I purchased some "made in china" marble tile from big box store, .size is
12 x 12 x 3/8 25 @ $2.00. I'm liking the price, and they look good,
but now am concerned the quality may not be so great.........I reached to
pick up one tile that was sitting on the counter.... and the corner broke
off in my hand...........they are a little heavy and I guess that when I
tried to pick up by the one corner it put too much stress on it???????????
I have very little experience with tile so not sure if this is unusual or
this is poor quality tile?

?
wrote in message
...
I purchased some "made in china" marble tile from big box store, .size is
12 x 12 x 3/8 25 @ $2.00. I'm liking the price, and they look good,
but now am concerned the quality may not be so great.........I reached to
pick up one tile that was sitting on the counter.... and the corner
broke
off in my hand...........they are a little heavy and I guess that when I
tried to pick up by the one corner it put too much stress on it???????????
I have very little experience with tile so not sure if this is unusual or
this is poor quality tile?

Sounds like it was not handled very well in shipping. Stress cracks don't
always show, but they give no warning either, just fall apart. Check the
box for evidence of a shock. Could have been dropped, whacked with a fork
lift, etc. Are they all breaking in the same place?

On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 06:31:38 GMT, wrote:

I purchased some "made in china" marble tile from big box store, .size is
12 x 12 x 3/8 25 @ $2.00. I'm liking the price, and they look good,
but now am concerned the quality may not be so great.........I reached to
pick up one tile that was sitting on the counter.... and the corner broke
off in my hand...........they are a little heavy and I guess that when I
tried to pick up by the one corner it put too much stress on it???????????
I have very little experience with tile so not sure if this is unusual or
this is poor quality tile?

Marble isn't very strong. I don't think it's a good choice for tile but once
it's up it might be OK on a fireplace.

On Feb 20, 1:31*am, wrote:
I purchased some "made in china" *marble tile from big box store, .size is
12 x 12 x 3/8 * *25 @ $2.00. * I'm liking the price, *and they look good,
but now am concerned the quality may not be so great.........I reached to
pick up one tile that was sitting *on the counter.... and the *corner broke
off in my hand...........they are a little heavy and I guess *that when I
tried to pick up by the one corner it put too much stress on it???????????
I have very little experience with tile so not sure if this is unusual or
this is poor quality tile? *

Chinese marble has some known deficiencies. Obviously there's a
reason that the tile is so cheap. The worst thing that could happen
would be for you to install the tile and have it crack. In that case
it wouldn't matter if you got the tile for free, or they _paid_ you $2
a tile, you still wouldn't be happy looking at it every day. Cut your
losses and return the stuff.

Some of the Chinese marble actually deforms when someone tries to use
the typical water-based thinset to set the tile. If it's that sort of
tile, and it's going on a floor where the edge discrepancy would be an
issue, epoxy thinset is the way to go. Probably not an issue for your
fireplace.

R

On Feb 20, 1:31*am, wrote:

I have very little experience with tile so not sure if this is unusual or
this is poor quality tile?

Some tile has to be handled gingerly, but 12x12x3/8" seems it should
be sturdy enough to pick up by a corner.

I'd give a few pieces a twist from each set of diagonal corners. Tile
damaged in shipping generally all bust similarly. If they hang
together, I'd set 'em.
-----

- gpsman

On Feb 21, 9:10*am, gpsman wrote:
On Feb 20, 1:31*am, wrote:



I have very little experience with tile so not sure if this is unusual or
this is poor quality tile?

Some tile has to be handled gingerly, but 12x12x3/8" seems it should
be sturdy enough to pick up by a corner.

I'd give a few pieces a twist from each set of diagonal corners. *Tile
damaged in shipping generally all bust similarly. *If they hang
together, I'd set 'em.

The standard tile/slate test is to rap it with your knuckles. If it
has a dull thud sound, it's an imperfect piece with hidden cracks. It
should almost ring when you hit it. Pennsylvania black slate is
notorious for hidden fault lines - it's called 'ribbon' slate by some
because of those lines. Unfortunately they're not always visible, but
you can always hear them.

R

Thanks for advise.........I will return the the marble tile and go with a
natural stone tile.