Tumbled marble shower floors

I am putting in a tiled shower and was told by the tile guy to go get sheets of tumbled marble for the floor. I have also been told that there are two ways to seal it, after the grout is put in which then the grout will fill all of the holes. But, I don't know if I want that color spots all over it. Or to seal it before in which the grout will not adhere to the marble. But, I am not sure I want holes all over my shower floor to collect ick, mold and bacteria. Please advise. I do not want to be on my hands and knees with a tooth brush cleaning either.
 
Dear Lynn:
From all the holes you're reporting, it appears to me like you're talking about tumbled travertine, not marble.
Yes, the holes must be filled for sanitary reasons, but it's a difficult job to do, because the idea of a rugged look like tumbled stone gives you is to have sanded grout applied; but sanded grout won't work well as a filler. So, you should fill the tiles individually a few days before installation with un-sanded grout, and then do the installation.
Why going through all that if you could have the same look and practicality by using tmbled marble instead? There wouldn't be any hole to fill and if you choose a beige marble, it would have the same color as travertine.
The sealing is only optional and should only be done after the installation and a waiting period of a few days. However, considering that typically tumbled stone is quite "pale" you may want to consider giving it some "life" by applying a good-quality stone color enhancer to it, like MB-6 that's also an excellent sealer for stone.

Now remember, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is far more important than its sealing (if and when possible and/or advisable) and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about it from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/helpful-hints.htm , you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay- per-download format in our Educational Literature section at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/literature.htm .  

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Article ID: 447
Created On: Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 10:27 AM
Last Updated On: Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Authored by: Maurizio Bertoli [mail@mbstone.com]

Online URL: https://marblecleaning.org/knowledgebase/article.php?id=447