Software
Houzz Logo Print
webuser_251552312

Marble - the best place to use it?

10 months ago

I know marble etches and stains but I really want to sneak into one of the areas below. .

Grown boys and a husband at home .

With a goal of limiting etching and staining, where is the best place to use marble ?

Floors - Master Bath
Kichen Countertops
Countertops - Master Bath

Comments (18)

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    Marble works just fine on all those surfaces, if you are prepared to live with etching. I would suggest Danby marble from Vermont--it is very dense and doesn't stain. I have Calacatta marble in my master bathroom, and Danby in my kitchen. Neither has stained EXCEPT for the shower floor. That's the one place I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you have hard water.

    But it is beautiful and can be refinished if you want.

    I probably wouldn't use it in a kids bath though.

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    I love the patina that marble gets and stching comes form acid so wipe up spills quickly. We have friends who have a marble counter in Italy it is 60 yrs old and looks awesome , pristine maybe not but warm compared to quartz for sure. I would do it in any of those spaces and with adults in the home surely they can all wipe up spills

  • 10 months ago

    I would think it could be slippery so, not the floor go kitchen. share the beauty.

  • 10 months ago

    Marble floors next to a toilet ... and a man in the house.

    Etching will happen on the first day and increase from there! Lessons learned from my mother, who put polished marble floors in her first bathroom remodel!

  • 10 months ago

    The countertop in my primary bath is Carrara and I had some other type of marble as countertop material in the primary bath of my previous house. I remodeled both of those bathrooms, so this was my choice. I learned in my previous house that lotion can soak into and stain marble, so I now have a towel down so if I drip it doesn't hit the marble. I just love the natural look of marble, so I don't mind babying it a little. It is possible to get some stains out, but I would rather not have to work at that.


    I had a marble floor in the secondary bath in my previous house and would never do that again because of etching around the toilet (had a teenage boy at home at the time).

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    I too would skip the stone floors, and as a personal prefrence skip stone in the kitchen. But bathroom counters can be lovely.

  • 10 months ago

    Countertops in master bathroom would be appreciated every day.

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    MORE Anti Etch will prevent etching and staining in marble.

  • 10 months ago

    I have Calacatta marble counters in my kitchen; I knew they’d require babying, but I live alone and don’t mind- they are SO beautiful! I’m happy every time I walk into the room. It has only a tiny bit of etching and no staining after several years. I used the rest of that slab in the bathroom, and actually it doesn’t get babied at all and is fine!
    I also have marble hex floors in the primary bathroom and it’s been ok too -and looks beautiful - but requires some extra cleaning, so if I had that to do over I would get ceramic or porcelain tile.

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    Shower walls. Not floors.

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    It only takes a pickle jar or a glass of orange juice to etch marble. Had a client whose husband and children destroyed the countertops in a week.

  • 10 months ago

    People's tolerance for etching and staining is quite varied, but given that you phrased your question as - "With a goal of limiting etching and staining" I suspect your tolerance might be low. Why not use it as an accent instead - marble shelving in the kitchen or bath?

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    I think that describing etching as "destroying" countertops is a little extreme. "Destroy" would mean that they were unusable and basically fell apart or fell off the cabinets. Etching does not render the counter tops unusable, it just changes the look of the stone from certain angles. If that's going to bother you, then don't get marble.

    I also don't understand saying you have to "baby" marble. What exactly do you do that's different from what you do with granite, soapstone, butcher block or quartz? I don't do anything differently with marble than with any other counter top I've had--I clean it after using it with a mild cleanser. No "babying" required.

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    Here's my 11-year old peninsula with honed Olympian White Danby marble. Been used by me and my family (including a very not careful hubby). Some etches, chips, but no discolorations. The gray swirls are the marble's veining. Never been sealed since installation.

    Does it look "destroyed" to anyone?




  • 10 months ago

    My marble absorbed oil that stained and wouldn't come out. Not sure why. Perhaps my sealer wasn't up to snuff? I know @Diana Bier Interiors, LLC you have not had that problem. Have others?


    @Diana Bier Interiors, LLC, have you ever had to reseal them or have you done nothing other than mild cleanser since they were installed?



  • PRO
    10 months ago

    No sealing--see my post ^^^


  • 10 months ago

    By “babying “ I just mean I am careful, use cutting boards and avoid putting jars and food directly on my marble countertop. So far no sealer needed since installation. I clean with a damp cloth and a little Dawn dish soap.
    If I lived with someone else I wouldn’t have chosen it. I don’t want to be the countertop police :)

  • PRO
    10 months ago

    I'm careful with any counter top-I used cutting boards on every type of surface, including butcher block. And I don't place hot pots or pans on it--I have a 6-burner range top when I take things out of the oven. But not placing jars and food on the counter top is not something I would ever do. The kitchen is a work area, and that would be excessively obsessive to me. But you do you.