We will be having a large island as well 10 x 5 - well probably 10 x 4.5 because we are putting Caesarstone (120 x 55 max slabs) on the island and marble on the perimeter. We have two kids (12 & 15) plus two 22yr old's in the house. The island will see lots of "action" and will also house the prep sink so I am choosing a more durable product to try and match the level of abuse it will be subjected too.

The marble will etch and probably scratch but I can live with that and buff some of it out as it occurs. On the perimeter it will be a little more protected than on the island. We don't have any beautiful white quartzite where I am but it would be a front runner over the marble for durability - have you looked for it in your area?

thanks We have not looked at white quartzite (we are in the D.C. area), but may have to investigate. Is is a synthetic material?

Also, do you know if the marble will be more or less prone to scratch if we get it honed?

Here are my answers. I have a seam in my 11 foot long island and I don't notice it at all. I suggest having a seam is not a problem and this opens up the material choices you have.

1. I chose Marble for my 11 ft long island color Rosso Verona because I liked the deep red terra cotta color and it had a spiral fossil in it of a nautilus shell. I have granite perimeters in Desert Mahogany that complement with terra cotta color with terra cotta swirls and specks.

2. I regret that I have polished marble on my counter. There are a couple of chips, a lot of etching, a lot of scratches. It is sealed and I have no stains but sealing does not change scratching and chipping. Honing does not change chipping either and might minimize the appearance of etching. To have my slab honed I was told would be $800 (after it was installed). I saw a honed sample and decided it made my red terra cotta color too dull for my taste.

3. My only positive experience with marble counter on the island is that it is pretty. I wish I had gone with granite because it is pretty too.

4. Negatives are the etching and chipping. Day one we set a tupperware orange juice pitcher on the island and it etched a round ring. Ever since we get a new etch about once a week. We are 2 adults only and I try to be careful but DH uses the island alot and isn't as aware of how soft the material is.

Quartzite is a natural stone just like marble and granite - I went with quartzite because it has some of the subtlety and veining of marble but is a harder material. My quartzite (madre perola) has been bulletproof since installation and I love that it is a little different that what others in my town have (I also love that it is white, taupe and grey which gives me a lot of color options in the adjoining family room). I will say because it is generally not a dramatic stone, it does not look like much in photographs - I looked right past the slabs online but loved them when I saw them in person. If you search quartzite in the forum, you will get a lot of other great information.

So with young kids and seating at the island, I would assume that homework projects, possible art projects, etc might be done there? If so....I say go for the granite. It is so much more forgiving than granite. If you want the look of marble, consider Quartzite. It's the same shades and tones of marble with the durability of a sherman tank (almost).

I wanted marble when re-doing my last kitchen, heard these kinds of stories, so got some 12x12 squares of it and experimented on them with lemon juice etc. The stories are true. So I got granite and was very happy with it.

But I still love marble best so in my new kitchen redo in this house, I'm going to get marble on the island and hope that we can be careful. However, I am going into it with the assumption that it is going to get a "patina" and I'm just fine with that -- like an old French kitchen.

I did have someone hone one of the experimental pieces. If you get honed it will scratch etc. just as much, but you won't see it as much because it will be matte instead of shiny. I discovered you can sort of hone your own marble by letting lemon juice sit on the entire surface for a few minutes!

the advantage of marble over granite is that you can have someone come in and repolish it for ou as often as you can afford.

Am definitely going to look into the quarzite madre perola, it sounds great.

I have researched and have read just about every entry on the board concerning marble. Very few negative responses from those who actually have it. Many positive from those who do have it. If you like the look, it will be difficult to settle for something else. Educate yourself and family as far as care and cleaning of the marble. I love the look of marble and could not settle for anything else, so just picked slabs of carrara and hope all will work out well. Perhaps if you have an island, you could do a mixture of surfaces with wood, grantie, etc. to give you a respite to do messy jobs that would make the marble prone to accidents.

Got a quote from the fabricator (Marblex in N. Va). $7000 more for the calcutta gold marble so that may make the decision a whole lot easier, particularly in light of the helpful comments.

My DH just couldn't imagine my nervousness at the etching problem with three kids and many parties....We went with the white quartzite. We used one slab,the largest and best slab of the ones they had, and in the end we even had reduce our cabinet by 3" to accommodate the max slab size. The island is 61" x 106" with a 2.25 square edge.

We have been so happy with our white quartzite--no etching and no staining!!! We had 40 people over for drinks and there was red wine, lemons, tomatoes, olives, food everywhere--no problems with clean up the next day. My 12 year old has been cooking a lot and she is a mess but I want to encourage the cooking, so have bit my tongue when things are spilling all over. Luckily I don't have to worry! :) We even did our backsplash in the quartzite...

firsthouse- I have the same quartzite as you--super white quartzite but in a leathered finish. Only mine (only 2 weeks installed) already etched. I see you don't baby yours and yours hasn't stained nor etched. How could this be? My etch was done with a vinegar jug and is very visible. I am wondering it is my sealer. I have read the back of the sealer that was put on after installation which says it does not prevent etching. Do you know what sealer was used for yours and if the sealer makes the difference?

I say, get what you want.

I did my old kitchen about 8 years ago, and I wanted limestone or marble. Everyone said no.......... SO i got granite in one area of the kitchen, and cherry everywhere else. Loved the solid cherry, it held up very well and looked great with undercabinet lighting.

I hated the granite every day (sorry, granite fans). I even kept extra tiles in case I wanted to replace it someday. It was just is far too busy and modern. Of course, it could have just been MY granite was awful ... there are more granites to choose from today.

I am doing a new kitchen in a new house. I am using wood and zinc. I feel as though I missed marble and now everyone has it. One exception, I have an island that we copied from an old general store counter. We are putting a special marble on it that looks aged, I love it.

I wanted the marble to look antique. I even thought of trying to purposely stain it to make it seem old... I also sourced old marble from demolitions but most of it is from bank walls and not really that aged looking ...
Anyway, I came across a slab of something fabulous! It's called Dolomya. It is calacutta marble but it has a hand-distressed wavy surface with a wax finish. OMG it looks and feels terrific.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aged look marble

I have a honed Calacatta Gold island of roughly the same dimensions and a four year old and a seven year old. Yes it was very expensive! We went with it because our architect, who was initially against it, insisted we should do it because given the size of the island she felt visually it needed the dramatic veining to give it movement.

So far - three months though I prep and eat there every day - I love it. Etching remained on the perimeter - island is so deep it never gets to the middle - and my husband doesn't even know where it is. We do use place mats with the kids, though that's also needed because my arms are short and the island wide so I use place mats to "push" the food to the kids on the other side. That said our light is northern and our pendant lighting relatively diffuse. I do most of my prep on a huge Roul Pat - another GW suggestion - I like using it as I never prep directly on my counters anyway but others may feel differently.