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travertine

Article Number: 350 | Rating: 5/5 from 1 votes | Last Updated: Sat, Aug 18, 2007 at 12:00 AM

I have travertine floors that were installed 2 months ago and sealed. When my piano was delivered today their are now white marks where the brass wheels went across the floor. A local floor place suggested a very fine steel wool and re-seal. I did that and you can see where I used the steel wool. Now what do I do?

Dear Joy:

Now, what on earth a sealer for stone - which is stricty a below surface product and that in the case of travertine you needed like a hole in your head - got to do with reparing what it appears to be a scratch??...

It is not a scratch. It's a phenomenon called, stunned crystals. The sheer pressure of thre tiny points on which our grand-piano is sitting (all the weight of the grand-piano is concentrated on those three tiny spots) made the crystals on the surface of the stone literally explode. While exploding they expanded and affected other crystals near them.

The damage that you see on the surface of the tiles is probably 1/16" deep. Only some serious grinding of the whole floor could reach a layer of healthy stone. After that, the natural holes in the stone that are going to be opened by the gridning action will need to be refilled, and then the whole project will go on with honing and finally polishing. Figure on or around $10,00/sq.ft.

Steel wool and a sealer, huh... :-)

Does the world need marblecleaning.org or what?...

May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm? J

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli

www.marblecleaning.org – The Only Consumers' Portal to the Stone Industry Establishment!