Hi Mary,

I would pick the Slate over the Marble. I have Marble and it's hard to keep it clean if you have gas logs.

Think of the upkeep with marble and granite its for a hearth. I have talked to many homeowners about this same thing. Marble and granite is very popular and looks great but you will end up with scratches all over it in time. I usually recommend a more rustic surface such as slate, If the homeowner doesnt want the rustic look, great, there are solutions. stained concrete can be made to look like just about anything there are also epoxy coverings that will give you a good solid surface covering as well.

My parents used slate around their wood burning fireplace and it was beautiful. It did get a "smoke" patina after a while. My mom cleaned it with diluted muriatic acid and resealed it. It still had some smoke on it but still looked beautiful. With all this being said, my parents loved to build fires, lots of fires!

It depends on the style of the home and what pleases YOU.

My comment is that if you use real stone of any kind, it is probably better to use smaller piecs, not larger than approx 18x18. The reason is that if you have a single slab of slate or granite or whatever, it will do a lot of thermal expansion and shrinkage, resulting in a crack in front of the fire eventually

Time tested is slate. It tends to wear the best, does not show scratches.

Hello Mary! Your choice really is a matter of budget and preference. Are you doing this yourself? Marble is always a good option because of its great appearance, and of course it's non-combustible. However marble is also fairly expensive. Slate is also good, but will take some work to install properly. Whatever your budget allows be sure that your materials are non-combustible and look great!

Just make sure that everything close is flame resistant.