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Honed or polished carrara for shower? Please help

13 years ago

We are thinking of putting white carrara (12"x24" format) in our master bath shower. We have already picked honed carrara countertops, so honed seems to be the way to go for the shower. Our tile designer thinks polished is easier to keep clean - which seems to be at odds with the consensus here that honed does etch as much.

Am I crazy to put marble in the shower (and will I ever get the shower clean enough with just stone cleaner)? And if I am not totally crazy, should I go for polished or honed?

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Comments (4)

bill_vincent
13 years ago
I've used polished carrara before in several showers, including my own, and never had a problem keeping it clean. I would think honed carrara would be harder to keep clean in the shower itself because of its rougher, more absorbent surface. As for the bathroom floor, that's a different story. Then it's either or. But for the shower itself, I'd go with polished, hands down.
buildinginva
Original Author
13 years ago
Bill, thanks for your input. Will it look weird if I have polished in the shower and honed on the countertops?
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bill_vincent
13 years ago
Not really. Here-- here's one with BOTH on the floor-- honed field with a polished border. I thought it looked great! (of course, I might be a bit biased-- I designed this one)

Here's another one with a honed floor, and polished slab tubdeck AND vanity top:
zeebee
13 years ago
Not a tile expert here, but we chose honed Calacutta for all the walls, including shower, because we thought the high gloss of polished would be too cold and harsh in our bathroom. It gets little natural light and has 9-plus foot ceilings, and all that shine was going to be a little too eye-opening every morning. Will have pictures to post in a few weeks - Tile Delivery Gods permitting, tiling starts next Wednesday.

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