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Design Dilemma Bathrooms

We have well water. Can I do marble tile in my shower room?

13 days ago

Hello Houzz. We are redoing our master bath and planned for marble floors and walls in the shower room. The shower room will have a low curb with 8' glass, not glass up to the ceiling (in case that matters for ventilation).

My concern is for iron or other stains in the marble. We'll of course seal the marble to protect (we hope) against hair dye stains, etc. but I've been told to worry that the stagnant water will stain the marble despite sealing. FWIW, testing our water shows no iron or other metals on a test strip, and the water is not hard as we have a whole house softener.

I've read a bunch of posts on Houzz and the blogosphere, and some say they've had no issues with their marble for years and years and others show stains within just a year or two.

Can I rely on water testing that shows low iron and other metal/mineral content in our well water? Or am I asking for an expensive retile in a few years if I use marble? Are certain colors/types of marble more resistant to stains?

Thanks for the assistance.

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Comments (4)

SashaDog
13 days ago
Why do you think the water tests are wrong?

Also, i thought one of the issues with marble in a shower was if the matble itself had iron in it
fromorma
Original Author
13 days ago
I don’t think the tests are inaccurate, but they’re test strips from Amazon (like the ones we used to use in chemistry class in high school!) not tests from a certified lab. Yes, I could have a lab run tests too.

I think you are correct about there being iron IN the marble too, which is why I ask whether different colors/types of marble are worse for stain risk. I recall reading that carrara, I think, has high iron content.
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formula 1, great answer, I like your expert style which I'm sure spans many other subjects. a water softener is not the end all to applying marble in a shower application which will be used daily. marble is a natural stone and is quite porous containing dry pits & veins. in addition to taking on mineral deposits if the water softener is not performing up to snuff, shiny marble will take on a dull luster if not routinely sealed and kept up on a regular basis. anything can be made to work given enough proper maintenance and up keep, just not something i think the average homeowner wants to deal with.
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Acidic products will etch marble. First go through what you use in the shower. Does your husband shave in the shower? Check his products also. Buy a cleaner for marble and have it for your cleaning service. Though, I would think they would know how to clean marble. But maybe not. Watch out for chlorine bleach, while it is basic and not acidic, it will mess with the color of your grout. Grout will absorb water, it's not water proof, but it should dry out also. Is your darker grout on the floor? Is is possible that whoever built your shower did not built a proper pre-slope? Though, I think different methods are used in different parts of the country, but the shower under the tile should slope towards the drain. Pictures will help once you get them loaded. Here is a link that might be useful: How to post photos on gardenweb
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We used polished White Thassos marble in our niches (top, sides, bottom in three bathrooms, plus shelves in two baths). We also used it as border tile on our MB tub surround (but it doesn't really get wet during showers as it sits outside the shower curtain liner, and curtain itself). I sealed it all when it was installed, and that's pretty much it. I use a "sealed natural stone-safe" spray cleaner (7th Generation Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner). I spray it on, let sit a few minutes, and buff off with a microfiber cloth. No rinsing necessary (I do try to wipe it all off, as I'm not fond of the lingering scent left behind, mostly in the corners). As far as I can tell, the WT still looks perfectly fine.
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Where are you located? Here in CA tile showrooms are not completely closed. They will make a one-on-one appointment and let you in to look and get some samples, with everyone wearing masks. Many companies are also good about mailing samples. I requested a sample from Porcelanosa last week and they mailed it immediately and I got it 3 days later. The problem with the marble look tile samples is that they are cut from the larger tiles and the colors you see in your sample could be the main color in the tile or a very very tiny part of the whole color scheme. You can also look for online photos of the samples you get, to see the actual patterns when installed in a whole room. There is a wide variety in the overall look of marble-look tiles, ranging from very grey/blue to very beige, so I would not want to commit to something from a tiny sample. Can you wait to finish the project?
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arcy_gw
13 days ago
last modified: 13 days ago
Do you water your outside plants or yard? Do you have to be careful of hitting the house or other yard art? Does your watering leave rust stains on outside objects? This is your research. If YES than I would say you will have issues inside too. What is the shower lined in now? We have switched from bath/shower surrounds to tile in two bathrooms and rust residue is an issue in grout, we hadn't had issues before that.
fromorma
Original Author
13 days ago
No such issues outdoors. It's a good point that we've been using this water through the rest of the house already anyway....

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