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Marble Flooring Cost per Square Foot

There are many different types of marble flooring. They come in several colors, types, sizes, and finishes and have a very wide range of costs. Marble costs between $3 and $50 a square foot for the material, depending on the color and type. Each stone has cost variations due to grade, size, and finish, so it can be difficult to determine your final cost until you select the exact marble you want. Below are some of the average cost ranges for installing marble flooring in different-sized rooms:

Marble Flooring Cost by Type

Marble categorizes a broad range of stones. Many of these are calcium/calcite-based, while others are metamorphic but still a calcium-based stone. They all have similar characteristics that lend them toward this grouping. Depending on the marble type, some work better than others in particular areas:

White Marble Flooring Cost

White marble is very popular for floors. It may be a true marble, quartzite, or dense and highly polished limestone, depending on the color. White marble is rarely completely white, the only truly white “marble” is a quartzite called Thassos. Other white marbles may have a white or light gray background with gray or gold veining. If you choose this marble, keep in mind that it may “stun” if struck. High-heeled shoes, sharp impacts from dropped objects, or heavy boots can leave an unremovable bruise in the marble. This shows up as a whiter mark against the rest of the floor. White marble costs between $3 and $10 a square foot, depending on the color.

True Marble Flooring

True marble is a metamorphosed limestone. It does not contain quartz, serpentine, or other materials. It is harder than limestone, more durable, and made of calcite. True marble can be many colors but is most often white, gray, black, gold, or a combination. It can etch if it comes in contact with an acid, meaning the finish may be stripped off. It is also porous and can stain, so it needs to be sealed regularly. True marble costs between $5 and $20 a square foot on average.

Green Marble Flooring

Green marble is not actually marble. It is a mixture of serpentine and calcite, and while it is a metamorphic stone, it behaves differently. Green marble’s serpentine content can spall or become scaly and flaky if it absorbs water. It must be installed with an epoxy-based setting material and sealed regularly. It is more durable and less likely to stain and etch, so it holds up well long-term when installed and sealed properly. Prices range from $5 to $20 a square foot on average.

Breccia Flooring

Breccia is a beautiful, unique, and highly unusual stone. It is not marble, but it may be called one. It is a mixture of several stones together. Some of the stones may be metamorphic, and some may be igneous or sedimentary. Breccias are considered sedimentary rocks, but because they can contain harder stones, they are more durable. They can have a high polish and are often beautiful shades of pink, red, and gold. Expect costs to range from $10 to $30 a square foot.

Quartzites

Many quartzites are labeled as marbles. Quartzite is a metamorphic stone, it is made of metamorphic quartz rather than calcite. This gives the quartzite superior durability and stain resistance and a glittery appearance. Azul Celeste, Thassos, and Ajax are all quartzites that are sold as marbles. They are much more durable, although they may have similar veining and coloration. Quartzites cost $10 to $30 a square foot.

Limestone Marble Flooring

Limestone is a sedimentary stone made of calcite. Many marbles start out as limestone and are transformed with heat and pressure. Most limestones are soft, cannot be polished, and do not do well long-term on flooring. However, some limestones are hard enough to hold a polish and can be used as flooring. These are called limestone marbles and include Jerusalem Stone and Crema Luna. Prices range from $10 to $30 a square foot on average.

Onyx Flooring

Onyx is a different looking stone, but it is chemically a marble. Onyx comes in many colors, from gold to red to green to blue, and all can have great swirling veins and mixed colors. Onyx is unique because it is translucent. If you hold a piece to the light, you can see through it. Onyx must be installed on a white smoothed-out setting material because shadows and darker setting materials can be seen through it. Onyx costs between $15 and $50 a square foot on average.

Marble Flooring Price by Color

Within marbles, several colors are more popular and readily available than others:

Bianco Carrara Marble Flooring

Bianco Carrara is one of the most well-known marbles. It is quarried in Carrara, Italy and has been shipped all over the world for decades. This is a white to light gray stone with a darker gray vein. This vein may be thick or thin, diffuse, or pronounced, depending on the lot. Carrara contains a high iron content, so it may rust when exposed to water. It costs $5 to $7 a square foot on average.

