Carrara vs. Calacatta Marble: What is the Difference?

talb3rtg Thanks. I learned something new today :)

Affordable Interiors Good stuff, thank you!

erincnm Loved the tutorial!

Dave Barnes educational
thanks

hgrada I got the pop quiz right! also started quizzing myself way earlier - enough examples to really get the point thanks! I don't think I could ever afford either - but the calacatta is gorgeous...

The Impatient Gardener I'm embarrassed to say that I guess I never realized there was a difference but now I see there certainly is. In fact I was at a stoneyard today and looked at a piece of Carrera and didn't care for it much. Now I realize what I've been looking and loving the whole time is Calcutta.

Deborah Hall I think they are both beautiful but dramatically different in appearance and price. I would love to see a tutorial like this on the difference between honed Valley Gold Vein and Imperial Danby! I'm trying to decide between these two right now . . . .

Pedini Kitchens Love white marble!

Carol Thanks for explaining the differences so well. I've learned something new.

Thais Rodriguez great lesson, thank you!

carrib I've been schooled- thanks!

Casart Coverings I thought I'd get an A for identifying the difference in the two marbles until you threw in that 6th picture! I look at cararra every day in my bathroom and never thought about its definitive characteristics until now. Thanks, Debbie

kbumgar Great ideabook! We are going to look at carrara slabs this weekend. Now that I know that there is a very close (and beautiful!) alternative, I will be sure to ask about calacatta as well. Thank you!

kirstenmarie Fabulous photos to show the differences. I've always considered the calcutta the caviar
between the two marbles! It's truly one of my favorites to use when the client can afford it!!

Mission Millworks Thanks, very informative and great examples. And I prefer calcutta by the way.

Scott Haig, CKD You know, that was really helpful, thank you--now I know the differences. I also learned that Cararra is not the rarer of the two; also, there's not a lotta Calacatta as compared to Cararra. (Just a little memory help.)

I generally prefer the calacatta. Now, if only I can remember how to spell them correctly...

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR Great examples to really show the difference. I think there are still one or two examples where I would scratch my head for awhile. I particularly liked the Calacatta Gold. I've never been a big fan of Cararra because the gray always seems so cold to me. I do love gray, but I always lean toward warmer toned grays or taupes, so that one would be great.

ds design studio Glad this is helpful! Thank you all for checking in.

scooteroo, I had to proofread several times to make sure I spelled them right!

Jan J how do they hold up with daily use...i.e. showers, countertops?

ann bridgman Very helpful. never new the difference! www.justthethingdecorating.com

centrd That was great! I definitely prefer carrerra in the whiter shades. Now perhaps a tutorial on the difference between travertine and limestone? Seems those two are often being confused.

gopg8r I went with all carrara for my house ... would have preferred a whiter marble on the kitchen counters but you go with what you can afford! And honestly, it's beautiful on the floor of the bathroom with black and white marble as the border.

ds design studio jjlmnaz, just like any stone, it needs to be sealed with a penetrating sealer, and cleaned with a ph neutral stone cleaner. Many bathroom cleaners will strip the sealer which protects stone. If you follow these steps, you shouldn't have any problems.

mcp333a Thank you for the amazing pics! I've always loved both stones, particularly when honed. I'm re-doing the bath w/ calcutta since I love the movement of gray mixed w/ a warmer hue. For those who wish to ck out a 'tried and true sealer'..try 'Stain proof original' by Dry treat...tried many, this is the champ! After 3 coats for a marble, any liquid just beads up. Recommend using dusk mask while applying.

steff13 I have had honed and polished marbles of all kinds, Carrera,Calcutta & Cappucino Marble.. Have never had a problem with them staining, however etching happens quite quickly, a piece of tomato, drop of o.j. Can't seem to get it up fast enough.....But I love the look of marble over granite so I put up with it and will have them re-polished or honed. Will try the Dry teat mentioned above.....

mary elizabeth hulsey What an incredible dialogue on Calacatta and Carrara. I try and explain the differences almost daily to my customers in the showroom.

starr Thank you for the post. That was really informative and I so want a honed calacatta anything.

pl13 Very helpful. Thanks!!

