Using Marble Countertops in the Kitchen

You probably love the look of beautiful white marble countertops that you’ve seen in every other kitchen photograph, but you’re not convinced that they suit your lifestyle.  I will also proceed to guess that you, at some point, told yourself that you were going to choose a more practical countertop material.  However, when you went to a slab yard to take a look, everything that made your heart do little leaps of joy turned out to be marble.  So now you’ve begun this debate with yourself (or perhaps your spouse) about whether or not you should take the plunge.

As a kitchen designer with 18 years of experience. I’ve seen a similar story unfold with almost every client. While about 20% stick with granite, many end up falling in love with marble. The transformation usually happens during a visit to the slab yard. It’s fascinating how something so cold and solid can completely capture our hearts.

I often compare marble to art—it has the power to stop you in your tracks when you find the perfect piece. My clients will spot a particular slab, and just like that, their entire vision for the kitchen clicks into place. Once that connection happens, they’re hooked!

But then comes the tough part: deciding between the beauty of marble and the practicality of other options. For weeks, clients wrestle with this choice, torn between their dream kitchen and everyday functionality.

To help you avoid some of the stress that often comes with these decisions, I’d like to share a few insights I’ve gained over nearly two decades as a kitchen designer.

Five things you should know about using marble in the kitchen:

Marble doesn’t stain very often – it etches.  

This statement assumes that you are a reasonable person and would apply an impregnating sealer to your marble upon installation, per your fabricator’s recommendations.  The sealers on the market today impregnate the stone and provide good resistance to staining.  It does not make your marble stain-proof, but it gives you a reasonable amount of time to wipe-up any spills that would otherwise prove problematic.  So, in other words, if you were to spill a little red wine and wipe it up in thirty minutes, you would be fine.  If you left it there all night, you might have a stain.  Etching, however, is an entirely other affair.  Marble is composed mostly of calcium carbonate.

Which reacts to acidic substances.  So you need to educate yourself a little about what kitchen foods or chemicals might prove to be a problem.  For instance, vinegar, tomato sauce, orange juice are common culprits.  As are certain cleaning products.  However, you need to go a step further and be aware of things like the vinegar in your salad dressing or the lime juice in your guacamole dip.  All of these things could easily etch your marble if left to sit for a while.

Marble is a Lifestyle Choice. 

When you decide to get marble countertops, it’s important to accept one thing upfront: over time, your marble will develop etch marks. It’s just part of owning marble, so it’s good to come to terms with it before making your purchase.

Marble requires some care and attention, but despite the marks it will gather, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The first etch might really bother you—and that’s normal. But after a while, you’ll notice them less and less. Once there are a few etch marks, they’ll blend together and start to feel like a natural part of the stone.

A single big etch on an otherwise flawless marble surface might stand out, but when there are many, they add a kind of charm and character. When I look at my countertops now. I see the story of my kitchen and my family etched into the marble. Those marks represent memories, and over time, I’ve come to truly appreciate them.

Honed marble will not show etch marks as badly as polished marble.

However, polished marble will have slightly more stain resistance than a honed finish.  Regardless, make sure that you apply your sealer per the recommendations of your fabricator.

Marble kitchen countertops can be re-honed periodically.

If you are really fastidious, you can have your countertops re-honed to remove most of the etch marks from time to time.

Scratching can happen but is not particularly problematic.

While marble is somewhat more susceptible to scratching than granite. I don’t consider this to be a significant factor.  If you used your good knives on marble or granite, they will be dull very quickly, so you’re not going to cut on it very often.  I cut an occasional sandwich or piece of fruit on my marble and I’ve never had a problem (although I am careful as I do it).  A knife with a fine, serrated edge is more likely to leave a score mark than a chef’s knife.

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