i went marble shopping yesterday as well. the place I was at offers several different stain treatment options one with a life time guarantee (only if it is applied by their person). There are many threads on this board regarding this topic. The big concern is etching. I took a very generous sized piece of marble home with me to play around with. It had been polished Calacutta but he honed it for me (which should help take the curse off the etching). I rubbed lemon all over one half of it and left the other half untouched. Awhile later I poured vinegar on the side that had the lemon on it. If you looked at it under the right light you could see the delineation between etched and non-etched areas but it was not very apparent. DH came home not realizing what i had done and couldn't tell at all. The etched area was etched in a very uniform way.

I did take pictures of all of this and will post when i have a chance.

I was offered the lifetime sealant too for my Danby marble. My fabricator does the professional grade sealant which he says lasts about a year and is included in the cost of my job. He gave me a pamphlet for the lifetime. He said the other guy is totally independent, and it would probably cost me about $750 for my job. It is called granite shield and it has an online site of granite shield dot com. Has anyone used it?

Have them give you a sample of stone treated with any product they want to use. A bottle of regular sealer will protect marble from stains very well. It is the etching that it would not be protected from, and the Dry Treat that was the only thing available product that claimed to prevent etching when I got my marble essentially lays a layer on top of the stone that seemed plasticky to me. I would have rather chosen a laminate that to put that film on my stone. I have marble in a heavily used and totally un-papmered kitchen for 4 years now without stains. There is som etching, but nothing you'd be likely to notice walking intot he room.

There was a granite sample I had that stained worse that marble -- even after 2 coats of sealer. Test whatever you want to get.

I'm planning to use marble, but just in the baking area. That way, I'm not too concerned if it etches or not...but honed is supposed to be much easier to maintain.

MamaPaige- YOU went marble shopping? :)

hi LL,
i did! nearly swooned over calacutta but i don't think it is in the budget. saw a nice thick slab of carrera honed at the subzero showroom the other night and it looked great but i didn't see anything that jumped out at me. will have to tag something soon. had been thinking of caesarstone as well since my tastes run a little more transitional and the marble doesn't take the overall look in that direction but DH is not a fan of the very uniform caesarstone look. i think he is more traditional than me. just another compromise (although ending up with marble could hardly be called that!!!).

I was very impressed with the results of my honed marble testing where etching was concerned - could definitely live with it.

Bentley- What marbles did you pick and are you using all marble in the kitchen...or mixing in some other finishes, such as wood, granite, quartz, etc? I know many people on GW use marble on the perimeter and wood on the island...or sometimes granite or soapstone mixed with the marble.

MamaPaige- Where are you planning to use marble?

We have Danny imperial treated with dry treat meta cream. I don't worry about staining and had no problems with anything staining my marble. You really just need to be comfortable with etching. So many things etch marble. We knew that and purchased anyway. You can't beat the beauty or our marble. If you get a really bad etch you can't live with, you can sand it out using 600-800 grit sandpaper, then polish with steel wool. I was hesitant to do it, but one etch mark that my mother in law did was driving me crazy. I hope this helps. As far as cost, I paid 5 a square to get this professionally applied.

Thanks for the follow up guys. We picked three marbles. In the master bath we're using a marble called Princess White. Kitchen is called Galaxy White. I could be wrong about that name though. Boys bath will be Carrerra. The whole kitchen will be marble. We may go honed if we go with the glossy Italian cabinets. Master bath will be brushed. Boys bath will be polished. Good idea about getting a sample piece with the dry treat on it. I'll have to look into etching. I've never heard of that before. Probably because it's the first time i've researched marble.

Oh, sorry if this is an often discussed topic. I was looking for info specifically about dry treat and didn't find much.

Polished marble in the boys bathroom? You may want to look through some of the older threads about bath products etching marble. A dark granite or a quartz, might be a safer/less stressful choice :)

I second that motion.

If you are also using marble on the FLOOR in your boys' bath, I would think that bath products etching the countertops would be the least of your problems! Urine is acidic and will eat the marble. :-)

OT sexist warning......i find it interesting that you are male, and got the impression that it was OK to use marble everywhere, even the boys' bathroom, and WITHOUT fail, I mean not once, when I mentioned marble, I got VERY negative comments!
Of course, not here, but face to face. Some said i could go elsewhere if that was my final choice.
Is this a turn in the industry, or a gender bias?

Just "thinking" out loud here. Anybody else wonder?

Nancy

how about a manufacturered quartz product for the bathroom counters? silestone or caesarstone? they are pretty bullet proof and come in a variety of colors and you can even get the sinks integrated if you want.

i agree with others ideas ob the topic of marble in the bathroom.

Great idea to get a sample and play with it.

MamadadaPage...
Did you go to Boston Granite Exchange?
I have not been there in a while and wonder if they
have anything new and fantastic.
~boxer

Are you sure you know what you are getting? Princess White is a quartzite. Galaxy White is a granite. These materials are expensive and I really think you need to do more research.

Hi boxerpups
I haven't been up there. I was planning on going through marble and granite in Westwood. To be honest the only things I've seen that have knocked my socks off are a gorgeous slab of soapstone and an even more gorgeous slab of calacutta. I had been trying not to go too traditional with the styling on my kitchen and both of these are traditional. I liked "chrome" by caesarstone but dh knixed it- too modern for him. I am willing to compromise on this but this is what happens to a vision, ya know?

Sorry, yeah the princess white is a quartzite as is the other one who's name honestly escapes me. Honestly, its all the same to me i just know that we've not had problems with granite, but assumed that eeruthing else was prone to staining. Now i have to look into etching as well i guess. Anyway, is quartzite more or less prone to staining than marble?

Oh, no gender bias here. Just saying that my wife chose Carrera for the boys bathroom countertops. We'll likely be using ceramic tile in their bathrooms.

I'd post a warning, on any children's bathroom with marble...not just boys. Kids make messes (as we adults often do) and you want something they don't have to feel bad about. It's a countertop...not a work of art. This is not directed at OP, just kids' rooms in general :)