Thanks for responding Bill, but I kind of meant the opposite of what you responded to, meaning, is MARBLE mosaic not as good a choice in a shower as hex tile? I am trying to not blow the budget and while I loved the look of the nero marquina my concerns are due to price & durability. I think the impact of using the nero marquina on the bathroom floor will be great, but the shower is fairly small (about 3 foot sq.) so maybe I can get away with using a lesser expensive option there and in the 5x9 closet. (Then again, if there's a way I can use the nero marquina as just an accent, maybe as a 4x4 border around the room, with the black hex or mosaic in the center/shower/closet? Or a white hex in the center/shower/closet? I am rambling. Basically, I don't want to do the closet in the nero marquina because of cost, that's the bottom line. If I do choose to use it in 4x4 diamond or running bond on the floor, mosaic running bond in the shower, what (cheaper option!) do I choose for the closet?

I love the look of marble, the same with most natural stones. The problem is that yesteryear's marble was fairly consistent. If the stone was a lousy stone, it did not make it to market. Or it was re-purposed into another type of product. Today, with the advent of an open global economy, the ability to buy over the internet, and with improvements in not just mining stone, but also in technology (like resinating slabs) that allow manufacturers to recapture and bring stone to market that would have been rejected years ago...it's tough unless you know where your stone has been sourced from. Resining a slab can be a good thing in terms of slab strength, porosity, etc. But it also has consequences. High-iron marble used to never make it into the residential tile world. It's all over the place now. Same with softer grades of marble, I've been given boxes of marble mosaic where finger pressure on the corner of the pieces can cause it to crumble. If you want to use marble in a shower floor, go for a low-iron marble. Marble is porous and will absorb moisture, and that wetting and drying can cause iron deposits in the marble to oxidize, or "rust". You can end up an overall yellowing of the stone, or with more specific rust-colored stains or veining in your stone. I also recommend installing the marble over a topical membrane. Hydroban, Kerdi, RedGard, etc. That prevents deep-wetting of the shower floor and helps promote drying of the marble. When you create the slope, makes sure it is consistent. Sometimes the slope tends to flatten near the walls, then the wall-floor intersection is slow to drain or it can hold water. When you grout, don't over-tool the grout. You want the grout to be flush with the surface of the stone, you don't want mini-valleys between the tile that can hold water. So, 1) pick a good stone, and 2) control the water. Easy-peasey!

I would recommend going to a local tile supply store and they should be able to guide you in the right direction. I have a members only business I work with called ProSource that has a whole showroom of different types of tile. Some tile manufacturers have like 20 different pricing tiers depending on the amount of tile you buy. Being a member allows me to have the larger buying power (theirs), wider selection, and thus a lower price point than if I went to the manufacturer direct and opened an account. They also sell at a wholesale price (My discounted price) or list price. I always pass my wholesale price to the clients - It's the right thing to do! Most of the porcelain tile mimics an actual marble or is very similar so if you find a marble you like then that will give you a better direction to find a manufacturer that can come close. Here is a link to just a google search that shows the wide array of tile that you can get. https://tilebar.com/collection/porcelain-tile/shop-by-look-porcelain/marble-look-porcelain-tile.html Mjammjam - I'm not sure of the type of marble that was listed in the original picture. Save it and go to a local supply store and see if they can find something that looks-alike. Best of luck in your endeavor! And food for thought - Not all tile is made equally. Their is a multitude of different rankings for hardness and durability given the area of application. One is called a PEI (Porcelain Enamel Institute) rating but there are other factors pending what type of tile you go with (Slip resistance, Moh's hardness, abrasion resistance, and frost resistance, breaking strength, water absorption, shade variation, etc.). You can go to The Home Depot and get a good looking floor tile but its PEI rating is like a 2, whereas I can go to a different manufacturer with the same look and gets a much higher PEI rating (around a 4). It cost a bit more but the tile is suited for the application and is more durable in the long run. Well worth the additional $ in my eyes. A good tile salesman will help you find the best tile for your application but it's good to be educated going in! :)

That’s a mixed up bit of watetproofing mess. The Schluter for the shower floor, which isn’t tied into the waterproofing over drywall? walls correctly, and then Red Guard over what looks like asphalt impregnated board? Surely it’s not a hot mop under it? This is a bizarre frankenhack, with no warranty from any manufacturer. I’ve never seen anything so bizarre. And that says a lot. Then you have low quality seconds marble from Floor and Decor in the mix too. The whole thing crosses my eyes and begs the question of what price was paid for this, and what the expectations actually are. I wouldn’t be inviting the frankenhacker back, that’s for sure. I’d be budgeting 15K for a redo from someone a bit more up the scale of a properly built and waterproofed luxury marble shower . And better materials quality to go with the better labor goes without saying.