You have sensitive skin and want to roll around in poison ivy? Fine, don't listen to the warnings.

Marble patina · More Info

I don't have marble, but I've seen many discussions about it. One thing you need to see how you can check is staining...rust stains that is. There was one discussion recently about this..someone was having the marble tile installed and one section was getting stained without being able to figure out why.
As for maintenance, you need to have it sealed pretty often and yes, squeegee and wiped. I like marble and I am ok with cleaning, but I think it would it would be too much for me.

Marble in a shower is a nightmare. You not supposed to use bleach on it, and so if it's on the floor you'll have a terrible time cleaning the grout. It will etch like crazy from everything including water, and will never look clean. Believe me, I have basketweave marble on the floor, and porcelain tile on the walls, and it's very difficult to clean the floor. AND if you have hard water, it's even worse. Use porcelain tile, quartz, or granite.

squeeging (yeah I know, not a word) is the least of your worries. Seal, seal, seal. and then every 6-9 months, seal again. Use only cleaners that are safe for natural stone. Better to clean the shower every 5-7 days then have all the gunk build up and not be able to use anything strong on it. Carrara is very high maintenance. Did I mention getting the best sealer on the market and sealing it??? Water should bead up. If it doesn't, you guessed it, seal.

If you like the look, go w/the porcelain carrara look-alike. Or, use the real marble up high in the shower where it doesn't get all the usage (yes u still have to seal). use the porcelain stuff for the shower floor. Hair dye, soaps, etc, will wreak havoc on real marble. Oh, and use an epoxy grout.

Want low maintenance??? use large format porcelain tiles (with 1/16" grout lines) in the shower and porcelain or ceramic smaller tiles for the shower floor (for non slip) and grout everything w/epoxy grout. That's about as low main as you can get.

I believe marble in bathrooms should come with a live-in maid who is trained, in ITALY (you pay to have them sent to the quarry to learn how to care for the stone), to take care of this stone.

You have just stated you are low maintenance people who are busy. Which means you do NOT have the right set up for marble. You really, really don't. If you have a maid who comes in and cleans, then PLEASE TRAIN HIM/HER to do this PROPERLY. I mean pay to have them spend 3-4 hours at the stone shop. Pay to have them trained by the stone setters. And then pay to have ALL the cleaning products ON HAND in your HOME that state: "Marble Cleaning Supplies" in a big box.

And then have the maid sign a waiver that states they take PERSONAL responsibility for the marble while cleaning it. If they accidentally use the wrong cleaner they will pay to reverse the damage.

That, to me, is how a responsible "marble owner" takes care of their marble. They get the right training or they PAY someone else to get the right training. Either way...it is a lot of money/time/product to live with marble.

Oooooor....you could work with marble-look porcelain and have your cake and eat it too.

So glad adriennecummings posted this question. Thanks to all the posters for their emphatic responses against marble in the bath. It will help with our coming bath reno. Merci, houzzers!!

I used a Silestone Quartz product that very closely resembles marble in a clients shower for the threshold. gives you the beauty without the maintenance. It is different in composition from a ceramic or porcelain product, and much closer to marble in depth and variation. I have seen projects where large slabs were used rather than tile for a stone look.