That is fantastic! Thank you I will look into it.

We are going with Carrara--we are mid-remodel right now. I concluded that since all marble can etch, we might as well go for the most affordable one. That said, I have decided that we will be okay with etching. No way would I get marble thinking I could avoid etching. We just aren't and don't want to have to be that cautious around what is after all a work surface. I think the first crucial question for you is whether you can accept etching as part of the deal? If not, I would go with quartzite (or engineered quartz) and choose carefully.

I forgot about scratching. Do any marbles scratch more easily than others?

I think I am ok with etching if I'm the only one who knows its there. It's if everyone who comes over can see and notice it that makes me nervous.

Get a variety of 12"x12" marble tile samples from stone yards or tile stores, seal them & put them on your countertops in places that are likely to have spills/drips. Live with them for awhile. You'll get some etches & you can see how visible they are in your kitchen & whether or not you can live with etching. Marble is a softer stone but I don't have any (visible) scratching on my Danby marble.

You've probably read the threads on being able to remove etches on some marbles with Comet & a green scrubbie or a moist magic eraser. Try that on your samples.

Only you can decide if you can live with etching.

I think I am ok with etching if I'm the only one who knows its there. It's if everyone who comes over can see and notice it that makes me nervous.

Did you see my post with pictures of my etches on my VT White Mtn Danby? Scroll down to the bottom.

Amanda's angry-at-new-etch-stain

You may create some etches large enough where people will notice. Thus my beautiful tulips over my largest etch.

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- Do some marbles etch more than others (i.e. Calacatta vs. Carerra) - don't know: only have Danby

- Does a busier marble hide the etches more than ones with a lot of plain white in them (e.g. Calacatta), or the other way around? Or is the etching equally noticeable? Yes, the etches I notice are on the WHITE parts, can't really see the ones on the pattern parts.

- My kitchen is on the darker side with not a lot of natural light (one of the reasons I am hoping to brighten it by going all white), will this help make the etches less noticeable? My biggest etches are not in direct light, and I still see them. But I have 5 big windows that lights the room, not direct light on the marble. But even at night, I still easily see the big etch.

- We don't drink alcohol and I feel confident I can easily use cutting boards and mats when cooking, but will water etch it still from condensation on glasses, around the sink area, etc? We do have a water softener, I'm not sure if that makes a difference. I don't know how people function w/ mats. I can't cover all of my marble, and I wouldn't want to when I'm cooking. I use cutting boards; I would never cut directly on the marble, but even w/ a 22"x18" wooden cutting board, my friend still got lime juice all over my countertop == lots of etches. W/ my Danby, I feel like I can wipe (w/ a lot of pressure) out the water spots, not really etches.

- Will it etch from things like my kids leaving a blob of strawberry jam on it? My understanding is that sealers have come a long way and staining doesn't seem to be as big of an issue as the etching is. What other kitchen staples etch besides things with vinegar, lemon or lime juice? Olive oil?

Yes, strawberry jam etches. No stain, even if it sits overnight. But yes, etch.

Yes: ketchup, soy sauce, OJ, pasta sauce, so so many things.

No etch from olive oil.

I have so many etches, that I feel like I'm being more lazy ON PURPOSE so that every thing etches/patina together.

I forgot about scratching. Do any marbles scratch more easily than others?

Yup, tons of scratches also, and Danby is supposed to be harder than Carrara. DH chipped a big hunk of marble out of the sink. Nice.

Maybe we're just brutal on our kitchen, but we use it as a tool, not a showplace.

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For most people, I would not recommend marble.

If you can live w/ quartz, I would suggest getting that, so you can live w/out stressing over etches/staining: "notice it that makes me nervous".

Good luck,

Amanda

@huango thank you so much for all your answers!

Given your concern about anyone other than you noticing etching I would not get marble. It etches and the etches can be seen. There's nothing wrong with that, it's the nature of the stone and over time it merges into a beautiful patina. However if it makes you nervous or you're driving your family crazy over it then it's not worth it. Have you looked at quartzite? Taj Mahal would look amazing in your kitchen. However be aware that while quartzite (and you need to be vigilant to be sure you're getting actual quartzite) will give you the look and durability that you want you'll be paying for it. Quartzite is expensive, probably more expensive than anything else you've been looking at.

If you cannot live with this, and everyone seeing this, then you are not someone who can live with marble.

I would recommend seeing a full slab of the Quartz products before deciding to go that route. To me some of the samples looked like great marble substitutes, but then seeing the full slab, thought they looked fake as the pattern was just too perfect and repetitive.