Botticino Marble Flooring

Botticino is also an Italian stone, ranging from beige to taupe. It has a thick white vein with a marshmallow cream appearance, but sometimes it can be thinner. If it is cut across the slab, it becomes Botticino Fiora, and the veins turn into tiny white clumps resembling flowers. This stone ranges from $5 to $8 a square foot.

Crema Marfil Marble Flooring

Crema Marfil is often prized for its color. This stone is a true, creamy beige with subtle brown and white veins. It may look mottled or have a solid background with slight veins. Crema Marfil is prone to fissures on the stone’s surface. Polished Crema Marfil often does not show these fissures, but honing or tumbling brings them out. Crema Marfil costs $8 to $10 a square foot.

Ming Green Marble Flooring

Ming Green is a beautiful serpentine marble. This stone ranges from light blue-green to light yellow-green. Both can have white veins or a swirling white mottled appearance. Like all serpentines, Ming Green can spall. When this happens, the stone develops a scaly texture like a snake. Install it with epoxy-based setting materials and grouts to avoid this. Ming Green prices range from $10 to $12 a square foot.

Calacatta Marble Flooring

Calacatta is a white marble with a very bright white background. It has both gray and gold veins of varying amounts. Some Calacattas are prized for being very white with subtle veins, but others have more gold. These may be known as Calacatta White or Calacatta Gold, depending on the color predominance. Calacatta stuns easily, so it should not be used in high-traffic areas. It costs between $10 and $20 a square foot.

Nero Marquina Marble Flooring

Nero Marquina is a Spanish marble with a very striking appearance. This is a black marble with dramatic white veins. Each tile may have just a few veins or be covered in them. This marble is unique because it contains no other colors beyond black and white, so the veins stand out sharply. It is a popular flooring for bathrooms and foyers to make a statement. Expect costs of $10 to $20 a square foot.

Emperador Marble Flooring

Emperador marble can be classified into two categories - Emperador Dark and Emperador Light. Both are brown stones with black and white veins. Emperador Dark is a very deep, dark brown rich color, making the veins stand out sharply. Emperador Light is a milk chocolate color with more subtle veining. They can be used alone or together to create dynamic floors. Emperador marble costs between $10 and $20 a square foot.

Thassos Marble Flooring

Thassos is a Greek stone with a bright white color and glittery texture. Thassos is often called marble, but it is actually quartzite. Thassos is one of the only pure white stones with grade A Thassos containing no other colors. Some lower grades of Thassos contain minor gray veining. Despite its bright white color, Thassos resists staining and stunning better than other white marbles. Expect costs between $15 and $20 a square foot.

Azul Celeste Marble Flooring

Azul Celeste or “Blue Sky” is also a quartzite. This is a very light blue stone with the same glittering texture as Thassos. It may have white, gray, or gold veining, depending on the lot, and may vary in and between each piece. The bluer the color, the higher the stone’s cost. This is a very durable stone that does well long term in all areas. It costs between $15 and $30 a square foot on average.

Marble Floor Design Patterns

Flooring patterns with marble are more limited than other tile types. The majority of marbles are available in 12” square tiles. Like Bianco Carrara, some more common tiles are available in many other sizes, such as 3”x6”, 6”x6”, 6”x12”, and 12”x24”. You can have your installer cut a 12” tile into smaller tiles and shapes to achieve different patterns, but this increases the project’s cost by about 25%. Any pattern other than a straight-set requires 10% to 20% more material to achieve and costs between 10% and 20% more to install. A straight-set Bianco Carrara floor may cost $2,800, while the same floor in a diamond pattern may cost $3,360. The most common flooring patterns for marble floors include:

Straight-Set

A straight-set floor pattern is square tiles set in straight lines. This is one of the most common types of flooring layouts and the easiest and least expensive to install. This pattern starts with a full tile in the center of the wall farthest from the door you enter the room from and moves outward evenly. Straight-set patterns may have a border set one tile in or be combined with other patterns, such as straight-set for two rows around the room, followed by a border, and tiles set in a diamond pattern in the center of the border.

