Marble in the bathroom?

[hibbeln]

Anyone have any experience?

We are putting in a marble tile floor. That's a done deal. We are trying to decide for the counter between a granite (significantly more expensive) and a marble.

Does anyone have any experience either positive or negative?

We have a solid surface in their now (like Corian) and it's so ugly it makes me nuts. It is currently a white counter so we have to be super careful with it anyway, I'm not thinking taking care of a marble would be any worse!

 

[Eric in McLean]

I have Silestone in my bathroom. It's non-porous and looks much better than Corian.

 

[PStreet1]

We have marble in the kitchen in Mexico--it spots and scratches. The sealing is ALL important, and even if sealed, you have to be very careful with water. Based on what we've experienced in the kitchen, I wouldn't put it in the bathroom. WE're currently in the process of trying to have some spots removed--they worked all of Monday morning. The spots are still there. They are returning next Monday, but I don't have much hope that the spots will actually be gone. Oh well, perhaps they'll be less noticeable.

 

[bobcat]

We have marble in the kitchen in Mexico--it spots and scratches. The sealing is ALL important, and even if sealed, you have to be very careful with water. Based on what we've experienced in the kitchen, I wouldn't put it in the bathroom. WE're currently in the process of trying to have some spots removed--they worked all of Monday morning. The spots are still there. They are returning next Monday, but I don't have much hope that the spots will actually be gone. Oh well, perhaps they'll be less noticeable.

I know you said you have the floor done. However, watch when you have water on the floor. You can slip and fall.

 

[IngridN]

We have marble floor tiles in the downstairs bathroom (toilet/shower stall; vanity area has carpeting). As the others have mentioned, be careful and don't let water spot. With just the 2 of us, it's not an issue, but I wouldn't put in marble floors if I had kids. The floor has a couple of large (1" or so) spots, but I don't stress over it. One of our other bathrooms has large ceramic floor tiles throughout and that's the only way I would go.

Ingrid

 

[naudette]

We've had marble and now have granite in baths and kitchen. Granite is much more durable than marble. I can take a hot pan right off the stove and set in on the granite. It's easy to keep clean, almost impossible to scratch and doesn't stain. I also have a granite kitchen sink which is wonderful. Doesn't scratch like stainless, or stain and get marks like procelain

 

[Sir Newf]

highly recommend you install an electric floor heating system under a stone floor, otherwise, it will be very cold.

 

[silvib]

In our master bathroom, we have marble on the floor, then used the same for the vanity areas and the shower walls also. It does need sealing and looking after but beautiful to look at. One day I was mixing a mild vinegar/water solution to clean the shower and put the container down on the floor and now I'm left with a ring mark and drips which I see everytime I go in there. We put tumbled marble on the shower floor. When we lived in Spain, we had marble on the walls and the inside of the shower, but not on the floor. I love it. I have granite for the kitchen countertops and that's just great!

 

[Aussiedog]

Of course it depends on how much countertop you have, but you can get some great deals on granite when you purchase remnants from other jobs.

I went to the fabricator's yard and got an amazing deal. I was told that this is also how many builders get their materials.

Ann

 

[hibbeln]

Thank you, everyone! Your comments are very helpful! Our kids have a black marble tile floor in their bathroom now.....I think because it's black with just a little white veining it is very forgiving and holds up well to the kids puddling water on the floor and who knows what else..

I'm looking at a much lighter (very light gray and white) marble for our master bathroom.

We have granite in our kitchen and love it.

Hmmmmmm, now I'm thinking it might be worth the extra money for the granite in the bath.........

And YES we are doing the below-tile floor heating. We live in Michigan and I am SO EXCITED about having this for the winters. I think our dog will be even more excited than we are!!!!!

 

[hibbeln]

I wish I could find a remnant! But what I am looking for specifically is a very pure light gray and white color palette.....which is pretty darn unusual for granite. There is one (called Donna Sondra) and (of course, my luck) is quite expensive. I can get the same kind of look in the Carrera Gioia marble at about 60% of the cost. BUT......would I do better paying the extra $$$ since it will be light-colored and therefore probably show more stains on the marble.

 

[Born2Travel]

highly recommend you install an electric floor heating system under a stone floor, otherwise, it will be very cold.

A little OT, but how well does retrofitting with the heated floor and tile work over existing vinyl floor? Does anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to try it, but it seems it would raise the floor - not sure how it would work. ...And how to install electrical for it?

 

[Sir Newf]

This where we got ours, under natural travertine in very large kitchen- absolutely fantastic---and yes, my dog (Newf) loves it...our heating bills are much smaller too, this draws v.little electricity...friends of ours installed stone tile w/no heat--brutal.....www.orbitmfg.com
Enjoy

 

[silvib]

I wish I could find a remnant! But what I am looking for specifically is a very pure light gray and white color palette.....which is pretty darn unusual for granite. There is one (called Donna Sondra) and (of course, my luck) is quite expensive. I can get the same kind of look in the Carrera Gioia marble at about 60% of the cost. BUT......would I do better paying the extra $$$ since it will be light-colored and therefore probably show more stains on the marble.

When we chose the marble for the bathroom, it was an afterthought to do the shower and we ran out of product, so my husband went on line and matched it perfectly - it was called something like Stone Tile Depot. They have several outlets he seems to remember and they were reasonable.

 

[hibbeln]

We currently have carpet in our bathroom (I know, disgusting!). The floor is from 1875 so it is like a roller coaster. We're going to have the contractor take out the carpet and the subfloor and do whatever he needs to do to make it "flat-ish". So the heating coils will go on top of that new subfloor.

 

[hibbeln]

I found it...
www.stonetiledepot.com

Fabulous prices for tiles!

 

[normab]

Marble floors

Just adding to the comments about water on the floor and slipping. I have fallen 3 times on a drop of water on a marble floor. Caveat etc. I now have ruuber backed area rugs to prevent any more falls.