Marble Floor

Hi, Is it possible for Saturnia marble to have a high gloss shine to it? It was just installed but my wife does not like the dull look it has. She wants to make it as shiny as possible. If it can be done, would you mind telling me the procedure? Thanks, Shawn

 

Dear Shawn:

The answer to your first question is, yes.

The problem with that, however, is that Saturnia stone is nothing but good ol' cross-cut travertine with a fancy trade name, and because of that, the natural holes filled by the factory with a cementitious material are wider and irregularly scattered thourghout the texture of the stone, compared to its cut-along-the-grain counterpart. The filler will never polish and, consequently, you will have a floor with lots of irregular highs and lows. And that is the very reason why Saturnia stone is manufactured exclusively with a hone-finish, while you can find "regular" travertine both honed and polished.

Will you wife be happy with all thoise wide and iregular highs and lows?...

I don't have the answer to that; do you?... :-)

 

That duly said, to polish travertine you need a professional bona-fide stone restoration contractor. Stone is not polished by slapping some sealer onto it, but by abrasion and friction, like gemstone. It's the most difficult contracting activity you can think of, and there are lots of quancks out there, alas!... :-(

 

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