***update*** if anyone cares... My contractor patched a couple of particularly low sections & had a stone restoration guy come in to sand it down. They sanded it wet starting with a 50 grit & went over it two more times with higher grits. I don't know what the final grit was, but they used honing powder when they sanded the final time. The floors are much flatter; it feels like any normal tile floor, except for the edges, where they sort of "feathered" out the sanding toward the border, which didn't really need to be sanded. The only caveat is that, upon close inspection, there are fine scratches on all the tiles. Either the 50 grit was too aggressive to begin with, or they didn't hone it enough at the end. That is a little disappointing, considering that it is a brand new floor (and we are a barefoot kind of family, so it probably never would have happened on its own), but I guess I have to cut my losses at some point, and move on with my life.... Many thanks to bill and mongo for your invaluable input. ...will post pics when the chandelier is hung!

HI-old thread but wondering if there are any new product recommendations for honed marble? I would like to seal our marble pre-grouting. Then post-grout too unless that is not recommended?? Also-Is there any downside to sealing the marble before it is applied to the wall? Thanks very much!!!

the Emser website says it has a water absorbtion rate of 3.75%!!! The picture on their website shows the tile installed in a bathroom with a shower tho and, when we picked it, I figured if Emser's website showed it being used in a shower, it must be okay to use that way. So, maybe the website is supposed to say 0.375%? It's GOT to be a typo. I've yet to ever run across a porcelain with that high an absorbsion rate. Even the .375% would be extremely high for porcelain. Most of them are closer to .02- .03%. Next, could some of you kindly tell me - in baby-talk terms please - just what I need to specify with respect to getting my showers built correctly so that they don't leak? And then, what should I watch out for to make sure that whoever I hire is doing the job the way it is supposed to be done. I don't have the time, energy, or money for another law suit if my showers start leaking and my tile guy won't or can't fix them! THere's a link below with the most detailed instructions I've yet to see on the subject. I had hoped to use the 16" tiles on the floor (except for inside the shower where I figured we would use a smaller mosaic). I am willing to use the 12" tiles instead tho if they will be less prone to cracking. 16" should be fine. Okay. As far as the Kerdi system is concerned, that certainly is a consideration, and yes, it CAN be used for off shaped showers. You just need to build the pan out of mud, rather than using the styrofoam base piece. (I've built more Kerdi showers than I can count at thi point, and I've yet to use those foam bases even once yet.) As for cost, it might be a bit higher, being that the waterproofing has to continue up the walls with the Kerdi, and the drain by itself is about 100.00 or more, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Kerdi to be a good shower pan. Here is a link that might be useful: Harry Dunbar's shower pan install instructions

The caulking should be where the tile butts up to the window frame. one thing you might consider is using a piece of travertine slab for the shelf.