I love marble. Especially polished marble. To me, nothing is more beautiful.
I put a marble floor in one bath and LOVE it. But it's my bath, so very little traffic, and nothing to make the marble any kind of issue.

For the bath we're doing now? I wanted marble, but it will get a lot more use, and I struggled with something that's going to need special care, however minimal. I reminded myself this is a bathroom FLOOR. Not an art installation. Not something precious. And ultimately, I really wanted to be able to use any disinfectant product I wanted, without reservation.

It took me months, but I did finally pick a tile. I was holding out for the ultimate, magical, one perfect option... to the point that all progress came to a halt. At which point I choose the best option so we could move on. My thoughts on choosing tile.

I'm going with porcelain tile. Polished, with a marbleish-look. (As much as not-stone can look like real-stone...) I'm happy with it. I will post some photos, maybe tomorrow? Husband has it down, but still needs to be grouted.

For what it's worth, I love subway tile. I think it's gorgeous and classic. Even if I didn't live in an old house, I would think it was beautiful. We put it in my bathroom, and will put it in the current project as well. Plus nothing brightens up a room like white tile...

Good luck! Bath decisions are enough to make you crazy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Bath Renovation

We are living in an 18 year old townhouse, which we have owned for 10 years. We have a grey 12x12" marble tile throughout our one full bathroom (including the combined tub surround/shower). I honed it myself before moving in, and sealed it at the time with 511. I haven't sealed it since.

We have not changed our habits re: shampoo, special cleaning products, etc. My husband and I use this bathroom along with our three young kids (all under 4).

We have had no problems. I'm sure the grey hides a lot more than a white marble. Yes, there are etch marks on our countertop (which is a matching slab), and probably some on the floor, too, but the marble is a pretty busy one, and honestly, it is not noticeable other than one etch on the countertop that I notice (from a drinking glass that contained something acidic). Marcolo has posted photos here before on etch marks. Honestly, mine look nowhere near that bad -- but again, this marble is busier and darker than Calacutta Gold.

We are renovating a house now, and I am putting Calacutta Gold in our master bath. All honed. The floor is a mosaic, and the walls (wainscoting) and shower are 6x12" bricks. We will seal, but I don't plan on any specific day-to-day maintenance other than the typical weekly cleaning. I will try to seal more often, say once a year, though.

My mom has had her white (statuary) marble bathroom for 18 years, too. Her marble is polished. The etch marks are very noticeable, and one of the reasons I like honed better. (I am a clean-freak, but honed also hides soap scum better than polished.) One of two issues she's had is some stains where she was using hair coloring products. But I think that likely could have been avoided if her marble had been properly sealed. She also has a few dark spots in her shower area on the ceiling -- it almost looks like the marble got wet and never dried out. But again, I don't think the marble in her bathroom was ever sealed or cleaned with any speciality marble products since it was installed. She does clean her bathroom weekly and keeps it pretty pristine.

I think you either love marble -- and have a gut positive reaction to it, and thus can life with the faults, or don't. So, no, I don't think you're crazy :-) Calacutta Gold can be absolutely beautiful!

P.S. Here's my floor mosaic that will be installed in about a month or so.

Jmcgowan- your floor tile is beautiful! Where was this purchased. I would love to use this on my bedroom fireplace.
VictoriaElizabeth- I enjoyed reading your blog about picking tile and the frustrations that go along with it. I could not have put it any better!
Firsthome- I say go with marble and just make sure its sealed

I think marble is fine if you have the time and enjoy doing chores around the house. I live on two acres and my house is 4500 sq foot. I love my marble subway backsplash in my kitchen but I would shoot myself if I had to maintain marble in the shower.

I realize most people do not manage to maintain as large of a yard or home but you need to be realistic about your habits. I have good habits but also want a life outside of maintaining my house.YMMV.

Firstthome - I've been struggling with this same issue for over a month now. Loved the marble look, got terrified abt the maintenance, scraped it all in favor of crackle subway and then like you, found out that may be much worse than the marble, so I'm back to square one. Doing 18 x 18 honed marble floors and 12 x 12s and 6x 6s in my shower, with a mosaic shower floor and accent. I figure I should just get what I like. Also, every hotel I stay in has marble bathrooms and they all look great and I know guests aren't treating those with kid gloves. My vote is to just get what you like - it's a big project and lots of money and you'll be less happy if it lasts but you don't really love it than if you get what you love and just be somewhat more careful with it.

We use our usual shampoo, conditioners, etc., BUT we did have to convert to dye-free bar soap. The green Irish Spring was leaving stains -- they came out, but it took a lot of scrubbing.

Kamkar, thank you. The tile is made by New Ravenna. They have a great web site, with lots of images -- have fun viewing!

P.S. Lots of public museums/restrooms in D.C. have marble floors. Small patterns and a slightly darker grout help.

You are not crazy in my opinion....I love marble.

Firsthome I don't want to scare you but for my opinion a marble is not best choice for shower, bathroom and kitchen. There are always chemically aggressive substances that can easy etch or stain a marble, especially for white kinds like White Carrara, White Thassos, Crystal White and so on. And fortunately now there are a lot of porcelain tiles that looks identical to marble and much more durable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shower damages

I have a tumbled marble shower and floor in our master bath, now going on 10. The "tumbled" is basically honed and chipped and it's very pretty. The shower has curbs and a bench of limestone and while marble and limestone are similar, I made the mistake of accepting very dark limestone.

If etching on the marble can be accepted -- that is you will see spots in certain light -- then think about marble. If you also don't mind resealing once each year, then marble is ok, too. Certainly it is beautiful. I would not go with polished unless you have a staff or don't mind having it refinished by a pro frequently.

