sanding limestone

I have had to use filler in my limestone floor tiles- in my kitchen and dining room- quite a lot, as the holes keep appearing. I use bellinzoni mastic for marble as recommended by the tile supplier, however it has left me with large dull patches of filler on the floor and it looks awful now. What kind of sanding can I do to get it back to its original shine- do I need a proffessional person or an electric sander etc- what grade of sanding paper should I use? Please help thank you so much

 

Dear Ceryl:

Do you know what really baffles me?

Some people go to the tile supplier with a problem that they shouldn't have and trust blindly what they're told; and then, when they mess up because of the wrong advice they were given, they go around asking for help to someone else who never made a penny out of the whole ordeal, while the tile supplier that sold that junk travertine (let me take a wild guess: they told you that's “normal” for that particular stone to develop all those holes…) and then sold that “for professional only” product smiled all the way to the bank. Now, if you go back to the “honest and knowledgeable” tile supplier, they wouldn't know what else to tell you for they've got nothing else to sell to you!

Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude or sar cas tic, but I just could not help it.

Your only option is to hire a bona fide stone restoration contractor who will have to grind the entire floor, fill the new holes that will get open because of the grinding, and re-polish your stone. Be aware that's going to be a very expensive proposition.

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 even 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.mbstone.com/literature/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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