Marble, regular tile or Granite

[nightice]

We are building a new house and would like feeback on the following, as a home center in our area has awesome deals on Marble and Granite. Marble looks great, granite does not. The former is cheaper but from what I have been gathering,marble is very "fragile" and chips often, whereas granite costs more but is more durable. We are looking at putting marble in several areas of our house.

Thanks!

[Rich]

Any stone at 3/8"-3/4" thick is pretty fragile. It's ability to resist cracking and the like has much to do with how well it's installed. If there are many areas under the product with gaps it will more likely crack. If each tile is placed correctly with full mortar bed then you shouldn't have any more problems with marble than with granite - besides the surface chipping anyway. With surface chipping it really depends on what type of marble you get - some are better than others in resisting surface chipping.