Office Lobby Large-Format Floor in Cumberland

About This Project

This Cumberland office building lobby received a large-format polished gray marble-look porcelain floor as part of a building renovation near the Galleria corridor. The tile format was 24x48 with a high-gloss polished finish, installed in a running bond pattern with 1/16-inch joints to minimize visible seams across the large open floor area.

Commercial polished tile installations require stricter flatness tolerances than residential work. We used a laser level to map the slab, identified low areas, and applied a self-leveling compound to bring the entire floor within 1/8 inch over 10 feet before any tile went down. Lippage on a polished floor is immediately visible and unacceptable in a commercial lobby setting. The tile was installed over a weekend to minimize disruption to building tenants.

The polished surface required a specific cleaning protocol after grouting to remove haze without scratching the finish. We used a non-acidic tile cleaner and soft buffing pads rather than the standard scrub approach used on matte surfaces.