Do like a friend did. Get some marble, so you are happy. But she put walnut butcher block on her island where her sink is and she makes her messes.
She still has a water ring where one of sat a glass on her marble

I have a suggestion: could you purchase a few small pieces of your favorite marble to test your cooking ingredients on? First though, I would apply various sealers and layers of sealers to see how effective they are at preventing stains and etching. Someone else on here with marble experience may have a sealer recommendation for you. I've had granite countertops and, personally, don't have an issue with the upkeep of sealing - not a big deal for me if it allows me to have the countertop I want.

Many threads on here with this same topic, you can search for previous posters opinions in the search box.

That said, sealers work great for stains but don't do a thing for etching. I love my marble, etches and all but not everyone will.

Do you have any friends with marble? So much easier to look at a marble kitchen in person and see if the wear is acceptable to you.

I think you will love it! If you have been back and forth on materials and keep coming back to marble, I think it is for you. I have had experience with many clients who absolutely love their marble counter tops. The one client that was super worried about maintaining the look of the natural stone so they ended up going with a quartz (man made) and after the install they wished they went with natural stone. Just remember this is a natural material and that it has a living finish... it is going to get worn and stained but that is part of the beauty of it. The fist few stains will drive you mad but after a good break in, you won't care and you will love it all the more for it. Yes, they are great for baking! Here some info for cleaning stains.

Good luck with the decision and happy remodeling!

i decided i didnt want to be annoyed with careless family members or guests, so i went with quartz. no repeats, every slab is different (so you have to sign off on your slab....)

in the end the question is, are you willing to perhaps need to replace the marble to sell your house down the road, as thats really the issue.... you can do whatever you like in your own kitchen.

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Ellsowrth-Hallett Home Professionals,

Thank you & good to know that sealing protects against the staining but not the etching. I don't know anyone with marble kitchen countertops unfortunately. I'm going to try asking at a stone yard if they let me speak to a reference/customer/client who have had the marble counter tops for a while & maybe they will even let me see it? Not sure if they would let me do that or not.

Coates Design Architects,

Thanks so much for the encouragement & vote of confidence about getting marble. I'm OK with a little bit of distress/wear on the marble but my Hubby is not so much.He is worried about resale & the marble looking "damaged" or "old" when we sell our house when we retire about 11 years from now.I know if I really want it he will agree but I just don't want to make a mistake. *I wonder is it possible to 'refinish' the installed marble just before we sell someday in the distant future? If so how much would it cost to refinish it in our home {ball park} ? Does it make a big mess to refinish it i.e. marble dust all over the house? --Thanks!!

nnigrt,

Thanks so much for sharing your photos with me! Your kitchen came out beautiful! 'Just in case' I loose my nerve and decide against getting the marble I'm curious what brand & style of quartz did you use?

I have marble and love it and would get a marble bench top again. It looks so good even with some marks. I use stone clean and shine to wipe down the benches once every few weeks and it polishes up well. However there are some marks caused mainly by citrus juice which are always there and just have to accept them.

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bsgibbs

Thanks for the encouragement about getting marble! My kitchen is on the small side & unfortunately I have to use 'every counter surface' for food prep & dish washing etc. I too have thought about making either just only the island or just only the counter tops in the rest of the kitchen marble, and then doing some other surface such as engineered stone for the rest, but since I need to use the 'whole' kitchen I sort of figure what's the point & might as well go 'all marble' if decide on doing marble.

cheriek1094

Thanks & good idea about getting a piece of sample marble, sealing & then see how it fares if I simulate cooking near/on it. Anyone here know the best sealer for marble I can buy? I am not afraid of sealing/maintenance either, that would be a small effort for the big benefit of having beautiful marble in my kitchen.

We've had satin finish Fantasy Brown for only about 4 months and are terrible about keeping it clean. I often find tomatoes sauce, curry, etc on the counter from my husband and grown kids' late night snacking habits. So far, zero problems with stains, etching or water rings. Very happy with ours. The slab yard did recommend it as a good choice and I tested a few pieces before the final decision.

