Marble in bathroom with wet area?

[achillea]

Hi

I'm new to the forum as we are moving into a new house next month and I want to gut the bathroom (lovely avocado job). After much agonising I'm erring towards a nice white carrara marble for the floor and on the walls of the walk in wet area (top quality stuff from Strata tiles). However I keep hearing conflicting views on whether marble is the right material due to a) need to keep sealing b) cost and pain of doing that c) chance of staining. I'd really appreciate views on the following:

- Whether a quality white marble would cope with having shampoo/shower gell chucked at it every day? (2 people per day)
- If so, how often would I need to seal? I've heard anything from 3 months to 5 years.
- Best sealant for the job
- Would a marble effect porcelain be better for the floor? (struggling to find a convincing looking one although Porcelanosa have something - most of their white tiles seem to have been discontinued). Although if I went for this I'd still want to use this fancy italian textured marble for the walls.. might be a problem matching up though.
- Slip factor - going for a honed finish and probably 50x50 tiles - dangerous? If I go with a white marble from Fired Earth they do it in smaller sizes which may be less dangerous? By the way, the bathroom is only 3.1m x 1.5m and the wet area would be around 0.7m x 1.5m.

I'm going round in circles on this one so any advice gratefully received! (also if anyone experienced in this type of work services the Tonbridge area I'm open to offers)

pip pip
Achillea

[Topshop]

A granite tile would be easier to keep up than a marble but if you truly love a stone you learn to care for it properly and keep it up.

Honed carrera is fine in the bathroom as long as your choose the proper sealer and learn to care for it. Carrera is acid sensitive like all calcium based stones. There are no sealers that will stop an etch so the honed will hide any minor etching that will occur and the stone will not need as much attention later. A good sealer should last 5 years or more even in a bathroom situation.

The problem most people have is using the wrong cleaners. Some cleaners will damage and shorten the life of your sealer. For the floors if you clean with products that do not leave any residue or build-up it will not be slippery. I have polished absolute black in my bathroom at home and never slip because it is only cleaned with a dust mop (or vacuum) and spot cleaned as needed with a good pure cleaner like Lustro Italiano (by Tenax ).

For shower walls you should keep a small squeegee in the shower to remove the beaded water so it does not dry in place and leave residue and mineral buildup behind that will accumilate.

Another issue people have with Carrera is near the John. Urine can etch and discolor carrera so the man of the house may have to sit down or aim better.

Some carrera has iron in it and will rust so it needs to be sealed well before installation to avoid discoloration.

[timeless john]

Sound advice from Topshop and as you are at that planning stage remember the substrate preparation for wetrooms and walls with regard to weight issues.

[doug boardley]

Roman, Grecian, Byzantine empires always chose carrera marble for their spa's and wetrooms, i know they didn't have to cope with gels, shampoos and suchlike as we have now....but I do wonder how they maintained them,,,bit off thread maybe but just got me wondering.

[Muse2k8]

Roman, Grecian, Byzantine empires always chose carrera marble for their spa's and wetrooms, i know they didn't have to cope with gels, shampoos and suchlike as we have now....but I do wonder how they maintained them,,,bit off thread maybe but just got me wondering.

Interesting

[doug boardley]

Interesting

can you google it,,,I'm on 3 different forums at the moment

[achillea]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think the maintenance is going to be an issue. Can't see the other half bothering to wipe everything down - and wee sitting down!

Think I'll reconsider option B which is a porcelain floor and Original Style 6" tiles on the walls - flipping expensive but really funky and high quality. By the way, does anyone know if Original Style do trade discounts - and if so, how much?

Many thanks

[timeless john]

Pity you feel the maintenance will be such an issue as it's a style that would remain - timeless!
Original Style have been set up as a retail company and as such you can only buy through selected outlets who's discount structure doesn't allow much leeway for any trade discounts.

[Muse2k8]

can you google it,,,I'm on 3 different forums at the moment

Just seen this. I'll google it later I'm using the phone lol.

[John Benton]

I can only get 10% on Original Style

[Mccormac tiling]

10% seems to be about the norm for traders through O.S.!

[achillea]

Not great but I'll take what I can get! How about Porcelanosa? Presume better deals are to be had?

[John Benton]

Yep up to 35% and they have some lovely quality tiles as well

[achillea]

Excellent - that is the floors sorted then... hope I don't regret turning down the marble option! Presume with a Porcelanosa floor tile (carrara blanco ceramic) we would just need to seal the grout and redo periodically?

[John Benton]

There was a thread earlier regarding grout - to seal or not to seal. I tend to do it now in shower cubicles but for wet areas, particularly floor sealing would be highly recommended.

[Muse2k8]

Keeps it clean if you do