Karen Heffernan Thank you for this! I just put marble in my master bathroom - similar to calacutta, but mine is statuario

alex511 What is the difference in overall color if you choose to get the small staggered mosaic tiles in these two marbles? Would carrara still have a more gray color?

ds design studio Alex511, yes, in general, the cararra would be more gray. I always advise my clients to request a sample of the current stock of any stone they are considering.

thebuilderdepot.com It is a great article. I have attached a picture of Calacatta from www.thebuilderdepot.com. We have shown a standard Carrara compared to our Calacatta. A true Italian Calacatta has a significantly whiter base than Carrara this is one of the major differences between the two illustrated in the attached picture.

Letitia Holloway Great book to pass on to clients. Awesome info.
Whenever possible, I like to take clients to select the actual slabs from the supplier and tape off the areas to be used. This helps manage their expectations of what will be delivered. As organic as the lines & color are, the movement of a piece is often a shock for some, even though it has been explained in the selection process.

bepsf Thanks for this - Such a useful and educational post!

CarraraTiles Calacatta leaves me with an artificial granite impression where Carrara gives more marble feeling to it. But in the end it's all about the preference and the ambiance you're aiming to build.

Mary White with Porcelanosa Great overview. The biggest surprise is that the Carrara is cool toned and the Calacatta warm tones. Big difference in pricing. Clients usually decide cool or warm tone first (even over viening type believe it or not) Its usually a warmer tone with pretty viens - - Well then you $elected Calacatta. Lots of catagories of each but that might be confusing- so great general difference.

Patricia Zee terrific article...definitely a keeper! thank you!

rbcola This was very interesting. I love calcutta gold and favor it. However, if budget is a factor Carrara....is still a great choice. If you have any info/feedback.....I'm concerned about putting either one around the fireplace. I'm not concerned about the kitchen counter because I've done some due dilligence and will put it in an appropriate countertop.
But I love the all marble fireplace.....just concerned about keeping it "clean". Comment?

ds design studio rbcola, as long as you treat the marble with a penetrating sealer and use a ph neutral stone cleaner, you should be fine. Visit your local tile and stone shop and they will recommend some products and explain how to use them.

Calacatta Marble & Mosaic Good Post. Although they are both from the Carrara area of Italy, Calacatta and Bianco Carrara have very distinct appearences. Calacatta is certainly more trendy right now, but Carrara is a constant in the stone industry. At Calacatta Marble & Mosaic Co., we stock only the best 1st quality Italian Calacatta in both tiles, mosaics ans slabs ( www.calacattamarble.com ) and we ship anywhere in the country. Coincidentally, due to overwhelming demand, our customers have also asked us for Carrara; therefore in 4 weeks we will be stocking a full line of Italian Carrara as well. P.S. - Be cautious of other "white marble types" that some call calacatta. There is only one calacatta, and it only comes from Italy.

daffny Got it!

Kosta's Inc. I recently saved a few slabs of the Calcutta gold for my kitchen counters and backsplash but it has a few dark/black
Spots on it. Should I continue looking for another slab? Is this a flaw?

ds design studio @ Kosta's Inc, If your stone fabricator can work around the spots (avoid using those areas for your project), then I would hold onto them. Don't know if I would call the spots flaws, but some slabs are certainly cleaner than others. If the spots bother you, by all means, keep looking.

barbav Thanks so much for the photos (they're beautiful) and the tutorial.

darleensaunders For twelve years I thought I had Carrara and I really have Calacatta. It wasn't until I went to a supplier recently and saw the names on the stones. I had picked it from a lot of fifty sister stones. I didn't care what it was called at the time. Lucky for me it was a good price at the time.

ds design studio Hi Darleen, I believe that as long as you love your stone, it doesn't really matter what it's called. But it is funny that all this time it was Calacatta, not Cararra as you thought. I enjoyed your post, especially that your photo featured your cute kitty!

