Has anyone here built a marble patio/pool deck?

[poolguy968]

Hi I am currently selecting the paver to use for my new pool deck and I'm pretty interested in using marble pavers.

It looks like there's three kinds of marble pavers: tumbled, sand blasted and leathered. It seems like tumbled is basically smooth, leathered has a lot of little surface bumps/ridges while sandblasted has a kind of sand paper like surface.

I can see some pros and cons to each of these and also I've only seen and touched some small sample pieces so I think it may not be fully representative of what the experience would be like when the full yard is paved.

So I'm just wondering, has anybody here done a pool deck or patio with marble pavers before? Which type of marble did you end up choosing (leathered vs tumbled vs sand blasted)? How are you liking it now? Any regrets or things you wished you had known in advance or would do differently now? Thanks!

Also these are some of the marbles I've been considering but I haven't been able to make up my mind:

16x24 DIANA ROYAL 'Leather' Marble PAVER - Stone-Mart

16x24 DIANA ROYAL Premium-SELECT 'Leather' Marble PAVER

www.stone-mart.com

Carrara White | Sandblasted Marble Pavers | Marble Tile Pavers

Product Details Color: White Finish: Sandblated Product Type: Marble Thickness: 1.1/4" Sizes available: 6x12" | 12x24" | 16x24" | 24x24" | French Pattern Pricing Per: Square feet Minimum Order: 1 Full crate/pallet Description and ApplicationCrystal White background with grey veining or...

www.marble-tile-pavers.com

Cosmic White 16"x24" Sand Blast Marble Paver - MSI Collection

Cosmic White 16"x24" Sand Blast Marble Paver | Volume Discount Available | Product of Vietnam | Surface Finish : SANDBLAST | Tile Material : Marble

villohome.com

 

[PaulMummolo]

I have 5 pallets of Ice White sandblasted 16 x 24 pavers in my driveway waiting for me to install. I wanted something light colored for the Las Vegas Heat!

 

[poolguy968]

Nice! Did you also consider leathered marble as well? Was there a reason you went with sandblasted? I’m kinda having a tough time selecting between leathered and sandblasted.

 

[Caro325]

Nice! Did you also consider leathered marble as well? Was there a reason you went with sandblasted? I’m kinda having a tough time selecting between leathered and sandblasted.

The leather finish will give you a shallower finish (meaning shallower crevices for dirt to go into it, which makes it easier to maintain)... but the sandblasted is usually a bit coarser, so it would be less slippery. .... ... that said, as someone that have been in the natural stone industry for over 20 years, I wouldn't use any of those materials in or around a pool..... they do not hold out well with the chemicals.

 

[poolguy968]

Thanks! It does seem like a lot of stores advertise these marble pavers as well suited for pool deck and pool coping though. Is that mostly all a bunch of hogwash then? I'm also planning to do a salt water pool and I called a couple of these stores and they said the marble pavers would do fine with salt water.

 

[setsailsoon]

We are finishing our OB pool and we used marble pavers for the pool deck and patio. ~2000 sq ft in all and we're thrilled with it. We used 16" x 24" like your samples and it really looks nice. The leather finish makes it slip resistant and eliminates glare from the hot summer sun. On our hottest days you can stand on it and it's barely warm. 1st photo is after the acid wash just prior to sealing. You don't have to do this but it is a good idea to help keep it clean very easily.

Congrats and good luck with your new pool!

Chris

 

[poolguy968]

Thank you! Your marble pool deck looks amazing! Those benefits you listed are also the exact reasons why I really want to do marble. I'm also looking to do 2000 sq ft as well coincidentally.

If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me what's the name of the marble that you chose? Also my one concern about choosing a white colored marble is that the yard might look too bright when its in direct sunlight and people will need to wear sunglasses. Just wondering has that been your experience at all?

 

[setsailsoon]

Thank you! Your marble pool deck looks amazing! Those benefits you listed are also the exact reasons why I really want to do marble. I'm also looking to do 2000 sq ft as well coincidentally.

If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me what's the name of the marble that you chose? Also my one concern about choosing a white colored marble is that the yard might look too bright when its in direct sunlight and people will need to wear sunglasses. Just wondering has that been your experience at all?

It's a product from Natural Stone called Ice White... they have it in several finishes. I will say it's pretty bright in the direct sunlight but not a problem for us. I always wore sunglasses out there before we got the marble added.

 

[PaulMummolo]

Nice! Did you also consider leathered marble as well? Was there a reason you went with sandblasted? I’m kinda having a tough time selecting between leathered and sandblasted.

The only option locally to me was the sandblasted in this color. I was looking at a Grey marble with a leathered finish as well. I actually prefer the leathered finish but I wanted the lighter color for the pool deck. I would imagine that the sandblasted will be more slip resistant as well.

 

[setsailsoon]

The only option locally to me was the sandblasted in this color. I was looking at a Grey marble with a leathered finish as well. I actually prefer the leathered finish but I wanted the lighter color for the pool deck. I would imagine that the sandblasted will be more slip resistant as well.

Yes both are very slip and glare resistant. I think grey would look great as well!

 

[JonoVegas]

Yes both are very slip and glare resistant. I think grey would look great as well!

Love the tile you guys selected. I am also in Vegas. Currently I have the cool decking option (concrete with specialized paint like surface) but chipping in various areas so thinking of going tile this time. Couple of quick questions: do you guys know if this can be installed over an existing concrete deck? My deck appears pretty stable after 15+ years (2 hairline cracks showing throuch current cool deck). Can I install these "marble like" tiles over my existing concrete with the appropriate prep.

2nd question is the coping. If I move to tile, I think I would need to somehow put some type of tile edging over the current concrete bullnose coping.

Any Vegas installer that would be recommended?

Thanks
Jono

 

[setsailsoon]

Thank you much, we are in Florida so I can't be of much help to you on Vegas installers. Also we have a zero Edge and infinity edge combination so no bullnose coping but I do believe they make it to match up with these inch and a quarter marble like pavers. I can tell you we have it installed on concrete in the patio. About a thousand square feet. We did a sand set in there to match up with the elevation outside of the patio all we needed was about a quarter of an inch. It All Slopes slightly outward toward the concealed channel drain just outside the patio. The pool tiles slope back toward the house to the same channel drain. I was opposed to the concealed channel drain initially. But the more I learned about it the more I liked and it looks just fantastic!