About 90% of the bathrooms Pegasus remodels, are in marble due to its physical appeal; however, when all pros and cons are weighed, it is probably recommended that porcelain be used due to its durability. The biggest issue is finding a finish piece other than quarter round or bullnose because using one of these two options makes the finished product look “cheap”. If the porcelain looks like a real stone than a traditional finish piece like a chair rail, pencil or dome can “trick the eye” into thinking the shower was done in a real stone. If the client is going for a contemporary or transitional look, than maybe metal edging would help to conceal the real identity of the field tile.
Personally, I’d go with Porcelain. There is beautiful porcelain tile now that looks just like marble. It’s no maintenance and it looks good (and its cheaper to install!).
Personally we would porcelain. However, it would be the homeowners decision on their preference.
Porcelain or ceramic are properties that are durable and easily cleaned and it today’s market there are numerous style and finish choices and their cost is usually on the lower side of the cost scale. Porcelain or ceramic can be cleaned with mild abrasive items.
Marble is a soft material. It comes in polished or honed finishes. The polished finish will clean just like the porcelain and ceramic tiles, though you will not want to use anything abrasive on marble. Putting polished marble on the floor can be hazardous because of it being slippery and it will show wear sooner.
Travertine is a beautiful stone but is very porous, even if it is a filled travertine. What’s nice is it does not show wear or dirt as much because of its variations’ in colors. Travertine also comes in polished and honed finishes and I would suggest polished on the walls and honed on the floor.
Granite is an almost indestructible material. For the most part Granite comes in a polished finish and can be cleaned with almost anything.
Personally I like a mix of materials and I usually never use a porcelain tile. Not because I dislike porcelain but because I just love natural stone. “No one does it better than mother nature” sorry I could resist.
We do a lot of mable in bathrooms and our clients love it. We’ve done travertine too. I recommend going with the light colors and avoiding the polished variety of either stone since they can easily etch from common bathroom cleaning products and even shampoos.
We once had a client complain about streaks that wouldn’t wash off her new polished travertine shower tiles about 4 weeks after we finished her remodel. Turns out the residue from her shampoo bottles dripped down the wall from the wall niche and left streaks on the tile. Her housekeeper then sprayed common bathroom “tile” cleaner and let it sit for 10 minutes before scrubbing and rinsing. Those 10 minutes was all it took to permanently etch through the stone sealer and polished surface of her tile. We had to hire someone to come out and diamond hone the tiles back to a full polish. We also discovered that no tile/stone sealer (even exotic boutique, licensed professionals-only products used in hotels and national monuments) worked to protect this stone from the shampoo or cleaning agents (we did test samples on extra tile).
To save yourself any potential headaches, go “honed” stone or porcelain tile.
By far porcelain is the better product. Travertine and Marble need maintenance and can easily be scratched. Both need to be sealed every year.