Diamond Marble Flooring

In a diamond pattern, square tiles are turned at a 45-degree angle. This is a good pattern for long, thin rooms and hallways because it draws the eye to the corners and makes the area seem wider. It is also a nice pattern to place in the center of a border to create a dramatic flooring effect. The diamond pattern requires cuts on nearly every tile on the perimeter of the room. This increases the amount of material and labor involved.

Step

Step patterns are made of two different sizes of tile, one large and one small. Ideally, the smaller tile is at least half of the larger size, but it can be much smaller such as a 12” and 2” tile. In this pattern, the large tile is set straight, and the small tile is set at the top of it, so it appears that the small tile is stepping off the larger. The entire pattern moves diagonally in rows across the floor. This is a good pattern to use if you want to combine two marble colors, such as Bianco Carrara and Ming Green.

Cut-Corner

A cut-corner pattern is a classic, traditional marble floor pattern usually using two colors and sizes. One to four corners are cut off the larger tiles, and the smaller tiles are installed in their place. An octagon-and-dot pattern is an example of a cut corner, where the corners have been clipped to turn a square tile into an octagon, with small tiles at each corner. This pattern looks best with light and dark tiles, such as Crema Marfil and Nero Marquina.

Running Bond

A running bond is an offset tile pattern. It can be made with either square or rectangular tiles. The first row is laid straight, and the second row starts with half a tile, followed by full tiles, so the grout lines are offset by half a tile across the floor. When this pattern is laid out in rectangular tiles, it becomes a “subway” pattern. This pattern works best in modern homes, particularly if you use oversized 12”x24” marble tiles.

Herringbone Marble Tile Floor

A herringbone floor is usually made up of smaller, rectangular tiles, either 3”x6” or 6”x12”. This is a very decorative floor pattern, good for installing inside borders to create a statement in foyers and entryways. The rectangular tiles are laid at angles to one another, creating the classic herringbone look. Not all marbles come in 3”x6” or 6”x12”, so many installers cut the tiles to these sizes, increasing the project’s cost.

Mosaic Marble Flooring

Any tile measuring 2” or smaller is considered a mosaic. Most marbles are available in ⅝” mosaics installed in 12” sheets. They may also be put together to create decorative and innovative patterns with multiple colors. This can create a mural or medallion, and each color and pattern of stone has custom pricing.

Marble Floor Finish

Not all marble tiles are available in all finishes. The default finish for marble tiles is polished, but some more popular marbles come in other finishes. Extremely popular marbles like Bianco Carrara are often found in all finishes. Stones like Crema Marfil that do not handle honing or tumbling may only be found in polished finishes. The full range of marble tile finishes include:

Polished Marble Floor Tile

Polished is the default finish for stone tiles and marble. In a polished finish, the surface of the marble is ground until it has a glossy finish. Polished marble reflects light, disguising minor imperfections like pits and fissures. This finish also brightens the space they are installed in, making dark or smaller rooms seem brighter and larger. The stone must have a certain strength to hold a polish, so many limestones cannot be polished because they are too soft.

Honed Marble Floor Tile

A honed finish is a flat, matte surface finish. Many marbles are available with a hone, but honing shows off faults or issues in the stone’s surface. Pits and fissures not visible under a polish are suddenly very apparent. Fragile stones should not be honed. Some stones may also receive a “high-hone” finish. This finish is between honed and polished. Limestones that cannot be polished are sometimes given a high hone to give them a slight sheen.

Tumbled Marble Floor

Tumbling involves putting the marble tiles into a drum with pieces of concrete and sand. The tumbling action rounds the corners of the stone and antiques the finish. Tumbled marble has visible fissures and pits and occasionally broken corners. Because large tiles may break during the process, some stones are only available tumbled in smaller sizes. If you find larger tumbled stones, they are often much more expensive. Tumbling dulls the stone’s surface, making it lighter. To return the stone to its brighter color, a color-enhancing sealer must be applied.

Chiseled Marble Floor

Chiseled finishes are less common. This finish starts with a honed surface tile. The edges are antiqued, often by hand, giving the tile the appearance of a tumbled edge. Some larger tiles that cannot survive tumbling may be chiseled to get the rustic appearance. Unlike tumbling, chiseling does not dull the stone’s color, so a color-enhancing sealer is unnecessary.

