marble floor

We had marble tiles installed in our home's entry hall several years ago. It was never sealed and now it looks dull and perhaps a little water stained. Will using your MB-11 Marble Polishing Powder bring the luster back? Do I then seal it? Or should I call a professional? Thanks Margaret

 

Dear Margaret:

All people who tell that their marble floor had never been sealed turn out to have a big misconception about the actual product and its expected performance. The word sealer would bring to their minds the image of a hard-shell topical finish, much like the one used to finish/seal hardwood floors.

A sealer for stone (better defined as “impregnator”) is not a topical sealer of sorts that will envelope your stone within an impenetrable cocoon. All sealers for stone are impregnators and, as such, are below-surface products that only deal with the rate of absorbency of the stone by dramatically reducing it. It is obvious that since they have to go below the stone surface, they have to be absorbed by it to begin with. It is also obvious that since none of the stuff will be allowed to cure and stay on the surface, no protection whatsoever to the surface itself can be expected. Well, polished marble seldom absorbs anything (including the impregnator). In fact, you don't have a single stain in your stone. Only wear and tear patterns and a few etch marks, which no sealer in the entire galaxy could have ever prevented.

After having said all that, MB-11 will not do. Your wear and tear patterns are way too old for getting away with just polishing. The surface must be first re-ground and then polished. Besides, what to you want to do, polish by hand every single tile on your hands and knees?... MB-1 is for small spot polishing jobs, not to re-polish a whole floor.

Your only option is to hire a bona fide stone restoration contractor who will lightly grind (hone) and polish your stone.

Now, you'd better watch out! I consider stone refinishing as the very pinnacle of all the activities related to stone from a professional point of view. Unfortunately, there are a lot of quacks on the loose out there! You get one of those, and you may have to kiss your stone bye-bye!

How could you tell a champ from a chomp? Could you trust the recommendation of your local stone distributor, or contractor, or your interior decorator? Hardly!

We have available a very comprehensive article on how to select a bona fide stone restoration contractor, which will give you all the intelligence you need to make a competent choice. It does carry a small price tag, and you can order it by logging on the Educational Literature section 0f our website at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/literature.htm. It's available in pay-per-download format and I consider it a cheap “insurance premium” to pay when there are thousands of $ involved! Not to mention the little and much needed support you'd be giving to the cause – YOUR cause, since every single penny of the cost of the article will be used to support it.

Also, will you please read and sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm? By spreading the word about this valuable site among your friend & family and the stone trades' people you've been dealing with you will be rendering everybody a valuable service!    

Moreover, do take advantage of the plethora of FREE Helpful Hints available at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/helpful-hints.htm. They're on the house!

Thank you.

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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