Marble, granite and stone
Pisos Pro Medellín installs marble, natural granite, travertine and rustic stone in houses, apartments and buildings throughout the Aburrá Valley and Eastern Antioquia. We are a company devoted only to floors, with more than 15 years in the trade.
We work for owners who want a marble entry hall or living room, for developers finishing common areas in stone, and for country homes that need a terrace that stays grippy in the rain. Every stone calls for its own setting method, sealer and upkeep, and that judgment is what you are hiring.
With over 900 completed jobs, we know stone does not forgive shortcuts: a rust shadow, efflorescence or a crack can surface months later. That is why every installation comes with a 1-year labor warranty.
Stone is a natural material, and two boxes from the same batch can arrive with very different veining and color. Before setting the first piece we lay everything out dry, number it, and agree with you on where the boldest veins should go.
The service covers removing the old floor, preparing the base, setting, sealing, grouting, polishing or final finishing, and cleanup. We do living rooms, entry halls, bathrooms, staircases, terraces, driveways and pool decks.
Marble is a calcareous stone: elegant, polishable and sensitive to acids such as lime juice, vinegar and many bathroom cleaners. There are Colombian marbles, such as those quarried around Río Claro in Antioquia's Magdalena Medio region, plus imports from Italy, Spain and Turkey.
Travertine has natural pores that get filled with a matching cement or resin filler. Both stones need periodic sealing, and in a busy kitchen you have to accept that they will etch.
Granite is an igneous rock, harder and less porous than marble, that handles heavy traffic and nearly every household stain. It suits building lobbies, shops, kitchens and stairs.
Do not confuse it with the polished "granito" found in older Medellín houses, which is actually terrazzo. We handle that material through our terrazzo flooring service.
These stones have a natural or rustic surface, good wet grip and tones that age gracefully. We use them on terraces, driveways, garden paths and country-house patios.
Slate comes in slabs of uneven thickness, so it is bedded in mortar rather than thin-set. Local flagstone (piedra muñeca) and cantera stone are more porous and darken in the rain unless they get a water-repellent treatment.
We use penetrating sealers that repel both water and oil, soaking into the pores without forming a film or changing the sheen. Surface waxes and lacquers, by contrast, scratch, yellow and trap moisture beneath the stone.
Porous stones get sealed twice: once before grouting, so pigment does not stain the edges, and again after the grout has cured. Between coats we wait the full drying time on the product data sheet.
A sealer buys you time to wipe up spills, but it does not make marble immune. Coffee and wine come out without a trace if cleaned promptly, while lime juice and vinegar attack the surface even when it is sealed.
Calibrated tiles 1 to 2 cm thick are set with C2 thinset and back-buttering. Slabs of irregular thickness are bedded in setting mortar, each one adjusted until it sits level with no voids.
Under white marble we use white thinset, because gray mortar can bleed through and leave shadows. Green marbles and some water-sensitive stones warp with cement-based mortars, so they go down with epoxy or rapid-setting adhesive.
A void under the corner of a tile becomes a crack the day something heavy drops on it. That is why we tap-test as we go, leave perimeter and movement joints, and never bridge a structural joint, which matters in a seismically active city like Medellín.
Efflorescence, the white powder that blooms through the joints, is mortar salt carried up by moisture. We prevent it with a properly mixed mortar and slow curing, and when we see it on floors laid by others we first track down where the water comes from.
Outdoors, the finish matters more than the color. A polished surface shines but turns slick with the first rain, so outside we use flamed granite, honed or bush-hammered marble or limestone, and slate or cantera with its natural cleft face.
We slope the surface 1% to 2% toward the drain or away from the house so water does not pool or seep under the walls. On terraces built over a slab we check the waterproofing first, because stone does not replace it.
Pool edges get bullnose coping pieces and a chlorine-resistant sealer. Saltwater pools call for dense stone, since salt crystallizes inside the pores and flakes the surface.
The type of stone drives the price more than the labor does. A Colombian granite in a standard size lands at the low end of the range, and an imported marble in large slabs with matched veining at the high end.
Costs climb with thicker stone, curved cuts, bookmatched veining and on-site grinding to remove lippage. You can compare against other materials in our flooring price guide.
| Item | Reference range |
|---|---|
| Material: marble, granite or stone | COP $180,000 to $600,000 per m² |
| Installation labor | COP $70,000 to $120,000 per m² |
| Total installed | COP $250,000 to $700,000 per m² |
| Follow-up polishing and crystallization | COP $25,000 to $45,000 per m² |
| Removal of existing ceramic tile | COP $12,000 to $25,000 per m² |
| Installed baseboard | COP $12,000 to $30,000 per linear meter |
We open every box, set aside cracked pieces and keep 5% to 10% from the same batch in reserve for future repairs.
We arrange the stone without adhesive, match the veining and pencil each piece's position on its back.
We bond each piece with the adhesive that stone requires, level it with a straightedge and leveling clips, and tap-test it.
We cover the floor with cardboard and let it cure with no traffic for 24 to 72 hours, depending on the setting system.
We apply the first coat of sealer, then unsanded grout in tight marble joints or sanded grout in wide outdoor joints.
On marble we polish in place with diamond pads to even out the shine, seal again and hand over with cleaning instructions.
In living rooms and bedrooms every 2 or 3 years is usually enough; in kitchens, bathrooms and busy entry halls, every 12 to 18 months. To know for sure, drip a little water on it: if the stone darkens in under five minutes, it is time to reseal.
Shine is a separate matter: it comes back with on-site polishing and crystallization, a different job from sealing that we also do.
Yes. Marble is calcium carbonate and any acid dissolves its surface, leaving a dull etch mark that no sealer fully prevents.
Clean with neutral soap and water, never with vinegar, lime juice, concentrated bleach or bathroom cleaners. If an etch mark has already appeared, spot polishing removes it.
Flamed granite is the most durable and least porous option, followed by water-repellent-treated slate and cantera. Polished marble does not work outdoors, and travertine only works with a tumbled finish and regular sealing.
On apartment terraces it is also worth comparing with slip-resistant porcelain tile that looks like stone and weighs less.
We visit your site at no cost, check the base and help you choose a stone and finish that fit how the space is really used. You receive an itemized written quote within 24 to 48 hours.
The installation carries a 1-year labor warranty; defects inherent to the stone, such as quarry fissures, are the supplier's responsibility.
Pisos Pro Medellín
Tv. 6 #45-115, El Poblado, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia
Monday to Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.