I know, I have marble in my kitchen and while I've had no trouble with stains, the etching can be horrendous! I was afraid that the answer to marble in the bathroom would be don't do it !!!......I do love the marble, even with all the problems, but your advice is good and so I'll go with the granite.

Thanks so much.

There ar quartz products designed to give a marble look. Yes, there is a difference but form and function are good arguments. Ps...I am using ceaser stone in the bathroom. The marbles were gorgeous but I am only doing this project once.

do a search here on this forum for marble or Carrara and read all the horror stories.

I love the look of marble but didn't want the maintenance or the problems that come with it. I went with the Cambria torquay which is a Quartz. We were lucky to find a remnant in the size we needed. I can't wait to have it installed!

I think it depends on whether you accept patina as a natural process. There are some marble vanity tops in buildings in my neighborhood that date from the 1840s-1860s (one bathroom also had a zinc box tub and all surface mounted pipes so these are probably original period-- and these endured entire decades of neglect. They are worn, etched, and there is probably some staining but they still nice looking if you accept that as natural. If you want shiny pristine forever, no.

Personally I would never want marble -- period. I can admire a bath/kitchen photo array w/o wanting to use it in MY home...too hard to clean and definitely not forgiving...

I also don't care for the plastic feel of materials like Cambria/quartz--might as well use faux-marble acrylic if you like the synthetic...

I would go with natural stone--granite which is pretty imperverous and often doesn't need to be sealed depending on the stone--or something like limestone, quartz, or soapstone -- depending on the "look" you want for your bath. Some of those materials might need to be sealed but that doesn't need to be reapplied very often...You can even find some large-format tiles that might work depending on length of some counters and sink sizes...and wood--might might seem oxymorinic choice for bathroom--can be used in wet areas if you use the right type and treat it properly--can be stunning choice in right application.

Curious why someone would never use marble, but would use limestone, since limestone is both softer and more porous than marble.

" I also don't care for the plastic feel of materials like Cambria/quartz--might as well use faux-marble acrylic if you like the synthetic..."

Funny, I never considered the quartz that mocks marble to feel "plastic"- I always thought corian felt plastic (compared to granite and quartz).

Molly, if you truly love marble and you're OK with the possibility of issues (stains, etching, etc) then go for it. Marble is beautiful and is used everyday in homes.

Think of marble as "buying that black car" - the black car will show dirt and scratches much easier than lets say, the white car. Lots of people are OK with this and still drive the black car. Marble is the same way. You want it, get it.

Some lady the other day at the tile shop tried to tell me there is a product to guarantee the marble wont yellow (I didn't totally believe her) and I refrained from asking why the product wasn't used on their display which showed marble that yellowed.... LOL

Wimpymolly I had what I think was a cream marble (however may have been travertine) in my previous home. It didn't have direct sunlight on it, so if it had etching it didn't show. I don't know what sealer was used on it but it never stained (toothpaste sitting for an unknown period of time!). I'm going for it in my new bath, we will see if I regret it. I just loved the feel of it, it was so soft and pretty. (it wasn't white though, it was beige).