sealing marble

Q.I have a client that wants to use a marble relief slab for an outdoor water wall. Tha water will not run directly on the face but will be a few inches out in front so it will have some splashing. Can this be sealed and how often? Also she want a flame behind the wall wall so it will be about 3-4 inches away from the sealed marble relief wall. Are we asking for trouble or can it be successfully sealed every 2-3 years? Thanks for your web site. I will be downloading the pay for info if you think I need this for this job or future ones. I am a landscape architect.Thanks again. Bob

A. Hello Bob,

Good question-is the stone polished or honed. Sealing will only do one thing temporarily inhibit the intrusion of staining agents into the stone. Sealers for stone are impregnating and go below the surface so the effects of an outdoor enviroment may not be stopped by the application of a sealer. Also polished stones have greater surface tension making them less porous then honed stones. It would be wise to do some research on the type of stone you are using and see what the mineral composition is. An example of this would be using a marble with a high iron content in an outdoor and or fountain enviroment where the iron within the stone could oxidize and turn yellow. If you let us know the type of stone you are using we can give you a better answer.

A flame should be ok but you may get some residue from it on the stone-easy to clean off from time to time.

Stu Rosen