I'm remodeling the downstairs bathroom. I have a raised ranch and on
the lower level at the foundation top we have a very wide windowsill,
about 8" or so. The walls will be porcelain tile up to about 5'. The
present sill is wood so I'm thinking of either a marble or granite piece
3/4" thick.

Is either of these materials not suitable for some reason? One better
than the other? Cost is not going to be a big factor, when spending
thousands of dollars already, forty bucks either way won't make much
difference.

Ed Pawlowski writes:

I'm remodeling the downstairs bathroom. I have a raised ranch and on
the lower level at the foundation top we have a very wide windowsill,
about 8" or so. The walls will be porcelain tile up to about 5'. The
present sill is wood so I'm thinking of either a marble or granite
piece 3/4" thick.

Is either of these materials not suitable for some reason? One better
than the other? Cost is not going to be a big factor, when spending
thousands of dollars already, forty bucks either way won't make much
difference.

Marble is fine.
I have a few marble windowsills in this house.
Even have a few doorsills of marble.
I like them so much when I had the bathroom remodeled
I got new pieces of marble for he new room.

A little, non-pretentious touch of class.

I especially like the look of marble doorsills slightly
worn down by time.

--
Dan Espen

On Thu, 01 May 2014 15:48:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I'm remodeling the downstairs bathroom. I have a raised ranch and on
the lower level at the foundation top we have a very wide windowsill,
about 8" or so. The walls will be porcelain tile up to about 5'. The
present sill is wood so I'm thinking of either a marble or granite piece
3/4" thick.

Is either of these materials not suitable for some reason? One better
than the other? Cost is not going to be a big factor, when spending
thousands of dollars already, forty bucks either way won't make much
difference.

Both sound reasonable. I'd ask for samples of either and find the
best visual match to the tile - some contrast that appeals to you.

Will there be an apron and returns under the sill?

On Thu, 01 May 2014 13:15:18 -0700, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 01 May 2014 15:48:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I'm remodeling the downstairs bathroom. I have a raised ranch and on
the lower level at the foundation top we have a very wide windowsill,
about 8" or so. The walls will be porcelain tile up to about 5'. The
present sill is wood so I'm thinking of either a marble or granite piece
3/4" thick.

Is either of these materials not suitable for some reason? One better
than the other? Cost is not going to be a big factor, when spending
thousands of dollars already, forty bucks either way won't make much
difference.

Both sound reasonable. I'd ask for samples of either and find the
best visual match to the tile - some contrast that appeals to you.

Will there be an apron and returns under the sill?

There will be something, just not sure yet. It would give a more
finished look.

On Thu, 01 May 2014 19:39:55 -0700, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

...snip...
There will be something, just not sure yet. It would give a more
finished look.

Is marble more sensitive to water damage/staining/dissolving? can't
believe dissolving, since marble was heated at one time. but still have to
ask.

If this sill is gonna be in a bathroom, I'd definitely go with granite.

That's because marble is really nothing more than metamorphed limestone, and limestone is readily etched by acids.

And, when you think about a bathroom, there's acid used all over the place:
- toilet bowl cleaners are typically either phosphoric acid or hydrochloric acid based
- general bathroom cleaners use phosphoric acid as the active ingredient because it cuts through soap scum without attacking chrome plating.

So, if it was my bathroom, I'd go with granite because it's less susceptable to damage caused by acids. Some good intentioned person is going to put a bottle of phosphoric acid based bathroom cleaner on that sill and cause some damage. If it were a granite sill, there'd be considerably less damage.

A few of thoughts:

Marble will probably be a lot cheaper, but neither
will be as little as $40. I had to buy a 5 1/2" x
3/4 x 8' awhile back and I think that was $70. But
it was also a stock threshold. Custom pieces cost
more and often you have to pay for the whole sheet
if the stone shop doesn't have a scrap.

Marble is more typical in baths. (Downright common.)
It looks nice with something like white tile. Granite
would give you more creative design options.

If you use the marble, try to set it in a fair amount
of thinset. It's very brittle. I cut it on a diamond blade
tile saw easily, but it tends to snap off as it gets close
to the end of the cut. (You may have noticed that it's
not uncommon to see broken up marble thresholds in
bathrooms when people have made the mistake of just
setting it on the underlayment.) Granite, by contrast,
has a large percentage of quartz, which is hardness 7.
That may be its main down side, in addition to cost: A
child running or elderly person falling is a lot better off
hitting their head on marble than on granite.

Also, a side note: You can get a grinder fairly cheap
and tile places will sell different grits of grinding wheels.
Grinding finished edges and roundovers on marble, should
you need to, is actually fairly easy. It's so soft that there's
actually a risk of overgrinding. You have to do it carefully.


"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
| I'm remodeling the downstairs bathroom. I have a raised ranch and on
| the lower level at the foundation top we have a very wide windowsill,
| about 8" or so. The walls will be porcelain tile up to about 5'. The
| present sill is wood so I'm thinking of either a marble or granite piece
| 3/4" thick.
|
| Is either of these materials not suitable for some reason? One better
| than the other? Cost is not going to be a big factor, when spending
| thousands of dollars already, forty bucks either way won't make much
| difference.

On 5/1/2014 10:52 PM, RobertMacy wrote:
On Thu, 01 May 2014 19:39:55 -0700, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

...snip...
There will be something, just not sure yet. It would give a more
finished look.

