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Stoneshop Not at all, dlipetz! We install marble in showers regularly for our customers, and we haven't had a complaint. If you go on our Houzz page, in our projects section, we have a Classic White Bathroom album which uses Calacatta marble. We also have a Bathroom album which has photos of various bathrooms that use marble tile. It is a beautiful material. We do recommend, however, that you use either honed or tumbled marble tiles so that the surface is not slippery.

dlipetz I see you're in Cherry Hill? We are in Philly. Perhaps we should come to your shop and see what you have! Our contractor's tile guy has a somewhat limited selection.

Eurocerob Statuary marble is very nice , sometimes with large grey veins. Are you installing slabs or tiles in the shower ?

dlipetz We are thinking of doing larger herringbone on bathroom floor, and then some combo of subway and mosaic on shower wall. I'm worried about shower floor. Would like to keep it statuary but I keep reading warnings about doing light marble in shower. FYI this is a master bath and I hope to ban my 3 sons from ever stepping foot in it :-)

Eurocerob And what the warnings are saying ? Personally I prefer less joints with the statuary , due to the busy veinage .

Did you consider a marble looking porcelain tile ?

Cottage Craft Tile If you do the marble I would do it all over. Unless you do a white subway tile on the wall...like a retro look. Marble does require maintenance which seems to scare some people; but as nice as the porcelain knock-offs are, they're never quite the same. Unless you have real maintenance issues (like a toddler working on his "aim", or real hard water issues, I would go for the marble and just maintain it.

dlipetz so would you go for the statuary or venetio or Carrara? We don't want large slabs as we think that's too modern. We want to keep the feel as period as possible (our home is 100 years old).

Eurocerob If you want to keep the feel as period as possible I think Carrara is first , Venetio is second and Statuary is third in order . I find that Statuary has a warmer feel then Carrara and Venetio .
Also I think that honed finish looks better for the Carrara , especially if it is on the grey tone.

If maintenance is one of the biggest concerns you may want to look into the porcelain tiles , like these
http://mediterranea-usa.com/usa/calacata/ .
There are also different sizes available , as needed for your project . Inquiring about them won't hurt the final decision.

Marble is the first choice vs. porcelain tiles as beauty and warmness , but in the long run and with the epoxy grout the porcelain tiles are the best '' maintenance free '' product .

Slabs are not too modern , but are more difficult and more expensive to install . The possibility of matching the veins with slabs is so rewarding .

Stoneshop Hi dlipetz,

That's too funny! We do work in Philadelphia all of the time! We currently have slabs of White Carrara, Venatino Carrara, and Statuary marble all in stock--plus many more!

As far as tile is concerned, we do not stock tile, but we have access to PLENTY of marble tile and have samples of most of these in our showroom. If you were to place an order, we can get most of the tile in within a week.

If you would like to stop in, we are open every day this week except for Thanksgiving. Our hours are listed on our website: www.stoneshop.com

We hope to see you soon!

crogers0282 I was just reading your posts and I have a beautiful grey marble on my shower floor in the tiny square tiles, and a white subway tile on the walls. I love it but am obsessed with keeping my grout clean. Any recommendations on what I should use that won't harm the marble?

dlipetz Is the rest of your bathroom white tile or marble? That's our dilemma. Your shower floor is similar to what we are thinking of doing, but I'm afraid it will break up the white in the rest of the bathroom.

dlipetz stoneshop--maybe we'll take a ride to your store. We need to finalize our tile choice in the next few weeks. I'm really torn about which marble to use--Carrara, statuary or venetio

crogers0282 We have a grayish tile in the floor, white cabinetry, Carrara marble on the vanity, and grey-blue walls. Love it, but cleaning is a pain.

Stoneshop crogers0282: does your marble floor have a polished, tumbled, or honed finish? Polished marble surfaces need to be cleaned with a mild agent.

dlipetz: great! We'd love to help you. It is helpful to see all of the slabs together in person.

dlipetz Is there someone I should ask for to make an appt? Maybe I can come after the holiday

crogers0282 Stoneshop, it is polished. My dilemma is I need a harsher agent or scrub to keep the grout clean but a mild agent on the marble. How do I do both?

crogers0282 Stoneshop: thanks for your help! My dilemma is I need a harsher cleaning agent to keep the grout clean but a milder agent on the marble ( polished). How can I do both?

