Hi Kim. What kind of a stain do you think it is? If the box was sitting in the rain, could the stain be water that has absorbed into the marble? Marble is porous and absorbs moisture and the marble can darken in spots. If you think it is water that has soaked into the marble, you could try and dry it out with a hair dryer or some type of heat.

I would definitely take advantage of this deal (and if there is any left over from your job, send the rest my way.) I love that design - very deco.

I do have a marble bathroom and shower. I have taken pictures but don't know how to get them on this message board. If you know how, let me know and I will post them.

In the meantime, I will describe it. I have carrera marble througout the bathroom. The shower floor is white carrera mosiacs (9/16") - this spans the shower floor and then goes up the wall to a height of 18". Then there is a black marble border - one row of black subway tile. Above that is white carrera marble 12"x12" tiles that are placed in a diamond pattern. That extends up the entire wall and stops 12" from the ceiling. From the ceiling to the white carrera is another black border - this time the border is 12"x12" black tile that is placed in a square pattern. (I do have 10' ceilings and my shower is an open shower with no door - you walk in and then turn left to get to the shower.)

The black breaks up the sea of white. My bathroom floor is a black and white checkerboard, again, placed on an angle in a diamond pattern.

My counters are carrera marble with undermount sinks.

The mosiacs on the shower floor have been really easy maintenance. All marble is sealed, so I just give it a gentle washing with dish soap and rinse. If I need to scrub the grout, I just use dish soap and a brush. I haven't found it to be the big "horror" that most people write about. I love it.

Let me know if you know how to post pictures and I will do it.

I can tell ya my mom has had it in her bath and it is a pain. Now in the common areas on walls it is beautiful and shinny but in the shower, yikes! It looks like it has a soap scum haze on it. You can't clean it with anything good cause it will damage the tile. I went in there a year ago cause I purchased and installed a new shower door system for her and I went to town cleaning. I bleached the walls which had not been done and tried to remove some of the soap scum on walls but it will never look the same. I guess if someone went in with a high-powered cutting tool and polished it back to original maybe then. I just heard from someone else they paid 500 to have their marble bath professionally cleaned and she said you canÂt tell they did anything. Since your getting it so cheep use it on the walls and you could probably get away with it on the common areas on floor but put the harder wearing stuff in the shower. Now I will say that I don't think my mom ever sealed hers and maybe now with the new products things are different. It will be interesting to see what responses you get.

OK! So far, I have two pretty different opinions here! :-) Thanks for responding. Anyone else?

Paddywagon, I'd love to see your marble bath pics. All you have to do is upload them from your computer to a free photobucket.com account, then copy the stuff in the HTML code box below the photo thumbnail, and paste that into the body of your gardenweb message. Easy peasy.

Keep the answers coming folks!
-Kim

Kim, I think this is it. I have 9 photos up. Let me know if this doesn't work.

http://s589.photobucket.com/albums/ss339/paddywagon62/

Paddywagon, YES, I can see them! OH, you have a beautiful marble bathroom! The combination of sizes, the black borders and the checkerboard floor pattern combine beautifully. I'm not very creative in combinations like that, so pictures are very helpful. How long have you been using this bath? It seems that sealing the marble is very important to promoting easy care regular cleaning. Would you agree?

The tile sample with the stain I have is dry. I think the stain may possibly be color (brown) that leached from the wet box. I found a poultice recipe for removing stains from marble that I am going to try tonight. I'll let you know how it does.

Anyone else care to share thoughts on my questions or photos?
thanks!
-Kim

Paddywagon!

Beautiful shower! What is the size of it? Ours is 4'x 7'8". It is ready for Keri and we haven't picked our tile yet. We're impressed!

I posted them a few days ago, but in case you missed it, here are my before-and-afters including the marble floor and shower.

Here is a link that might be useful: My slide show

mkk58 - I did miss your earlier post. Thanks for responding here. Your new bathroom is gorgeous! You've got ming green there, yes? I LOVE the floor and the way you tied the color back into the borders. Is your vanity top marble too? How is maintenance for you so far? Or, if it is really new, what do you plan to use to clean the marble? THANKS! -Kim

Thanks, Kim. Yes, the floor and wall border are ming green and white (with a bit of darker green on the floor). The vanity top is a granite remnant -- I didn't think to ask what its name is. It's all brand new (a month or so) and the cleaning ladies claim to use "mild, organic cleaners." I have no earthly idea what that means, but it's staying nice and clean and no maintenance issues so far.