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mariekylco,

Thank you, that's great that you've had no problem with your Fantasy Brown! Is that natural quartzite? I think I read that it is somewhere and a stoneyard we visited also classified it as such. It has a marble- like look but a bit different from actual 'marble' marble. My preference is a basic common {but very beautiful} Carrara {I bet I spelled that wrong!} I also like Statuary variations of marble, and Calacatta gold is very nice too.

I think you're asking for heartbreak if you get polished marble. Honed marble will hide the etching and develop a better patina.

A Elliot,

Thank you, I love the polished but sometimes hear honed is better as you say. Do you have the honed? And how would you describe the 'patina' to be?

Just be aware that every surface has its pros and cons and only you can determine which cons you can live with. Marble is indeed beautiful--it is luminous and has a distinctive soft waxy appearance. There are many types of marbles from many areas of the world. I have honed white Olympian Danby marble (from Vermont, USA) on my kitchen countertops.
It was sealed by the fabricator before installation and I haven't done
anything to clean it except wipe it down with a very mild soap (Murphy's Oil Soap is nice) and
water. It is more beautiful than I ever imagined, but I did lots of
research on white marbles before I pulled the trigger. I've been using
the kitchen for about 18 months now and I have absolutely NO stains on
it. It has been subjected to tomatoes, wine, berries, coffee, tea, but not one stain. Etching, however, is another matter. It has etches all over from anything liquid, such as lemon juice,
tea, tomatoes, coffee, and even plain water. You can't see it unless you look for it in bright
sunlight on the "right" angle, and I was well aware of its propensity to
etch before I bought it. Frankly, I have a love/hate relationship with it--some times it doesn't bother me but at other times I don't like it at all. I do not have children
in the house, but I do have a very sloppy husband! Do your research and
examine the type of cook you are and whether you need your countertop
to be bright and shiny forever.


Also, don't be misled by the engineered quartz claims--that it is
indestructible, doesn't show marks or scratches, etc. etc. I had
Caesarstone Raven (a dark gray) in another kitchen and it is stained by
watermarks under the drainboard that are impossible to get out. It also
has scratched from I don't know what, and has numerous chips around the
sink. I've also been informed that you cannot put hot pots on it as
the resin in it could cause heat damage to the stone.

Diana Bier Interiors, LLC,

Thanks so much for your honest opinion, advise, & experience with your Danby. Yes it seems as if each different surface has it's major drawbacks no matter which one we chose. We had looked at & considered the Vermont Danby & the slabs we saw had a much different character than carrara or calacatta which are my preferences. Danby has it's own distinct beauty that is different from the others. I am a sloppy cook who makes a big mess when I cook, then cleans up the disaster at the end. This leaves time for stains to set I would imagine. Not a good thing to do. I would have to change my habbits if we decide on Marble or something delicate. The other direction I could 'settle for' and consider is 'granite' in a light color if Marble sounds too scary in the end for me. Is light colored granite REALY that much stronger, less stainable, less etchable than carrara marble I wonder??

I have polished Carrera marble in my bathroom, which takes a lot less abuse than a kitchen counter will, and it's already etched. I wouldn't use it in a kitchen when there are other sturdier look alikes available now. Especially when you really cook in your kitchen!! Ha ha

I don't have marble but so wish I did...

My comment is that if I was house hunting, a marble counter would be the clincher for me, and I would expect that it would look well used. The more so the better.

I know not all buyers would feel the way I do, but jmho about the concern about resale.

Marble is absolutely beautiful in the kitchen if you go into it with a relaxed mindset. If you want your kitchen countertops to look pristine, new, and shiny forever--then marble is not for you. However, if you are okay with marks here and there and a "patina" on the surface, then I say go for it! There is nothing else out there that looks like the real thing. I definitely recommend choosing a honed surface over a polished surface. A honed finish will conceal etching MUCH better than a polished finish. When the light hits the countertop a certain way, you will still see the etching on a honed finish, but it will still be much less obvious than if the countertop was polished.

There is a sealer on the market called DuPont StoneTech Professional BulletProof that actually will give you a warranty. The sealer has to be applied by a fabricator who is certified to do so, and then you can go online afterwards and register your kitchen to obtain the warranty. This sealer is additional money (usually around $300), but I recommend it to all of my customers who are putting marble in their kitchen. Sealers will not prevent etching, but they will aid against staining.

