markings of a dark-brown/black color.
  • Calacatta Grey: a greyish-white marble with light-brown, very subtle markings throughout.
  • Calacatta Imperiale: this marble is off-white, medium-brown, and has streaks of a darker color throughout it.
  • Calacatta Oro: a subtle marble with a whitish-beige color and medium-brown markings.
  • Calacatta Vagli: a unique marble; this one is a medium-brown and has splotches that are quite large and circular, and lighter in color than the background.
  • Calacatta Vagli Extra: this one is similar to the Vagli, but it is dark-brown in color.
  • Calacatta Vagli Rosata: a unique mixture of medium-brown and off-white colors with splotches of dark-brown/black throughout it.

Verde Marble

  • Verde Acceglio: this marble consists of dark- and medium-olive green and white stripes and subtle markings throughout.
  • Verde Aver: this marble consists of a dark grass-green color and white markings throughout.
  • Verde Guatemala: variegated colors that include various shades of green and white splotches throughout.
  • Verde Issorie: a medium-green marble with white markings throughout; it almost looks like a map of the mountains.
  • Verde Laguna: this marble is a brownish-olive green color and has tiny markings of white throughout it.
  • Verde Malachite: this one is bright-green in color and has subtle markings of dark-green and off-white.
  • Verde Oriente: this one is dark-green, almost black in color, and has markings of light-green throughout it.
  • Verde Patrizia: this one has a green color that is so dark it looks black, and it has markings of a little lighter color throughout it.
Jonathan
Author: Jonathan