Flamed Marble Floor

A flamed marble floor has a rough sandpaper-like texture. Not all stones are available flamed, but it is a common finish for green marbles like Ming Green. This technique heats the stone until the top layers flake away, resulting in a rough but even surface. The heat strips off the weaker particles of the stone, so only the hardest parts remain. Flamed marble is less likely to etch or show wear over time.

Tuscan Marble Floor

Many popular marbles can be found with a Tuscan finish, a softly undulating surface covered in wax. This makes the tile soft and smooth underfoot and requires less maintenance. Tuscan stones are pre-sealed before they are waxed, so they do not require regular sealing. The Tuscan finish does not have sharp, clean edges but softer corners and edges. This finish is available in many sizes, from mosaic up to 16”.

Marble Flooring Installation Cost

In many ways, marble tiles install like other materials. The installation begins with a dry fit or dry layout. With marble, it is recommended that several boxes of tile be opened at once, and the installer should mix tiles from different boxes to get an even color distribution. Taking too many tiles from one box could lead to a color clump. By blending during the dry fit, it ensures an even installation.

The tiles are cut to fit the installation during the dry fit, then taken up in the reverse order.

Marble should always be installed using a white latex additive thinset, unless the marble is green, in which case epoxy should be used. Otherwise, the marble installs like other tiles. If large-format tiles are used, back buttering and beating in are needed. If mosaics are used, then smoothing of the key marks is necessary.

Once the marble is installed, 24 hours need to pass before grouting. The marble should be sealed before grouting to prevent staining.

Marble has several extra steps in the installation process, including the dry fit and sealing, so labor costs are usually higher for marble. It is common for marble installation to cost around $9 per square foot. So, for a 200 sq.ft. foyer installation, the labor portion of the cost is approximately $1,800.

Classification

Like all flooring materials, marble is divided into classifications to know if the material is of good quality or meant for a specific use.

Stones are given a grade of A through D. These grades or classifications take quality and color into consideration.

Typically, a Grade A stone is a consistent color, higher-quality, and more durable. It is more expensive than the same stone with a B, C, or D rating. In some cases, a D rating can mean a stone is weak, contains fissures, or does not support weight. However, it can mean that it is not consistent in color. Stones like Verde Luna and Giallo Sahara are both highly durable, beautiful stones that often get ratings of C or D. This is because both stones’ colors vary tremendously from piece to piece, making it difficult to achieve consistency.

If you want a good deal on stone and are not picky about color, consider looking at C or D-graded stones. While some may appear consistent in color, like Crema Marfil, and are fragile, others may be wild in color but durable. These wild stones often produce stunning floors, particularly when used in large spaces.

Marble Floor Maintenance

Marble is considered a high-maintenance material, but the amount of maintenance required varies from marble to marble. Most marble is porous and absorbs moisture. It must be sealed regularly with a silicone-based impregnating sealer. A well-sealed stone beads water off its surface like a waxed car. If your marble stops beading water, it needs to be resealed. Some cleaners break down sealants more quickly than others, so using a pH-neutral cleaner made for marble prevents etching to the stone and keeps the seal longer.

Marble can stun or bruise with impact, particularly white marble. Avoid wearing high-heeled shoes on a marble floor to prevent this. Never use a beater bar on the vacuum, and sweep the marble regularly to prevent particles from scratching the surface. Mop with a soft cloth as needed, using a pH-neutral cleaner. Wipe up spills as soon as they are noticed to prevent staining.

Marble Flooring Pros and Cons

Marble is a type of metamorphic stone containing large amounts of calcite. In basic terms, marble is heated and compressed limestone that has undergone a chemical change to become harder and more durable.

Marble in its purest form is white, but the other minerals present in the marble’s formation dictate its final color. Because those other minerals may have higher or lower concentrations, marble varies tremendously in color and vein pattern from piece to piece and sometimes within the piece. Those minerals may also make the marble stronger or weaker, depending on their presence and concentration.

