Marble for splashback

[soundevenfruity]

The previous owners of our house didn't put any splashback in the kitchen. It's just a painted wall with glossy Ikea cabinets. The paint is not wipeable and already looks dreary. As it is a northfacing room but with a huge window and very light I am thinking of fixing a thin rectangle of marble across. The wall does have 2 double sockets which I want to keep. What is the best place to buy this piece of marble and also have sockets cut into it? Or is it better to get marble tiles? Thanks a lot.

[Talkinpeace]

high gloss mosaic tiles ...
from the best shop there is
www.onthetiles.co.uk/floor-tiles-bathroom-tiles.php#list

[soundevenfruity]

Thanks, Talkinpeace, I will check it out for our bathroom renovation, but I really don't want colour in the kitchen. Just different shades of white.

[PigletJohn]

marble is not a durable stone. It is a soft limestone and is slowly eroded by water, or very quickly by kitchen cleaner, lemon juice, vinegar, tomato ketchup etc. (basically anything that cleans limescale off taps).

A porcelain tile will be much more durable if you can find one you like.

For the moment, if the wall is painted, you can easily repaint it. If it had been newly plastered, the previous people might have used a non-vinyl matt emulsion, which is porous and allows new plaster to dry out, but it not durable. A vinyl silk emulsion is easy to apply, hard wearing, and washable (also quick and easy to recoat after cleaning with sugar soap to remove kitchen grime). Or you can use K&B paint if you must.

[soundevenfruity]

Thank you, pigletjohn. I know marble is quite indulgent. I would've had a glass splashback if it was not so noughties. I really don't want to repaint all the time. Might have a look at mosaics, though marble will be along the wall where there is no tap just working surface and it will be sitting on a lip of Corian so shouldn't be too exposed.

[amazonianwoman]

How about a quartz/composite that looks like marble? Much more durable than the real thing, I would've thought cheaper too?

This is one by Lunastone but most quartz manufacturers make a variant.

[soundevenfruity]

Thank you, amazonianwoman, I need to
find where to look at it.