nomore, What a great deal! I hate to rain on your parade, but when I recently mentioned to a good friend of mine that I wanted marble in the kitchen, she very vigorously said, "NO!" She had had marble in her bathroom and hated it. Apparently, make-up stains it; hairspray etches it; and all sorts of other problems. This is a woman who is neat but not obsessively fastidious.

I say go for it. The only marble I have is a creama marfil flooring inthe powder bath as well as my entry. It is coming out, but because DH doesn't like the color nd we have wanted to put harwoods in the formal areas that are connected by the entry and want them continuous. I would have the option of keeping the marble in the bathroom if we hadn't just had to tear out half of it to repair a plumbing problem under the house.

When we bought the house, the marble had some etching -- looked like it was probably from toilet bowl cleaner dripped on the floor. This was an a polished surface, so they stood out more. I kept trying to clean them off until I realized the surface was etched. It had no stains.

I do have marble in my kitchen. The counters have had all kinds of staining stuff (tomatoes, chocolate, red wine, coffee) on them, and nothing has stained them. I think that if you seal the vanity well, you would be fine. I would probabaly hone the surface -- minimizes etching and would look fine since the other surfaces are not shiny.

We have marble vanity tops in our bathrooms, as well as a marble floor and a marble tub/shower in the master bath. Everything was there when we moved in and original to the house, so it's now about 40 years old. We love the look of natural stone, so the marble was one of the attractions of the house. It does stain and etch, however. For example, we had a leak that left a permanent stain in the floor near the toilet. We were able to lighten it with a poultice, but that didn't remove it entirely. And one does have to be careful with chemicals (e.g., hair spray, nail polish & remover, bathroom cleaners, etc.). Even water can leave spots if it sits long enough (something to think about if you have children and guests who might not know to dry off the vanity top after splashing all over it). One certainly has to be more careful with it than one does with some other materials. On the other hand, it has a natural beauty that's hard to beat. I suspect that your satisfaction with it will depend on your expectations. If you want it to remain as pristine as the day it was installed, you may be disappointed -- or at least find that it's a rather high maintenance material. If you're comfortable viewing the imperfections that result from use as part of the stone's patina, you'll probably love it, as we do.

By the way, in my view, it's staining, rather than etching that's the biggest problem in the long haul. If the stone gets etched, it's always possible to have someone regrind the surface and remove the etching. If a stain soaks deep into the marble, however, it can become impossible to remove.

We have a huge amount of carrera marble in our bathroom. Has been in about one year. It's on the floors, the shower surround, the tub surround, and both countertops. Have done way less in maintenance than I had planned, but to date have had no staining and no etching that I notice. I have been meaning to reseal, at least the vanities, but the kitchen reno has completely worn me out.

I love the look, and as an example of how happy we've been, we're doing 70 sf of calcatta oro for countertops in our new kitchen. That, I think, will definitely raise issues of etching, although I am hoping with careful sealing I can avoid staining. We'll see--but I like marble way more than any other stone option and are willing to work to keep it up.

I don't know if others here know this, but the whitest and finest marble in the world is in Alabama. Italian artists, once knowledgeable of this marble, scrambled for it. The United States Supreme Court, several memorials in Washington, DC, and the State of Alabama Archives & History buildings are made from this marble. We were just there a few days ago and there are no recognizable stains and this is a tourist site for children, who have been coming here in busses for more than 6 decades and, of course, they all buy snacks. No recognizable staining that I could see and the main reason I went other than taking the grandsons, was to prove to my daughter-in-law that marble can stand the test of time.

http://www.floorzbuzz.com/productcart/pc/viewcategories.asp?idCategory=5&pageStyle=H

and the story of The monuments and memorials, etc., that are made from this very white marble, go to "floor buzz," link above.

In our master bath I used marble on the double vanity, on the floors, halfway up the walls, and in the shower. I also have marble floors in my powder room. It's all polished, and ther has been etching, but I still love it. Now I want honed marble in my new kitchen, even though everyone in the world outside this forum is discouraging me against it. I've been researching Vermont Danby marble which has also been used in many of the buildings in Washington D.C. I hope to get a sample to test soon.

There is no doubt that marble is beautiful and, like other natural stone, fundamentally durable. One can find buildings all over Europe with marble that is hundreds of years old and still looks gorgeous. And the monuments you've mentioned are prime examples of how fine stone can age just beautifully. Still, marble is a softer and more porous stone than granite and therefore it does stain and etch. Over time, however, it can develop a patina -- i.e., the imperfections can come to look as if they are part of the stone. Those historic buildings/monuments no doubt have stains (slight discolorations)and etching (if they haven't been re-polished recently) that one would never notice unless one placed a brand new piece of the exact same marble right next to them. We observed this first hand during a bathroom remodel a few years ago. DH cracked a backsplash and we had to find a replacement piece to match the remaining countertop. We quickly learned that some of the slightly creamy white tones in the backsplash that we had assumed were natural were actually water stains that had resulted from water wicking up through a couple of tiny gaps in the caulk between the backsplash and the vanity top. I doubt that any layperson would have identified those creamy tones as stains (although experienced stone people who were familiar with this particular marble could) and I actually thought they gave the stone a slightly more attractive appearance than the original, pristine stone.

Generally speaking, compared to synthetic materials, all natural stone is higher maintenance and more subject to changes in appearance over time. And compared to some other natural stones (especially granite), marble is somewhat higher maintenance and more subject to wear and tear. People who prefer more uniform, pristine surfaces may thus find marble a bit more challenging to live with. People who really love the look of natural materials--partly because of their natural variations and imperfections--won't mind the maintenance and the wear because they'll be too busy basking in the beauty of their marble.

Hey, look at the bright side--you won't need a Geiger counter to check your marble countertops :-)

And there is a new product that can be impregnated into marble which makes it more impervious to stains.

patricia43:

don't leave me hanging! what is this new product?

patricia43,

Yes, please post what the new sealer product is. I've decided to bite the bullet and get the marble top. I don't think I'll regret it.

Based on what I've read, I think the marble and its natural patina will fit well in our home. I never iron my linen pants, much less my jeans, and I drag things across my hardwood floors and don't fuss over the scratches. Our home is the warm and homey and lived in variety, not the photo-shoot ready variety.

Honestly, I think I was meant to have the marble! I keep thinking about it and visualizing how great it will look. It feels like I was fated to have the marble after alking in there knowing that anything in that building was mine free (just fabr & install cost) and seeing that marble first off!

Thanks, everyone, for your advice and thoughts.

Anita

patricia43--please come back and share the product name! I reserved my carrera slabs yesterday!

I'm glad you're getting it. Don't worry -- there are a number of good sealers and the best ones are all impregnatiing sealers. Stone Tech and Pro Plus are the two I think I see here most for marble. My kitchen counters have a Stone Tech sealer on them adn it has been great. Just don't do the Dry Treat (or something like that) stuff that is supposed to also protect against etching. At least not until they can make it so that ot doesn't put a plasticky finish on the surface. And it's expensive and has to be applied by one of their folks. I got a smaple with it and am glad I did before putting it on my counter. I'd rather have laminate or totally unsealed marble.

I felt like it was meant to be too -- just didn't want to push you too much. Enjoy! ;-)