Installing marble flooring can add beauty and elegance to a bathroom or foyer. With a variety of options in coloring and finish, marble tiles can complement virtually any color scheme. Installing marble floor tile is not an easy process but can be done on your own if you are careful and patient.

Wear gloves, eye protection and a facemask. These will protect your hands, eyes and lungs as you install your marble tiles design. Remove any existing tiles. If you are installing the marble on a floor that is already tiled then you must remove the old tiles first. Ceramic tiles can be smashed with a hammer and then removed. Vinyl tiles should be ripped up with a pry bar. Clean the floor surface you plan to tile and allow it to dry. Before installing any tiles you will want to make sure that the floor surface beneath the tiles is thoroughly cleaned and dried.

Use a long level to make sure the floor area is level. Marble is a very soft tile and can be particularly susceptible to cracking if it is not installed on a level surface. Use the longest level possible to make sure your floor is level. You can try sanding down any bumps that raise the floor or filling in any depressions in the floor surface with thin-set cement. Wait for the cement to completely dry before continuing. You may also need to lay a plywood subfloor to make the floor level. Marble should not be installed on a floor that has a change in height that is more than ¼ inch (6 mm) in a distance of 10 feet (3 m).

Inspect the tiles. Run your finger nails over the wood tiles to make sure there are not cracks or gaps in the polished surface of the tile. You should not use any polished tiles that have these cracks or gaps because they might break in the process of installation or use. Most hardware stores will accept exchanges of kitchen tiles that have cracks or gaps in them.

Measure the length and width of the floor and create a layout on paper.Plan your installation on paper using the floor dimensions and sizes of the wall tiles. Decide on your pattern for laying the tiles. You can lay them in rows or in a pyramid-like structure or in other patterns. Draw the pattern to scale on paper. You want to keep most tiles full-sized so that you do not have to cut them. You also do not want strips of tile that are less than 2 inches (5 cm) wide.

Mark the center of your floor tiles. Measure the center of each wall and make a light mark with a pencil. Then take a chalk snap line and hold it to either end of the centers of two opposing walls. Lower the line and snap it to the floor to make a chalk line. Do this for the other two walls as well. Where the two chalk lines meet is the center of your floor. You usually want marble wall tiles to radiate from the center of your floor. Mark your grid on the floor using the chalk line. Continue snapping the chalk line on the floor in the planned grid. This will mark down where your tiles should go.