Susancc, thanks for posting (with a little help--good job, marmoreous). Anyway, your floors really are fabulous and make me go back to my first thought of doing travertine floors in my mudroom. About four years ago, I went into a woman's house with very similar floors and said, "If I ever have a mudroom or build a house--I want to do these floors!" I need to honor that original thought. I will say, though, that a tile "expert" told me yesterday that she thought my dog's nails would scratch it. Sounds like you find it pretty hardy. One note on mudroom cabinets--I just got my laundry room cabinets installed today. They are bright apple green--a bit shocking at first, but I think I will like them in the end. My laundry room is upstairs and set all by itself--no rooms around it--at the end of a long hall. I will hopefully post pictures at some point.

Hello! You have a very interesting issue! And, like you, I looked at both marmoleum and cork for my 1936 kitchen, as both are period appropriate. I've decided on cork from duro-design. I was concerned about seams showing in the click flooring. I had heard that Marmoleum, the sheet kind, not the click kind, was a kind of fussy installation that even flooring installers who are used to sheet vinyl find difficult. And So I found a local Marmoleum certified installer. He sold a lot of different types of floors, but even so hadn't done too many Marmoleum installs. I felt like I would be a guinea pig. Again, I was also concerned about seams. The borders for the sheet goods have heat sealed seams, but you would still have open seams where the border meets the sheet lino, unless you specify "welded" seams. They're heat sealed on site, and it costs extra. That said, the costs for Marmoleum and the cork were comparable. Here's why I chose the cork -- I've decided to use durodesign's glue-down cork tile that has a mfr-applied urethane layer and it will get the 4 coats of low voc urethane that I'll apply. That made all the difference to me, because as someone who has installed ceramic tile, peel-and-stick vinyl, wide plank wood and god only knows what all else, I hate seams. They catch dirt, etc. I like the site-applied urethane because it will fill any seams and make for a much more durable floor. Even though the cork tiles should be installed tightly against each other, even smooshed together a little, there will be seams. The urethane sounds easy to apply (much like the tung oil finish that we applied to our wide-plank floors) and can also be hand-sanded and reapplied after 5 years, so that's a plus. And just judging by the very pretty samples that durodesign sent, it's going to be a joy to stand on these guys. Very comfy. I'm going to try either an all over tone-on-tone checkerboard (Barriga Leather Brown and Light Oak), or a checkerboard inset "rug effect" (leather brown and light oak)with a whiskey brown border in the center of the room, surrounded by a light oak or leather brown field. And I'm going to install it myself, if I don't jinx myself here. All of this to say that if you are interested in DIY, I think the cork is the way to go. Also, I think there's an inspiration pic I used from Country Living that shows how pretty cork can be with white cabs. If I find it, I'll link.

Natural stone in a shower is fine, but as others have stated, it does require the use of non-acidic cleaners specified for natural stone. That being said, when we read your post, the concerns you present would suggest that your best option is porcelain. Lower maintenance for sure. As cooks kitchen mentions, your biggest concern should be how the prep for the shower is done. Even a 25 year old shower should not leak. You don't want to do this again in a few years, so regardless of the tile you choose, spend more time selecting a qualified, dedicated tile contractor to prepare and install. Oh, and likely, the porcelain (depending on what it is), will cost less for install then the natural stone, if that is a consideration. Good luck with your project.

I need some help too please 🙏🏻 I was given bad advice from a professional tile restorer that I should use vinegar and warm water to clean my bathroom floors/ grout. I have a new construction home and the tiler did not cover the floors after he finished so every contractor walked on the bathroom floors dragging mud and paint… needless to say the grout was no longer bright white. I have been trying to get professionally cleaned but no one wants to touch marble. So I used the vinegar and a plastic scrub brush and of course the polished marble is now matte. I ended up doing the entire floor because the matte area I did first was in the middle of the floor and it was very obvious. I don’t mind the look of the less shiny floor but I’m worried it’s now going to stain very easily. I bought a steamer to try to do the grout but then I read no steamer on marble either! What do I do? Do I reseal the marble? Also all of the staining did not come out of the grout. Is it possible to re-grout the floors to kind of start over? Any advice is much much appreciated.