Ollin stone If you want to see the difference between White Carrera and Different types of Calcatta stone, you are welcome to come over to Ollin Stone's Yard in Anaheim. Please ask for me, Manjari Rana to help you. I can take you around the yard and show you different stones. You may contact me at manjari@ollinstone.com.

erikagreff To complicated things, I'm told there is also Turkish Carrara.. Similar to Italian, but cheaper. Know anything about this variety? I'm also told it's less dense/stains easier? Fact or fiction?

Ollin stone Hello Erikagreff, I checked on Turkish White Carrera. There is no such thing. The original White Carrera that comes from Italy only. There are some materials out there that may be a little similar in look but do not really have the beauty of White Carrera. One of those come from China. White Carrera is not really an expensive stone. You can check at OllinStone.com the white carrera that we carry. It is imported directly from Carrera, Italy.
If you are close enough to Anaheim, CA, please stop by and check our yard. There are other options available to White Carrera, like Bianco Canalgrande and Gioia but then again, they all come from same region and are little higher priced than White Carrera.

thebuilderdepot.com Hi Erikagreff,

Ollin is correct. There is no such thing as "Turkish Carrara". Carrara Marble is called "Carrara" because of the Italian region it is from, which is Carrara. Turkey is clearly not in Italy and not from the "Carrara" region so "Turkish Carrara" is, well an oxymoron.

It is actually a gimmick or a trick to try and get you to buy it. White marble from Turkey is cheaper than Carrara and more readily available.

I have included a picture of real Carrara (and the tags left on the box so you can see). Turkish White marble (as a marble expert I refuse to call it "Turkish Carrara") has cloudy veining and crystal flakes in the stone.

For more information on how to spot fake Carrara you can visit our website and blog, www.thebuilderdepot.com. We are experts in genuine Italian stone.

lhedani Marble is a beautiful material but it is very slippery when wet, especially if it is polished; so why would anyone put this on a bathroom floor? Think about all the office lobbies with marble floors, and the mats that must be rolled out on rainy days to prevent falls and ensuing lawsuits!

thebuilderdepot.com Hi lhedani,

Good question. Mosaics are the key to traction and provide attractive design options to any bathroom improvement. A lot of our customers put mosaics on the bathroom floor and almost always in the shower. It is a massive misconception that polished mosaics are more slippery than honed. In fact the friction coefficient is negligible between honed and polished. It is actually the grout in the mosaics that provide the necessary friction creating a safer walking surface. The grout between the polished and honed mosaics are identical and therefore the friction is the same. You get the point.

So yes while polished tiles can be slippery mosaics are key to a safer surface. Today consumers are installing matching mosaics in the shower and then installing what is a "rug format" on the bathroom floor. This is particularly attractive in Carrara when using a black and white mosaic like Polished Basketweave (picture below) or Long Octagon (picture below).

At www.thebuilderdepot.com we sell a wide range of field tiles and matching mosaics allowing our customers to install polished marble tiles with a matching mosaic of their choice.

Kosta's Inc. We just finished our kitchen a few months ago and we used calcutta marble on the counters. I love it!

Kosta's Inc. We just finished our kitchen a few months ago and we used calcutta marble on the counters. I love it!

ds design studio Kostas, looks great but would love to see a larger photo...

lisachurch We just chose to splurge and do calacatta countertops in our new home build kitchen....our regular upgrade pricing list went to a forth tier pricing. We knew it was going to be bad when our sales person had to call and get special pricing and told us it translates to 6th tier upgrade pricing (not contained on our list) as it was the Ferrari of countertops......thanks for the article, it put into words what I felt when looking at the two types.