You could also consider a white or light Quartz that isn't trying to be a marble look alike. Check out this site: Mariakillam.com/styleathomekitchen

Save your money and just keep your current counters. They will look quite nice with cream cabinets.

@greendesigns they are very orange and I hate them but I have a friend who loves them and she is going to use them in her kitchen since they are such large pieces.

I totally get having marble lust after being on this site lol. If you haven't read it, you might find this blog interesting, about someone's experience with Carrera marble after one year of living with it. If it were me, I would only do it if I was they type who could live with some "patina" and understand that a kitchen is to be used!

But if marble is your first love, could you really be happy with something else? Maybe explore doing just the island or just the perimeter in marble. You could do the perimeters in the honed black granite that you mentioned, or perhaps soapstone, and the marble for the island. Or do the perimeters in marble and the island in wood. Both of those are really good looks with white cabinets.

Marble lust is real! It makes you see past all logic and reason. And then it seems like most marble owners still say they'd do it all over again so the you start to convince yourself it must be worth it.

Marble lust is very real! I was ready to spend double on Calacatta quartzite. The stone yard had pulled my quartzite slabs and displayed them right next to white carrera marble slabs pulled for somebody else. After months of research, the decision was clear, I wasn't going to like anything else as much as marble.

Hi, Katie. I've been doing a bunch of hand wringing over my marble choice too.

We ended up going with honed Carrara for a number of circumstantial reasons that won't be relevant to you, but I thought you'd like to know a couple things about our experience:

Honed is the ONLY way to go

I was able to get berry stains AND etches out of my UNSEALED sample with the old comet w/ bleach/ green scotchbrite pad method.

Busier patterns will camouflage stubborn stains.

If I may make recommendation for you based on my own obsessive marble search, I think you should go with honed Danby Imperial or Eureka for these reasons:

Coloring:

your house reads traditional and warm, so it will go with your painted cabinets and your tile floor.

Stain hiding:

Even if you can remove stains, you may not be able to get to it right away. pattern hides stains. Imperial and eureka have both gray and gold veining- the gray will hide gray stains like berry and wine, the gold will hide turmeric and mustard.

Vibe- fwiw, I think Danby would look appropriate with what I can see if your house (colors, cabinet and light style, etc) Calacatta is crazy beautiful, but I wouldn't spend the money on something so unforgiving. Carrara is probably too cool for your color palette.

Good luck!!

I think part of the problem is I don't know what a real patina looks like to know if it bothers me or not. My mom has beautiful calacatta in her house but she takes really good care of it and won't even let her cleaners touch it. I will have to inspect it closely when we visit in July. In the meantime I think I should probably go with the suggestion to put a bunch of sealed samples on my counters and try living with them for a while to see how much etching I can see. I tried to etch a Danby sample with pasta sauce and it did etch but I could barely see it unless I held it up to the light at a certain angle.

I have a friend who loves them and she is going to use them in her kitchen since they are such large pieces.

warning: careful w/ the countertop removal.

Since your focus is to not damage the base cabinets, since you're reusing them, you may need to sacrifice a countertop.

When we sold our previous house, the new owners wanted to update the granite countertop. They were planning to keep the cabinets.

But the removal of the perimeter countertop was difficult without damaging the cabinets, so they had to crack one piece off, so save the cabinet.

Just a head's up.

@alley2007 I could not agree with you more. I have a ton of counter space and was about to put money down to order the new Cambria in either Ella or Britannica but then I went to the fabricator and saw a whole slab and realized it looked too repetitive. It looks very striped. Now I'm leaning towards LG Hausys in Minuet but still wavering... I love the look of marble but we just can't do it with three kids and pets.

Have you had someone look at your cabinets and determine whether the existing countertop can be removed without damaging the cabinets? In general the countertops are deliberately install them so that they cannot be removed without destroying the kitchen, it's a really nasty sneaky way of getting repeat business for the industry. I really think that you will be better off leaving them alone and certainly your budget is.

Anyone who damages cabinets removing countertops is a hack. Backsplashes and wall treatments, not so much.

Joe, you simply would not believe the number of folks around here that use Liquid Nails for simply everything. Like they own stock in the company and buy it by the case. I'd like to say it was all DIY Danny's but there is a significant portion of Hack Harry Handymans around here too. :(

Well the contractors I had look at the counters acted like it will be no problem to remove them without hurting the cabinets so I am hoping that is true.

I agree that it would be a bad job to screwup the cabinets but it depends on how they were installed in the first place.....did you note Joe's statement above-are you planning on keeping the backsplash?

Not keeping the backsplash. Praying they did a good job installing the counter and cabinets in the first place and it won't be an issue.