What Is Cultured Marble And How Can You Use It?

The beauty of marble is renowned. This luxury material has been used for millennia in buildings. The presence of marble gives a space an air of sophistication. Marble in the household can be problematic to care for, though. It’s a somewhat porous material, so you must have it sealed periodically. What’s more, lighter marble can stain.

So, many builders have turned to using cultured marble. With cultured marble, you get the beauty of the original stone with far less maintenance.

Cultured marble is actually made out of marble. Manufacturers use very small, crushed pieces of marble. They combine the crushed marble with a resin to hold it together. Then, they press it together in a mold to make the desired shape. Though you can choose a matte finish, typically cultured marble is finished with a gel coating that makes it glossy.

The resultant cultured marble product is harder than standard marble. What’s more, the gel coating makes the cultured marble surface impermeable. Therefore, you don’t have the specialized care as with standard marble. Instead, you can clean it with a non-abrasive cleaner. In the unlikely event it becomes scratched, you can use automotive polish and a soft cloth to remove the scratch.

Cultured marble can be used almost anywhere in your shower stall or shower and tub combination.

The most common place for the material is the stall walls. You can choose a prefabricated shower or bathand-shower surround. These prefabricated stalls come in different color gradients, so you can match your bathroom color scheme easily. Such a stall can give your shower the feel of a Roman bath.

Within the bathing area, cultured marble can be used in two more places. One is the shower pan. Builders generally won’t use standard marble for the shower floor because it can become stained. However, cultured marble flooring is impervious. The other way you can utilize cultured marble is for the bathtub surround.

While cultured marble can be used for the surround of a bathtub in a combination shower, it’s also for freestanding bathtubs. You can utilize the surround for a separate tub or even purchase an entire bathtub made in the material. This application comes as an entire installation, a little like the prefabricated tubs in a combination stall.

You can also opt for a jacuzzi tub in cultured marble. As with a standard tub, the jacuzzi tub can be incorporated into a combination shower or it can stand alone. It can also come with jets coordinated to match the cultured marble surface.

Many homeowners like natural stone for their vanity tops. However, the vanity top can be a high-use area, especially for grooming tasks. Therefore, another prefabricated cultured marble product is the vanity top. As with the shower stall, you can choose from several different colors and gradients. What’s more, you can also have the vanity top made custom to your specifications.

Marble countertops in the kitchen are highly prized. However, they’re even more problematic in the kitchen because of staining from liquids or etching from acidic foods. So, you can have a cultured marble countertop custom made for your kitchen. The contractors create a mold of your counter and use it in the above-described process.

In the bathroom, the sink can also stand alone instead of being incorporated into a vanity. These pedestal sinks also come in cultured marble. Indeed, you see a wide range of styles ranging from the classic basin on a pedestal to creative styles such as columns or even abstract shapes. A cultured marble pedestal sink is a good way to open up the look of your bathroom.

If you enjoy the look of marble but don’t appreciate the expense and maintenance, consider cultured marble. Martin Glass offers a wide variety of cultured marble products.