MLK58, nice remodel. What material did you use for the shower floor? I LOVE the inset shelf in the shower. Very functional.

Golddust our shower is 4'3"x7'2" and the ceilings are 10'.

Kim - we have been using this bath almost 2 years. When the tile man installed it, they sealed it. That is their standard protocol. It sounds like it will need to be sealed again at about year 3. I have no problems cleaning this.

The mosiac on the floor have been a problem, but we believe it to be a problem with the product. My installer is awesome and can't figure out what is happening. If you look closely at the pictures, you will see some gray staining on the floor and going up the sides. We assumed it was water from underneath, but there was no leak. The ripped it out and reinstalled. When they sealed it, they drenched the marble with the sealer and really let it soak and then wiped it off. Witihin a few weeks, the gray stains cam back but in different places and in weird patterns.

We are in the process of changing the material so I am interested if anyone else has had this problem with mosiacs carrera tile.

That being said, I would still install marble because I love it.

Thanks, paddywagon! The shower floor and the inside of the shelf are 1-inch marble mosaic in a white/ming green mix (similar to the below but with more white). It comes on a mesh backing. In addition to being really beautiful, it's very safe underfoot because there's so much grout that it makes it completely non-slip.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1396353}}

Paddywagon, your bathroom is beautiful! Can you tell me what brand your exposed shower system is and whether you are happy w/it? Thanks

Sherri, I have a Perrin & Rowe exposed shower system. I LOVE IT. I have never used a rainshower head before so I don't know if this brand is so great or if it is the rainshower design that I love. Really gets the soap out of my hair. It also has a handheld if you prefer a lighter shower.

Negatives.....calcium water spots. Just like you would have on a regular shower faucet and spout, but 10 times as much because of all the exposed plumbing. I don't really care cause I like the way it looks and I like the way it performs.

I purchased all my faucets (I have Rohl's in the kitchen and bath sinks) online at 800afaucet.com. I dealt with Oscar and he was great. I had a problem a year after installation and I called Oscar and he called the manufacturer and sent me the part I needed - no charge. Not what I expected from an internet purchase but he was really great to deal with. I think he is out of Arizona.

I am new to this website so I don't know all the rules - I hope it is ok to let you know where I bought stuff. Anyway, good luck.

Just a follow up about removing the stains from my marble tile samples. The poultice I used worked! It removed the brown stains (probably from a wet box).

Here is the recipe that I think I found on the kitchen forum... mixed beauty supply hydrogen peroxide and talcum powder (without corn starch) into a paste the consistency of peanut butter. Wet the marble with distilled water. Cover the stain with the paste about 1/4 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap, tape down edges with blue painters tape, poke a few holes in the plastic wrap and leave it alone until it dries (48 hours). Remove the dried powder.

The marble was not a gloss finish, more like honed and on one tile, I did notice some possible etching. So, if anyone needs to try, it be forewarned YMMV.

But, I'm psyched! We may get this great Walker Zanger Tribeca marble mini brick and hex tile at a huge discount and now I can even salvage the stained pieces. It'll take patience, but I think it will be worth it, especially with our small budget. :-)
Cheers,
-Kim

Paddywagon, thanks so much for the review of your exposed shower system. I sure do love the looks of it. I have never used a rainshower head before, and am glad to hear that you like it as well. There have been a lot of reviews on this site stating that rainshower heads are not good for rinsing hair, so I'm guessing brands hava a lot to do w/it. Your bathroom is so beautiful, I hope that you can find a quick and easy resolution for your shower floor.

Kimkitchy, that's great news that you were able to remove the stains! Slightly envious of you and your great purchase.:) Be sure and post pictures of your final result!

mlk58--I have the same bathtub except in white ('before' pics). What tub did you select, and did it fit in the same space? My tub's sandwiched in between the outside wall and the closet of the master bedroom, so I can't really put a longer tub in...

That tub looks great!