Awe, I'm flattered! Although I must admit that I'm disappointed that the backsplash doesn't look as nice with our counters as the two samples looked together. Oh well. I sure do like both of them enough to let that slide.

We've only had our backsplash up for a couple months, but we have no issues with staining or difficulty cleaning it. And let me tell you, I am a MESSY cook. And you can't always depend on me to clean up right away. Of course it was sealed with Miracle 511 Impregnator as soon as the grout was cured.

Get a few tile samples, seal them and experiment. That way you'll know how easy or hard it will be to maintain.

Thanks, Alku05. You should be flattered! Can you tell me again where you got that tile? And, when you do clean it, what do you use? Plain soap and water? Something stronger?

bump

Another one who used white marble and you might want to talk to was paigect. I believe she had 3x6 white tumbled marble, although I don't think it was carrera.

Marthavila, my tile was a closeout from a travertine supplier that was discontinuing all of their marble. However, I do know that Walker Zanger sells white marble tile in their Tribeca collection.

To clean my tile, I just use a microfiber cloth that I've wet with hot water from my instahot. That seems to take everything off of it easily. Again, the sealing is key...seal it well and the forget about it.

I have 3 by 6 statuary tile for my backsplash. It's been up about two weeks. So far so good. I sealed it with 411. I'll admit I'm a bit nervous about it but I haven't noticed any problems yet. It is so darn gorgeous it's worth the extra worry.

I hear ya, Marthavila! Although we got an excellent deal on our backsplash tile, the tile that I really wanted was a ming green extra-mini brick mosaic that would have broken the bank at $32/sqft. Not to mention the Sonoma Tantrum accents I would have thrown in if cost was no option. (DH vetoed anything but white..even the marble was quite a stretch for him.) The Tribeca collection must be less than that, right?

Seriously, I'm as low maintanence as people come. There's no way I'd have anything in my kitchen that required more than the minimum amount of effort.

PS: That Walker Zanger Tribeca Basket Weave pattern is my DREAM bathroom floor....

FWIW, I found some carrara minibricks online for a much cheaper price than Ann Sacks. I haven't used them, so can't comment on the company one way or another. (I do know that the AS people were pretty snobby when I went in there, so I am not feeling all that guilty about trying to find a cheaper virtual-store source.)

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Marble Minibricks

Oh, and here's a picture of the marble basketweave from the same site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basketweave

Hello All,

Great thread, IÂve enjoyed the commentary as well as the links cmeltzer posted.

I too want to redo our downstairs main bath. Our house is early to mid 20Âs, wood frame and I want to keep it reasonably "period". Like most of you I also love what WZ has to offer in their Tribeca line but IÂm not a big fan of the price tag either; and considering I own a company that does marble restoration and do a lot of maintenance and repair work for several high-end tile "boutiques" in our area and they will give me their pricing on it  itÂs still to expensive. So those links offer an affordable option.

As for sealing your back splashes, you all are right on the money. Yes, you do need to seal it but donÂt be mistaken. Sealing with a good quality penetrating sealer is very important but in case youÂre not aware, that sealer is only going to protect against water and/or oil based staining. If you have a pot of pasta sauce simmering on the back burner and some of the sauce (an acid) splatters onto your backsplash (marble, i.e. a calcium based, acid sensitive stone) it will etch it. (Etches on stone look like water marks that wonÂt come off.) Other than watching against things like that you all will be in good shape. For the record I used Miracle Sealants 511 Porous Plus on my own Trav, kitchen floor. It worked okay initially but eventually (about a year out) the grout was stained. For me thatÂs not a big deal because thatÂs what we do, is restore that type of thing and I can have one of our crews take care of it. But for you all you might want to consider using a little better quality product like Dry TreatÂs Satin Proof. If you do chose to do that donÂt worry about compatibility issues with 511 and SP, the SP will go right through the 511 and into the stone. It is a penetrating product and normally it wonÂt change the appearance of the stone, not to mention, properly applied it will last a good 15 years. Just so no one gets the wrong idea here we do not sell SP, we only use it in our company as well as in my own home. I hope this has helped a little and if you should ever have any question about how to take care of your natural stone please donÂt hesitate to ask.

Again thanks for referencing those links; now all I need to find are some great tile/stone base boards and chair rails. (Read: great ((affordable)) tile/stone base boards and chair rails.)

David Gelinas
Marbleguy

David thanks for the product recommendation for better grout protection. I do find that my marble tiles wipe right off, but the grout takes a bit more effort. I was planning another coat of 511 on the grout, but perhaps I'll try the Satin Proof instead (if I can find it!).

As for the effects of acid on marble, I am more aware of those than most, which is why I didn't do marble counters. You can't deny chemistry. Indeed I use marble countertops + lemon juice as an example when I teach my college students the acid/base reactions chapter :). Yes, I'm that TKO!

I fell in love with this stuff, but we decided not to tile for now - we're tired DIY with too many projects we aren't working on. :)

They have a range of marble and I liked it because it had more of the brown tones vs. grey.

They have actual stores - sometimes the stores are good (i.e. you can get help) and sometimes not.

Here is a link that might be useful: the tile shop

Thank you, too, David! That was very helpful. It's also making me think maybe I should get a removable sheet of stainless steel (or some other kind of thin material) that I can prop up against my backsplash as a temporary shield when I'm cooking foods with a high acid content.

Hi All,

Alku05,
If you are still looking for Stain Proof, give David Howard / AMJ Supply a call at 877-491-7325 and he can help you out IÂm sure. Tell that David Gelinas, Marbleguy sent you. IÂm sorry I didnÂt get the "TKO" at the end of your post???

Pcis,
Thanks for that link for The Tile Shop, I really like some of the stuff they have. I can feel your pain with regards to being tired of the never ending projects around the house. Off the top of my head I can count about 5 that are currently going on in our house as I type this.

Marthavila,
I was thinking about your idea of a removable shield for when youÂre cooking. A quick, affordable fix would be to simply set a cookie sheet behind the offending pot. If it works from a "logisticsÂ" point of view and you want to go to the trouble; you could go by a machine shop or metal fabricator and tell them you want a very thin piece of stainless or aluminum sheet metal made into a mini "screen/room divider". If the center section was say 12-18inches wide and the two hinged side sections were say 6 inches and the whole thing were say 18-24 inches high depending on the height of your range hood  something like that might work. That way it could set directly behind the offending pot. Not that anyone here would have kids that would do this and certainly none of us as kids would have ever done something like it  but your splash shield would sit there kinda like a "Folder Fort"; that thing that ever so slightly disinterested kids might hide behind in class.

Please let me know if any of you ever have any stone/marble or tile care, maintenance or restoration questions and IÂll gladly help you out any way I can.

David Gelinas
Marbleguy

Thanks for the contact info David. Around here, we use TKO to mean Totally Kitchen Obsessed.