Marble Slabs for Bar Top - Is That Do-able?

[woodmansee]

Hey everyone,
So the Fiancé and I finally got a house this past summer! And now that the weather is cold we have decided to renovate two rooms in our basement, and one of those I get to build a bar into! I will start a thread on the actual renovation and build once we get going, but I have a big question right now as I'm in the planning stage:

SWMBO has a family friend who offered us free marble slabs for our project. Are marble slabs a solid option for a bar top? I've tried researching on the internet, and saw one article saying don't even bother because they are so porous that they stain easily, and then several stone industry websites saying that was not true, but that's really all I was able to find. Would they truly be a bad choice for that reason? I mean they seem to hold up on kitchen and bathroom counters pretty well. Second, my plan right now is for an 8' bar top (although it sounds like we will only be able to get the marble in 4' lengths so we will have to stick 2 of them together somehow), with a width of 19" that will overhang the frame by 8-9". Will the marble hold up to being leaned on or otherwise rested on with that overhang, as long as there is a sturdy base underneath it? Should I add some support legs on the outer edge? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[depper]

We built my bar about 10 years ago and used an 8 foot (I think) slab of marble as the top. I built a base out of 2x4s and then set 3 base cabinets on top of it. Got it level and then set the VERY HEAVY (took 5 large adult men to carry it from outside to our basement)slab of marble on top of the cabinets and it WORKS GREAT!! We also have an overhang with no leg supports and have had no issues. If you can get your hands on some cheap marble for a bar top I say GO FOR IT! Ours looks great and functions like it's supposed to. We have no issues with staining or chipping and we have 2 girls that have played quite a bit on it with no problems. The slab is so heavy that the only way we anchored it to the cabinets was with the caulk they supplied.