With what would you replace this marble floor?

[A.Fox]

Okay, I'm a little frustrated that I wrote a response earlier today and it didn't post. Let's see if I can remember what I said:

The current marble floor is raised about 1/2" - 5/8" above the wood flooring in the adjacent rooms. That probably means that the first step of our stair is indeed shorter than the rest by that much. I've never really felt it in using it though. The stair is also one of the last things I would ever want to mess with too, given all of the parts and tight fit carpentry that is involved in it's construction.

Some of our doors have pretty tight undercuts. Others have at least 5/8" undercuts to clear rugs. If the floors were re-leveled, would a 1 1/4" undercut look ridiculous? Given how varied the grain is on our doors, I don't think we could ever hide an extension on the bottom of them.

At our back stairs to the basement (which are cast in place concrete supported at the top end by the wood structure of the main floor--a very curious structural system), along the landing there is a little sliver of painted oak that pokes out past the marble tile. This suggests the kitchen floor may have been oak as well, or at least the stair landing outside the kitchen.

Phil's comment about removing the cabinets prior to new flooring has me thinking: the current flooring was installed around the cabinets. Since it generally seems that the old floor was removed to accommodate the cemement board for the new tile, I wonder what they are sitting on.

On the sun room side topic: I was looking at the trim detail around the windows a few days ago. Even though it seems a little unusual, and maybe a little unfinished, I think the way the windows are trimmed is what they always have looked like. The trim for the frame inside the window opening is finished the same on the end, and the brick beyond that has an interesting bullnose detail (I'll see if I can get a clearer image).

On another side note, our house has a very nice view of our neighbor's kitchen. His 1926 tudor revival appears to have an intact 1920s kitchen including glass front upper cabinets and a built-in bay window banquet. Their house is among the one's that I would love to see inside.

[GinaC]

On another side note, our house has a very nice view of our neighbor's kitchen. His 1926 tudor revival appears to have an intact 1920s kitchen including glass front upper cabinets and a built-in bay window banquet. Their house is among the one's that I would love to see inside.

I am a little ashamed to say that when my new neighbor invited me over for Thanksgiving, I was the most excited about seeing their (1938) house on the inside.

[JacquieJet]

Ok, so I'm a little late to the party, but I just wanted to share my experiences with marble- it's the devil! We had it in our kitchen, and it would etch just by putting down a coffee mug. We replaced it with man-made quartz and have been extremely pleased. Mind you, that's our countertop, not flooring, but the same issues apply. Marble is gorgeous, unless you use the surface regularly, and then it looks awful!

Our house is a colonial revival, and we had those unglazed red clay square tiles in/around the fireplace originally. Other houses in our area have them too. They seem fairly hardy. Also, if you like the look of those, there are companies that make them in matte ceramic now that at a glance look very similar to the clay tiles (only they are a bit more hardy). A neighbour of mine put these in her sunroom, and I had no idea they were't original until she pointed it out. Look great.

Currently we have hardwood in our kitchen, but I'm not a huge fan of a wood floor in the kitchen. I much prefer tile- in my perfect kitchen fantasy, I would have small 1x1 off white mosaic tiles in there.

[GinaC]

Jacquie, thanks for the info about the marble countertop! I was considering a white marble top for my powder room sink, but now I am reconsidering it. Do you have any experience with granite? Would white/gray granite be a better option, in your opinion? (I just love natural stone, and I'm not interested at all in a man-made material -- I had Corian in my 1933 apartment and I just hated the warm feel when you put your hand on it.)

[awomanwithahammer]

Gina, what about a light limestone? I saw a piece that was a gorgeous white to light gray. I was going to get it for my bathroom counter, but couldn't justify the expense at the time.

[A.Fox]

Gina,

We've got white marble on the counter and mosaic marble tiles for the floor of one of our bathrooms. There's also tiny tumbled white marble tiles on the walls of the first floor powder room. It definitely etches and stains as well (some lotion or something got left on the counter overnight and left a slight dull stain), but I've noticed that white hides the etches, water spots, and scratches so much better than black. If you are careful with it, it seems that it has more of a graceful age to it overtime, whereas our high polish black just looks damaged. I would warn though that white marble around toilets is not a good idea. It has a tendency to turn yellow over time (we also learned this around urinals in our commercial projects).

At work we also have a marble floor in the lobby. In the 8 years I've been here, I don't think we've done anything but clean it. It definitely has dulled quite a bit, but it still looks good.

If you like the white marble, I think it would still be okay. Granite is typically less porous and less prone to damage, but in a powder room where it's likely yo get less use and less likeliness of products that could stain it, it would hold up decently.

[JacquieJet]

Jacquie, thanks for the info about the marble countertop! I was considering a white marble top for my powder room sink, but now I am reconsidering it. Do you have any experience with granite? Would white/gray granite be a better option, in your opinion? (I just love natural stone, and I'm not interested at all in a man-made material -- I had Corian in my 1933 apartment and I just hated the warm feel when you put your hand on it.)

I have a white/grey marble countertop in one of my bathrooms, and please... don't do it! Mine is all etched/stained from the hand soap (the odd leak/spill sinks into the stone quickly and leaves what looks like oil marks), and also water marks galore. It's just not a good material for a surface that gets frequent use. If it was for a seldom-used powder room, then it might be ok. In general, I think it's best avoided though. It's a shame it's such a porous surface, because marble is a lovely looking stone.
As for not liking manmade stone, you might be surprised by the options out there now. Mine is Caesarstone, and it feels just like regular quartz (because it is, it is just ground dow, mixed with adhesives, then poured). Mine is cold to the touch. It's also non staining, and considering how often I use the kitchen here (I cook and bake a LOT), the surface still looks the same as it did when it was installed 4 years ago. Not a single stain/mark.
As for granite, it is certainly a better choice than marble in terms of maintenance, but it is still a porous material and does require more care than other surfaces. As an example, a friend of mine has granite in her kitchen, and left a jar of hot peppers in oil on the counter for a couple of hours one day. The orange oil ring left from the bottom of the jar was in her countertop permanently.

[phil]

I lost my post too.. anyway . if you make a post and it asks for a log in copy the text first then if it disappears it's on your clipboard.

- you can add a strip to the bottom of the door . I would not make that a decision changer. Its not hard but the strip should be made oversize, the door flattened for a good glue joint then it can be trimmed a tad to make it perfectly even I'd put tape on the door to protect it and use a cabinet scraper till its dead flat with the rest. that stick needs to math the wood type and orientation of the door to be invisible.

check if there is an air return if you have forced air, sometimes the door gap it the air return, you can't push air into a room unless the same amount can exit the room a different way.

I used a stone print , It's laminate that looks like stone. I really like it and it is cheap but I made oversized countertops to get extra depth and made my own roundover for the front edge from wood to match the cabinetry. i made my uppers and lowers both deeper than standard by 4" more space.

you can check into different stone types. some like the concrete poured in place, if done right it can be a contender but some are ugly, its an art.
I'd put similar wood on the floor, reclaimed or if that isn't possible then new but thats just my opinion and well ...at least that was the cheap part