When marble gets tricky is if grout develops mold and you need to go in there with a Clorox pen on that. That can etch the marble. I've even accepted that though I can't see etching on the tumbled.

Having said all that, if I had it to do over I would not use marble or limestone. I would spend the same money on some really gorgeous glass, ceramic tile or porcelain tile. And not subways. I'm sick of those.

There is a gigantic amount of tile product out there and so much is reasonably priced. Porcelain tile -- which is basically bulletproof -- also is now being digitally printed. I'm starting to see people using wood-look porcelain tile on kitchen floors. They have it with faux-calacatta marble printing and you'd need to be an expert to tell the difference. I saw a bath installation with that and it was drop dead.

Ten years ago that didn't exist. But today there can be a marble bath with porcelain tile upkeep which, basically, is minimal.

A lot of us tend to sit at our computers but the thing to do with tile is visit the showrooms to get ideas and see colors and styles.

We have had tumbled white marble in the shower for 7 years. Seal it once a year and wipe down after shower. That is all we have done and it still looks new

We have had a marble shower for 3 years... I use it daily. I have never sealed it, don't use special cleaning products, haven't changed my cleaning products, and don't have any stains or problems!

Just wondering what you ended up going with? Are you happy with your choice? We are leaning toward a marble shower as well.

Where does one buy a Marble wall for a shower?
Having trouble in my search.
Thanks!

We went with ceramic subway tile with a very large niche that has marble inset and marble floor. Our remodel took forever. Hope to post pictures soon, but the shower floor may need to be redone as it is not draining correctly.

As for a marble wall, Scott are you referring to a full marble slab? That would be purchased at a Granite/Marble supplier.

firsthome:

There are guys that make a living regrouting and maintaining marble showers. I'd put them out of work by using an engineered stone or solid surface in the shower. In vertical applications solid surface can be glossy and will outperform any stone on the planet. You can have a pan built to match too.

While marble is more "maintenance intensive" as it is a natural material and IS porous, two things will make it trouble-free. First is to use only a liquid soap as bar soap contains animal fat as "fillers," and the second is to DRY it after use. If you follow those two "Golden Rules," it will look good forever...

Has anyone used polished marble rather than honed marble on shower walls? I've found polished grey Grecian for 40% less than the price of the honed product, and this is for a tub/shower surround in which the tub will be used more frequently than the shower.... (non master bedroom).
If SO, then how has it held up?

My shower is polished marble. I squeegee it every time we shower and a year and a half later it still looks good as new.

Changing my bath products then drying the shower floor and walls after every use? Who does that? Fuhgetaboutit. I'll go with soapstone. That way, I don't have to buy soap anymore!

My thoughts on this where showcased on Houzz a few years back: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/why-marble-might-be-wrong-for-your-bathroom-stsetivw-vs~12133357

you're getting so many opinions so I'll toss mine in as well. We put in 12 x 12 marble tile in our tub/shower combination with a matching pony wall around the tub approximately 9 years ago and we LOVE it. It's in our master bath and neither my husband nor I ever considered changing shampoo, soap products. It looks just as good today as it did on day one. We have a twice a month cleaning lady so I'm not sure if she's used anything special to clean it (I doubt it). It's been wonderful and I'd do it again in a heart beat. We have large 14 x 14 porcelain tile flooring so no opinion on marble flooring.

what is a phony wall

sorry that pony wall

Pony Wall

I need to find a realistic looking porcelain Calacatta gold tile for my master bath with trim pieces to match. Does anyone know where to find this? I keep hearing about great marble look alike tile, but I can't find it to buy. I live near Atlanta.

I used white marmi, it only comes in a matte finish but it looked pretty authentic to me. I purchased from tile America and they had some other very nice porcelain marbles in polished if that is the finish you are hoping to use.

Here is my inspiration a full slab real Calcutta shower

Roarah, I like your faux version better :-)

I just finished a shower using marble. I know you need to use special products on the marble, so how are you dealing with cleaning and soap scum on the glass shower surround?

This discussion helped us make our decision to go with marble in our shower last year and we are really happy with our decision. I know it’s only been a year, but it looks great. In addition to sealing the marble on installation, we wipe down the glass and marble every day with a separate towel we keep for just that purpose. It takes about 2 minutes and serves as my morning calesthenics. This helps minimize the use of cleaning products and the shower looks perfect every time we enter the bathroom. I plan to reseal the marble every two years.

We just went with honed marble floors in our shower with white grout, no less. I don't care...I'll deal with it. There isn't much out there on the market that beats the beauty of marble. Plus, IMO, etching adds character. :)

Trying to decide between porcelain time marble look and honed marble for bathrooms in a new construction. Do you feel like it's imperative to dry or squeegee the shower down after each use with honed marble that has been sealed?

I have honed marble floors and I don’t squeegee them down. I have a marble accent wall and I sure as hell don’t squeegee or wipe the wall down.

I have aslope in the shower floo r and nothing pools. I have a great humidity sensor fan which takes care of residual moisture.

I have always used liqidid soap and so scum buildup from bar soaps is a non issue. .

I am concerned with maintenance ... I know we will need to seal it and use special cleaning products

You're right to be concerned about these things. Why would you want to increase your cleaning work?

if money was no object...curious as to what others would choose? Also any other tile suggestions would be appreciated.

I still wouldn't go with marble. I don't care for it much -- too cold, too old looking. But the upkeep would be the straw that'd break the camel's back.

If I wanted a marble look, I'd opt for a ceramic that LOOKS like marble.

I like your suggestion of a crackle tile.

Since money is an object, I'd also consider that marble will be so expensive that one day when you want to change it, you'll feel guilty getting rid of something so expensive.