Stoneshop dlipetz: We have three designers here who would be more than happy to assist you. No appointment is necessary--come whenever you'd like!

crogers0282: You're welcome! Yes, that is a tricky situation. We recommend using Stone Care International's Stone Quest cleaner. They make excellent products. First, start with a clean surface. For this cleaner, you can dilute the product as necessary for how intense of a cleaning you would like--NEVER use it undiluted on your polished surface. Either spray or mop it on, and then allow it to sit for NO LONGER than one minute. Then either mop the surface or wipe it off with a clean soft cloth.

Do not use this product for every day cleaning, just when you would like to do a more intense, deep clean. We also recommend that you seal your shower floor after doing this intense cleaning. This will prevent the tile AND grout from staining.

Here is a link to more information about Stone Quest: http://stonecare.com/SCI-Browse-Products/Stone-Quest-Intensive-Cleaner-8oz
For every day cleaning, we use Marbalex Stone Floor Cleaner: http://stonecare.com/SCI-Browse-Products/Marbalex-Stone-Floor-Cleaner-8oz-6PK

Hope this helps!

crogers0282 Thank you! I will definitely look into that!

Eurocerob crogers0282

Photos are deceiving , but from your shower floor photo .......
Are there wet spots on your floor which stay for longer periods of time after showering ?

crogers0282 Not wet spots, but there are areas that have darkened (they look wet) and I don't know why

Eurocerob Wet look ( darker spots ) may be due to the waterproofing product placement and water accumulation in the mud bed at these spots.

Do you know where it is placed ? Under or over the mud bed ?

crogers0282 The waterproofing is over the mud bed (Red Guard)

Eurocerob And the darker spots appeared just by normally using the shower ?

Is the grout looking different inside these darker spots vs. the rest of the shower ?

crogers0282 Yes they just appeared from using the shower and they seem to be getting bigger. Didn't really notice a change in the grout, but I'll have to look more closely

Eurocerob I hope the waterproofing was done properly - walls and floor with the right thickness - . The darker spots indicate water accumulation under the marble , usually the mud bed .

Getting bigger - the darker spots - , not a good sign . Maybe taking pictures of the shower floor every second or third day , after 5 to 6 hours from showering , will give you a better indication of the progress of the darker spots.

crogers0282 Is there long term damage that can be caused by this? We don't want to rip up the marble, is there any way we can manage it?

Eurocerob Other than aesthetics it all depends of how well the waterproofing is done. The humidity or water will not harm the marble.
Without ripping it , if the spotting continues to grow , there is not much you can do . Taking one shower per day , may slow the process -- spotting -- , but the water or humidity trapped have to evaporate . This process may take a while and I hope that will not stain the marble from the bottom up . Other theories may , like oily shower products or else , affect the marble , but it is hard to pin point it.

Monitor the developments over few weeks and see how it is progressing. Applying a sealer , in this situation ,will not work to solve the spotting . Sorry .

pattismcgee Dlipetz: I am in the process of planning our master bath renovation and am considering marble for vanity tops and likely marble tub surround and a solid SOAPSTONE custom shower base to avoid the grout line cleaning issue. I also love soapstone. Have you considered solid soapstone for your shower base?

dlipetz We chose soapstone for our kitchen counters when we remodeled our kitchen and we love it, but I don't want to go dark in the bathroom.

Innovative Product Sales International Have you installed any shower hardware on your marble? We have a great solution to avoid having to drill these premium surfaces.

Eurocerob dlipetz,

One slab piece for the shower floor can be done in either marble or granite , if of course you like this option .

Did you decide what material and format you will install on the shower floor ?

Linear drain , square drain , round drain ....... what style do you prefer ?

dlipetz Thought shower needed to be done in small tile in order to get a good slope? Still deciding on tile. Want a herringbone on bathroom floor. Not too grey, not too white. The tile decisions driving me nuts!!! Not sure what to do on shower floor. Don't want too many different patterns. Need to decide soon though!

Eurocerob With the use of a linear drain , small tiles are not an issue anymore . However , it doesn't mean that we cannot use small tiles with a linear drain . Here is an example,

Eurocerob For the herringbone pattern , I wouldn't recommend you the Callacata . It will be too busy IMO.

dlipetz Love your shower floor. So statuary would be better for herringbone? Where are you located?

Eurocerob Thanks. It depends of the marble tiles ( check them out before you decide ) , but I think the statuary marble won't look good in a herringbone pattern. I see more the Venetio or the Carrara and I think nothing with pronounced veins would look ok for this type of installation .

I am in Montreal :) Here is an example of them , side by side