I wouldn't worry too much about it until one of the tile experts here weighs in. It doesn't add up for me, since my GC's comment when I was considering that sort of tile for my project was only that it might be slippery for a bath floor (I decided it would be, but mine is a master and rather large) and the tile installer commented it would increase his labor cost some due to the patina. Something about it taking longer to lay something that glossy because it has to lay absolutely flat or it is very noticeable. Anyway, don't worry, you'll get some good information here shortly.

Purchase some slippers or booties and ask you guests to remove their shoes.
Donna

How much foot traffic do you get in this bathroom? In my experience, people tend to use their first floor powder rooms as an opportunity to use more precious materials because 1) they are small 2) they get very little traffic in general so it's a good place for it.

If it is a *polished* marble, you won't be sealing it. Can't. The sealer can't penetrate a polished surface. Hopefully you can return the sealer...it's expensive. If it is honed or tumble (a dull or matte finish) then yes, you'd need to seal it but that's not it's very easy and only needs done (depending on the traffic and product) maybe once a year or once every two to three years. If you try to seal a polished surface, you'll end up with a dull haze all over your beautiful marble floor :(
Monica

Sorry, Monica, but that's not quite accurate. It won't take AS MUCH sealer, but ALL marble will take a sealer.

DeeDee-- You certainly want to take care-- it's not like you're going to scratch it every time some one walks in there, but it IS one of the softer stones.

Thanks everyone. Since it's already paid for and non-returnable, I'll just have to make the best of it. Maybe I can install "soft" lights in there so the soon-to-be scratches on the marble won't be so noticeable (LOL!) Just like a brand-new car before the first scratch, I'll try to focus on how nice the colors look! The kids use that bathroom alot since it's the only one on the first floor, so it does get alot of foot traffic by the toilet and sink.

deedee we just put a polished marble floor in our powder room and it's also the only one on the first floor and gets frequent use. I kind of have the 'life happens' attitude and will take care of it but not get crazed when the inevitable happens. Take reasonable care of it - maybe get your kids in the habit of removing sneakers at the back door - the little pebbles that get caught in the shoe treads are murder on any floor and that will probbly go a long way towards preserving it in a family home.

Sorry Bill & and deedee. My mind was thinking ceramic/porcelain. Note to self...not a good idea to dole out advice when suffering with bronchitis and a near exploding ear drum :o
Monica

Heard there companies out there that will come and re-polish your marble for you. Am going to look into it as I have installed marble floor in my powder room and recently made few ugly looking scratches while changing wax seal on the leaky toilet.
I have seen Stone Tech product for sealing stone, including polished marble. Wonder if it better to seal it first and then polish or try polishing and then seal...?

If you seal it first, you're wasting your money and time. Refinish it first, and then seal it.

BTW-- that's what you want to look for-- stone REFINISHERS. I'm not sure where you are in Il., but if you go to John Bridge's forum, look up a guy who goes by the name Doitright (his real name's John). He's in Mundelien, and could probably give you a line on a good refinisher, if you're in his area.

One more question about this....When polished marble floors get scratched from simple foot traffic, is it the finish that is getting scratched off and marring the shine, or is it the marble itself? Is polished marble the same as finished oak flooring, where the top coat actually gets scratched/worn away?

Yes, yes, and yes. It's the finish, it's the marble itself, and it's the same principle as SOLID oak flooring. The finish you see on the face of marble is the same material all the way thru the stone. It's just ground down to a polished surface.

lindalana I'm in IL and just had a company give me an estimate on restoring my stone kitchen counters. I was shocked at the cost. I understand there is a lot of labor involved but it would be one man working for what I was told would be 5 - 6 hours. The kid (and I do mean kid, he was 22!) who did the estimate explained that they price the jobs to be approx. 1/3 the cost of replacement - more than that and people figure they may as well get new stone but they'll pay 1/3 to repair/refinish. My DH is in the remodeling business and the idea of charging someone $1000 for 5 - 6 hours of work nearly choked him. Needless to say he vetoed the work.

I need to do more investigating. There should be more options but I've only found 2 restorers so far and one of them had never even seen the stone type I have (doesn't make me too confident) but he never got back to me with a price anyway. Good luck. If you find someone let me know.

Bill
thank you for recommendations, your advice is invaluable. John's website is something to look at, just beautiful. I am little hesitant to ask him of anything yet, as my 15 s.f. of marble floor probably won't be of any interest to any refinishing company.
Am fascinated by the tile and stone so feel in need to learn much more. John Bridge is great forum to pick up more knowledge.
Dlm
I have been looking at Aldon marble care products. Website seems friendly enough and one thing I understood that they offering products to restore stone to honed finish but not polished as it requires special polishing compound and machine to go with it. I have had my marble floor for 5 years and since it was polished I mistakenly though it does not need to be sealed. Unfortunately bathroom upstairs leaked and gave my powder room floor some etching and I as I said earlier there some minor scratches from normal wear and on top few ugly scars from recent toilet reinstall. I am thinking if I could redo entire floor to the honed finish it would be great. I tested some poultice from Aquamix and it seems it will help to remove worst of the stains/ etching.
What kind of stone are your counters? Charging by what you could get without killing the project is seems to be unfair but it is trend that exist in everything- you can not buy any replacement part which does not cost half of the new appliance. There definitely seems to be profound effort to make people buy new things instead of repairing old one and unfortunately it relates to more and more expensive purchases like fridge or stove or even whole kitchen counter top...

Lindalana you're right about the way of the world and replacement/repair costs - part of the reason our landfills are in trouble.....but that's another topic.

We have honed Kirkstone counters. I tried to get info at the JB forum but seems no one there is familiar with this stone. I ws referred to Maurizio (hope I spelled that right) sent him pics and links to info about the stone - but he wasn't familiar either. We may attempt this on our own (royal we, there!) but next fall since the warm weather projects are calling now.

OK, one last stupid question about polished marble, then I'm done: I was shopping at Kohl's today (a mid-priced dept store here in CT), and noticed how all the main aisles are white polished stone with dark grout. Since I have such a burning interest in marble these days, I dropped to my knees to examine the floors (and horrified my two kids!). The stone (maybe marble?) wasn't scratched at all. What exactly DO they install in higher-end dept stores with all that foot traffic? Maybe there's some hope for my soon-to-be installed Sahara Gold tiles (maybe?).

It's usually an acrylic floor finish that gets buffed on a daily basis. In addition, most stores that use marble for their aisles will refinish the aisles once a year. I've never done a Kohls, but I HAVE done several Filenes, a Lord and Taylor, and several J.C. Pennys with marble, and each has had the same kind of maintenence schedule.

Come to think of it, the Lord and Taylor was at the Trumbull Shopping Park. :-)

So that's their trick! Obviously I don't own a buffing machine, but if I keep up the maintenance (clean it well and reapply the sealer quite often), will that help? I bought the tile, sealer, grout from TileAmerica in West Hartford, where the salesperson said I would have "no problem" with this tile since it wasn't in a bath with a tub or shower. (How naive was I!)

There's a big difference between sealer and acrylic floor finish, but then again we're talking about a residential powder room versus department store aisles, too. Quite honestly, I'd say go for it.

If you keep it very clean the dirt won't scratch the surface. I don't know if you can, maybe one of the experts can say if this is OK, but can you put a runner or rug on the main area of the floor to help protect it from many feet walking over the same area over and over?