Is marble more sensitive to water damage/staining/dissolving? can't
believe dissolving, since marble was heated at one time. but still have
to ask.

Water damage is a consideration as my wife may put a plant on it. Of
course, I can always protect it by putting a couple of coats of paint on
it.

On 5/2/2014 9:29 AM, Mayayana wrote:
A few of thoughts:

Marble will probably be a lot cheaper, but neither
will be as little as $40. I had to buy a 5 1/2" x
3/4 x 8' awhile back and I think that was $70. But
it was also a stock threshold. Custom pieces cost
more and often you have to pay for the whole sheet
if the stone shop doesn't have a scrap.

The $40 is the difference in price, not the cost. I expect to pay much
more than that.


Marble is more typical in baths. (Downright common.)
It looks nice with something like white tile. Granite
would give you more creative design options.

The wall tile is white with a very slight look of marble "grain" in it.
Marble would match better, but granite will contrast more.

| Is marble more sensitive to water damage/staining/dissolving? can't
| believe dissolving, since marble was heated at one time. but still have
| to ask.
|
| Water damage is a consideration as my wife may put a plant on it. Of
| course, I can always protect it by putting a couple of coats of paint on
| it.

I hope that was a joke.
Marble does stain very easily, but I've never seen
anything like acid damage. I was just in a bathroom
where I put in a marble window sill in the shower 5
years ago. It looks like new, and I live east of the
Mississippi where the water is soft and perhaps
slightly acid. But if you have something like rusty
metal that drips onto the marble it can ruin the look.

I'm guessing the windowsill in question is not in the
shower, so it shouldn't be a big problem in terms of
staining, but if it were me I'd put something like a
glass dish under the plant.

Huh?

If you're gonna paint over it, then don't even use stone. Use spruce lumber.

On Fri, 2 May 2014 18:07:13 +0200, nestork
wrote:


Ed Pawlowski;3230335 Wrote:

Water damage is a consideration as my wife may put a plant on it. Of
course, I can always protect it by putting a couple of coats of paint on

it.

Huh?

If you're gonna paint over it, then don't even use stone. Use spruce
lumber.

Whoosh

On Fri, 02 May 2014 10:11:31 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

The wall tile is white with a very slight look of marble "grain" in it.
Marble would match better, but granite will contrast more.

Get a pure white marble, like thassos. Not the cheap gray streaky carrera.

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

On Fri, 02 May 2014 10:37:54 -0400, wrote:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/MS-Intern...54SB/202195880

That's a threshold. You wouldn't have those beveled edges on a window sill.
Nor would it be 6" wide.

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

On Fri, 2 May 2014, Mayayana wrote:

That may be its main down side, in addition to cost: A
child running or elderly person falling is a lot better off
hitting their head on marble than on granite.

Really!? When my father fell in the bathroom and hit his face on the marble
threshold he was dead rather quickly. Though the autopsy did say that
clogged arteries had something to do with it.

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

On Fri, 02 May 2014 13:01:57 -0700, Don Wiss wrote:

..snip...
Really!? When my father fell in the bathroom and hit his face on the
marble
threshold he was dead rather quickly. Though the autopsy did say that
clogged arteries had something to do with it.

Very sorry to hear of you losing your father in such an abrupt manner.

On Fri, 02 May 2014 10:37:54 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 02 May 2014 10:11:31 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:



The wall tile is white with a very slight look of marble "grain" in it.
Marble would match better, but granite will contrast more.


http://www.homedepot.com/p/MS-Intern...vZar8kZ1z114j2

That would work well if wider. I need 10 3/4"

On Fri, 02 May 2014, RobertMacy wrote:

On Fri, 02 May 2014 13:01:57 -0700, Don Wiss wrote:

..snip...
Really!? When my father fell in the bathroom and hit his face on the
marble
threshold he was dead rather quickly. Though the autopsy did say that
clogged arteries had something to do with it.

Very sorry to hear of you losing your father in such an abrupt manner.

Thanks for the condolences. He was a month shy of 94. He very much did not
want to be intubated or have other life prolonging procedures that would
have kept him from having an active life. He made sure he had a copy of his
living will every time he went to the hospital. So he got that wish.

But my mom will never forget the site of finding him on Christmas morning
dead on the bathroom floor.

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

| That would work well if wider. I need 10 3/4"

Another interesting option would be 12"+ tiles,
cut down and either butted or grouted. With that
approach there are gorgeous options like onyx,
which is prohibitively expensive to buy in a slab.
It's not quite so nice to have joints, but...just a
thought.

On Saturday, May 3, 2014 1:46:17 AM UTC-4, wrote:


I was just trying to get a relative price.

$10 for my uncle.

On 5/1/2014 3:48 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
I'm remodeling the downstairs bathroom. I have a raised ranch and on
the lower level at the foundation top we have a very wide windowsill,
about 8" or so. The walls will be porcelain tile up to about 5'. The
present sill is wood so I'm thinking of either a marble or granite piece
3/4" thick.

Is either of these materials not suitable for some reason? One better
than the other? Cost is not going to be a big factor, when spending
thousands of dollars already, forty bucks either way won't make much
difference.


I have marble window sills and thresholds in my house. Marble cracks and
breaks easily. It also picks up stains. Had to replace many of them with
wood when new windows were installed, wish I had replaced them all.

John