Before selling your home, you can have your marble countertops refinished by a professional marble refinisher. We have had clients do this before. I am not sure of the cost, plus I'm sure that it varies depending on the size of your kitchen. If you are in the New Jersey/Philadelphia are, I could give you the name and number of a refinisher that we have used in the past for marble floors. It will make them look virtually brand new!

You're welcome, artsy! I've heard of a marble treatment (?) called Clearstone that I'm wanting to research more. It's a coating that is applied to the marble and protects it from etching and staining. It's supposedly quite expensive, and has to be professionally applied, but it is intriguing. Anyone here know much about it?

It's a thin layer of plastic. It makes it look exactly like it sounds. You might as well go straight for the Formica 180Fx as put a plastic coating on marble. There is no depth anymore, and the whole look is hazier and blurrier.

I have been going back and forth on this as well. I just love marble -- I want it in my bathrooms and kitchen and had my heart set on it. But I've decided not to do it for counters or backsplash tile/bathrooms. I've purchased and tested samples after sealing it and I do think patina is great. But that comes over time -- those independent perfect ring marks/etches aren't patina, they don't look like organic wear, they look like a mark. I'm not worried about cleaning up spills - the spills aren't the issue because you tend to catch them quickly. I'm worried about the fact that we cook, and we aren't careful about resting bowls, spoons, etc down on the surface. I watch how we cook, we spill, splatter and rest dirty bowls, chopping boards, knives, spoons on counters (and we love to cook and enjoy it). I'm worried about the olive oil bottle and vinegar bottle I have sitting out on my counter etching the bottom. I just don't want to worry. Even after wiping our counters down, I see missed spots the next morning sometimes. That said, I did just recently buy a marble topped dining table from restoration hardware because I loved it and wanted some marble in my kitchen. https://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod6470121&categoryId=cat6120122

I've sealed it using 511 marble impregnator, I've purchased the microfiber cloths, + chamois to clean it etc. but I can tell it will be etched within the first dinner party. I bought the darker gray marble and I'm already regretting the decision because I am not relaxed about using it even though I told myself I would be. So, the decision needs to be based on how YOU WILL FEEL about having etch marks and stains that are outside of your control. I'm not enjoying my table the way I'd want to. I love looking at it, but I didn't have my morning coffee there or dinner there last night. I think the decision needs to be based on your own personality. I realized I AM not "marble ready".

Thanks, Sophie, for that information. No way would I want the marble to look like plastic.

I'm not an expert, but I say follow your heart. And follow that with some good sense -- the advice others have offered about sealants, and such. From your question, it looks to me like you would be unhappy any other way.

My husband & I just got marble countertops in our kitchen and so far (it's been only a month haha) we love them and are extremely happy. They're so beautiful and every bit as perfect as I'd imagined they'd be, esp with white cabinets. Definitely go with it if you know you're going to care for and maintain it!

I wanted polished at first also, but honed will look better than you're probably expecting...there's still some sheen to it, almost like a satin look. It looks very different in our home than it did in the stone yard, in a good way. You won't be disappointed!

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Thank you Selly Perry & Karalyn219, Thanks for the encouragement & good to know that the honed looks so great in your kitchen, it gives me more confidence to choose it after hearing that you like the look of it so much! I wish I knew someone in my close proximity who's kitchen I could see after some years of heavy use, that would help me make a decision to go with marble or not right away! I'll have to ask at the place where they sell marble if they can refer me to someone who might be willing to show me.

I have quartz in my bathroom and marble mosaic on the floors (I accidentally etched them with vinegar before I knew about etching!) Doesn't bother me at all, and I have to get down on my knees to see. Anyway, I am remodeling my kitchen and am sad that I chose quartz counters and NOT marble!!! Especially when I went to the marble yard and saw some beautiful Calacutta that I'm now considering for my backsplash. Wow, would have been cheaper to get the counters with a simple subway rather than this way. I believe in function, but marble is beautiful and will last forever, you can also have it maintained down the road if it needs to be buffed/polished. I say go for it!! But that's because I regret going "practical" in mine :)

I have quartzite counters and I think they're as close to marble as you can get. Look at Taj Mahal and Madre Perola. Mine are Madre Perola, 6 years old and not a scratch, stain or etch. Gorgeous and absolutely bullet proof so far.