For nearly 20 years, we've lived with two travertine bathrooms done by the previous homeowners. Considering they were do-it-yourselfers, they did pretty good. One bathroom, our guest bathroom, has an antique hutch converted into a bathroom vanity with marble replacing the countertop surfaces (I love that piece), marble floors, a slab marble tub counter, marble on the walls, a marble wide windowsill, and a marble with wood trim tub surround. The wood was probably not the best idea around a bathtub, but it has not warped and has help up pretty well. It's required repainting, of course. I am mindful to keep the wood as dry as possible. The grand slab bathtub counter (don't know what else to call it) has held up well. We've had to replace plumbing, but the marble has held up. Maybe next year, we will have the marble polished up in there. That bathroom has light to moderate use and has, miraculously, no real etching even after 20 years. Some hard water deposits around the toilet base. The caulk (sanded caulk?) needs to be replaced around the perimeter where the marble on the walls of the shower/tub touches the marble slab counter. For what it is worth, we never put in a shower curtain there - it is a bathtub bathroom only. I think that helped preserve the marble and the wood. The marble on the windowsill was not done correctly. The windowsill had to be reworked by experts who chose to demo and replace it with something else. Our master bathroom is all pinkish travertine. This bathroom features the travertine shower with glass doors, pinkish (really flesh colored)travertine on the walls, and the windowsills as well. Same problem in here with the travertine on the windowsills. Those sills cracked, warped, and had to be replaced. There is a weird problem on the wall. It looks like there was some filler used in the travertine when it was sold/installed. Over time, the filler seems to have evaporated and has left a more pitted and hollowed surface. The affected area is directly above the wall mounted lights that flank the mirror. I think the heat from the lights might have contributed to it. It looks odd. I have found a tile and marble restoration person. After we finish other projects this year, I'll consider having him inspect and repolish this bathroom, too. This second bathroom has a travertine shower. The shower is badly etched and I don't trust the pan. We have had hard water at times over the past 20 years. The hard water is not kind to the marble. Also, we certainly should have recaulked over the years. Didn't know to do that. Probably sealer too? Not sure, but we had no idea how to take care of it. There is etching of the marble, too, where we used too harsh of cleaning products. I am the most unhappy with the travertine in this shower. I don't think I want a marble or travertine shower in any remodels in the future, but for lower-use situations, like our guest bath, it still works for me. If well-trained adults are the occupants, it might work. My husband, though, tends to nuke the shower to clean it on an occasional burst of energy without my OK. I should have a bathroom that he can nuke with Lime-Away if he wants to, not something with a picky product like marble. I have found a steam cleaner to be useful inside the shower for cleaning. Not sure if it gets the experts OK, but that is what I've been doing in recent years. I haven't needed to use the steam cleaner anywhere but in the shower. The floor in both baths is travertine. We had a bathroom scale that left a small rust stain on the floor where the plastic glide came off its foot. I was able to rub most of it out, forgot what I used - - some sort of Helful Hint - but a bit remains. I am super-hyper about no metal in the bathroom on the floors -- no metal trash cans or step stools, for example, even if coated in plastic. When we first moved in, people warned us that we would be slipping and sliding on marble bathroom floors. Knock on wood, no one has ever slipped on the bathroom floors. We've been mindful to not put down polishes that are meant for wall or counter marble. Polishes for floors must say floor on it. I am always worried about stepping out of the bathtub as it is rather a high ledge to get to the floor. I never step onto the marble, always onto the rug. That's our marble story.

With kitchen counters that thick, I believe they face the counter with a layer of ply to support the stone. I wouldn't think that the sink would have problems with the thickness, the weight of the stone and the sink might make the slab crack if not supported across the vanity span. You could post this question over on the kitchen forum too.

Thanks GreenDesigns. I had high confidence in my contractor (and his engineer) for my beam installation and general addition construction. It has been standing for 2 years, with no movement/cracks so far. I do wonder now though. I know they didn't add any additional footing at the beam ends... But, the beam was the former exterior wall, and so the beam ends are on the (crawlspace) foundation with proper footings that existed before. Should I ask about extra footings as they come back for phase II later this year? We live in Western Washington--and have no real frost line. Nevertheless our foundation (and our addition's foundation) create a 24" or better crawlspace.

I have an update and would love to get some feedback before I order the final accessories. (Demo begins one week from today!) I got a quote for replacing the vanity with white cabinetry complete with a sitting area, plus hardwiring of sconces. The costs all added up to too much for me, so I'm sticking with my vanity and overhead lighting location. I feel great about my choices for tile, bath tub, paint, and fixtures. My worry is that all the little accessory details won't quite work together, diminishing the beauty of the bathroom as a whole. I need to buy the accessories soon; here's what I have in mind. With overhead lighting instead of sconces, I prefer one large mirror. The mirror is by Pottery Barn, a wooden frame with gold gilt, 72" x 36". Perfect size for the space, very very very hard to find. This is technically a floor-length mirror, so I hope it can be mounted horizontally! PB customer service was useless when asked. The lights are also PB, polished nickel. For practical reasons, I ruled out any overhead lights that take type B bulbs (too dim) and have fabric shades (too hard to clean). As a big plus, these are on sale for $170 each. Do they go with the mirror and the rest of the room? Chandelier is PB, 18" diameter, antique brass, UL-listed. This will be over the tub on a dimmer. It was hard to find a chandy that's not too big, ornate, and/or expensive. Knobs and pulls are glass and polished nickel from Restoration Hardware. Towel ring, TP roll, and hook are Ballard Design in polished nickel. Fabric for the roman shade is gray on cream linen. Shower bench is Signature Hardware in teak. I hope this will help tie in the wood of the vanity with the other side of the room. Towel warmer is polished stainless steel (no nickel option) from Signature Hardware. If anything doesn't quite mesh or looks wrong, I would love to hear, as well as any suggestions for alternatives!