marble subway tiles- perfect or pitted when new?

9 years ago

My backsplash was just finished and when it was grouted I noticed a lot of pits (like someone took an icepick to it) on several of the tiles. Some of the tiles look perfect but some of the tiles have half a dozen pits in a single tile. Some have one or two pits. I don't know if the tiles arrived like this or if it just became noticeable after the grout was put in because the whiteness of the grout got into the pits making them more noticeable.

I know that marble is soft however I didn't expect the tiles to start off pitted and dinged right at install. Do these kinds of tiles come like this or do you think they got damaged by people banging tool boxes or something into the tiles (or somehow by the tiler banging into them somehow)?

Can individual tiles that have the most damage be replaced or does this require complete re-do of the entire backsplash area?

We had pre-ordered one box of the marble tiles and when I looked through that box I didn't see any damage like that on any of the tiles.

What do you think?

Comments (9)

lazy_gardens
9 years ago
Real marble has flaws, including pits and inclusions.
sonny_h
9 years ago
I just had marble backsplash tile installed and noticed the same. Its a natural stone quality. Depending on what part of the slab the tile was cut from, it could be a part of a smooth flow variation of gray in white, or have black spots/pits.

In aggregate, all of these variations makes it look natural, which is what I was intending to do.
Related Professionals
Amherst Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Arcadia Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Fox Lake Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Henderson Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Knoxville Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Athens Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Mooresville Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Pueblo Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Sicklerville Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Waukegan Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Wilson Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Hammond Cabinets & Cabinetry · White Center Cabinets & Cabinetry · Redondo Beach Tile and Stone Contractors · Mililani Town Design-Build Firms
romy718
9 years ago
Is it really noticeable or one of those thing that we TKO obsess about? I hope it's not noticeable.
fivefootzero
9 years ago
This is the reason why when we bought our subway tile from Home Depot. I bought about 50% more than we needed and then picked out all the ones I didn't like. I returned the leftovers to Home Depot, noting the imperfections to them as being damaged.
greenhaven
9 years ago
Mine are 2x4 tiles on a mesh backing and certainly some are pitted. Part of the experience!
illinigirl
Original Author
9 years ago
ok, well i'm glad to know they didn't get damaged by any of the subs. I think what bothers me is that the pits are much more noticeable because the white grout got into them, so they stand out color wise. here are a couple photos:

this is the one that bothers me the most because it looks like an icepick was taken to it:
[img]
[/img]

[img]
[/img]

[img]
[/img]

Can the grout be cleaned out of the pits? If it weren't so white the pits themselves wouldn't bother me. But as you can see they really stand out being filled with white grout. If I'm standing at the range looking for them I can see them pretty easily.....but as someone who never was in my kitchen they probably wouldn't stand out....and they would not be visible from the other side of the island either.
Bunny
9 years ago
They must be fairly small, compared to the size of your grout lines. Most people probably won't even notice them.

I know lots of us use sharpies to touch up little flaws in dark surfaces. I wonder if there's an equivalent for light things. It wouldn't take much to slightly knock down the white of the grout.
romy718
9 years ago
Here's an article about possible repair options. I doubt anyone will notice them but you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marble Repair Solutions
christina222_gw
9 years ago
I haven't noticed any pits in my marble tiles. I have Calacatta with silver grout so maybe the grout just blended in.