No two types of marble are ever exactly alike. This is a pro for people who want a unique floor. However, it can also be a drawback for those who want consistency. Sometimes, marble varies so much that a showroom sample may not give a true indication of what it will look like in your home.

Marble is more durable than limestone as a general rule. It can handle a high-polish finish or have a matte, honed surface. This, combined with the numerous colors and styles available, means you can include it in many designs.

Marble is not durable as a rule, however. It can easily scratch or etch where the weaker surface particles of the stone may be removed by contact with acids. White marbles may “stun” or bruise with impact, which is a drawback for people who like to wear high-heeled shoes. Some marbles are also extremely fragile and may develop cracks or fissures in their surface when used in high-traffic areas. It is always best to consider the marble type you are considering and its rating to determine if it will work in the designated area.

Cost to Polish Marble Floors

Marble is made primarily of calcite. This is a fairly soft, reactive material that can dull over time. Cleaners containing acids like vinegar or lemon can slowly remove the top surface particles of the stone, leaving it looking very dull. It is not uncommon for very old marble floors, ones in high-traffic areas, and those not cleaned with a pH-neutral cleaner to eventually lose their shine. If this happens, have your floor polished.

Polishing grinds down the stone’s top layer using finer and finer abrasives until it achieves a sheen. This sheen is finally buffed into a high gloss. This is a professional process, and while there are sealers that help shine marble, these are not recommended for floors because they are slippery.

Polishing a floor costs between $3 and $5 a square foot, depending on the marble and level of wear. Not all stones labeled “marble” are actually marble. Instead, they may contain quartz, serpentine, or other minerals, so different techniques or polishing abrasives must be used. For a 200 sq.ft. floor, expect to pay between $600 and $1,000 to polish the marble.

Polishing does not remove stun marks from white marble. It also does not remove deep stains, but it can remove some light surface staining.

Polishing a Honed Marble Floor

If you have a honed marble floor, you can polish this to a high-gloss finish. Honing is the last step before a floor is given a final polish. The stone has already been ground down to a smooth surface, so all that is left is the final polish and buff. If your honed floor is in good condition, expect to pay $1 to $3 a square foot to polish it. If it is in poor condition, expect to pay the full $3 to $5 a square foot.

Marble vs Porcelain Tile

Marble’s biggest rival is polished porcelain tile, which is made to look like marble. Porcelain does not scratch, etch, or stain and is lower maintenance than marble. However, polished porcelain has no pores, which gives it an unnaturally glossy and slippery surface. Polished marble, despite its gloss, is non-slip because the pores grab your feet. In addition, the sealant used on marble provides anti-skid features.

While porcelain requires less maintenance and costs less, it does not have the color or pattern variation that marble has.

Marble vs Wood Flooring

Both marble and wood flooring can enhance the appearance of your interior design. Both are natural materials with many colors, textures, and appearances, and both are long-lasting with the right care.

Marble is a harder surface than wood and may feel harder and colder underfoot than wood flooring. Marble is higher maintenance than most wood floors, requiring sealers and special cleaners. Some wood floors, such as engineered wood, come presealed with a finish that can last for decades, making wood easier to care for.

Wood and marble can be mixed on one floor. You can inlay marble tiles into a wood floor or create a marble border on a wood floor.

Wood is slightly more expensive than marble. A wood floor costs around $3,900 for 200 sq.ft, while a marble floor runs around $3,600 for the same space.

Enhancement and Improvement Costs

Old Floor Removal

Marble should not be installed over an existing floor because it could lead to cracks. If you have old flooring already installed, you need to remove it. This costs from $200 to $2,000, depending on what was previously down. In some cases, you can do this job yourself.

Subfloor Repair

Your installer will likely install a cement backer board over your subfloor before installing the marble. This may need additional work if your subfloor is in bad condition, adding another $100 - $200.

Floor Borders

Many border materials can be used with a marble floor. Wood floors can be used to border the room’s perimeter with a central installation of marble, and there are waterjet and mosaic marble borders with repeating patterns and designs. You can also cut sheets of marble mosaic into strips to create a glittering and colorful border around the room. Borders cost $1 to $30 a linear foot, depending on the material.