My tile floors in the hallway are 1 yr old. We have 3 dogs. My wife tried to clean them with bleach and I think the sealer s gone now, and the stone is getting dirtier and dirtier. How do I get the floor to its original clean look?

 

Dear Scott:

 

“ I think the sealer s gone now ”

 

Sealer?... What sealer?... Did anybody ever put any sealer (a wax of sort or something) on top of your marble?

For all I know marble, like any other stone, is polished mechanically by abrasion and friction – like gemstone – not by slapping a sealer on top of it.

So, most likely, between the beating from the three dogs, the bleach thing and, (let me guess) a total specific ignorance on the maintenance requirements of polished marble floor, you have some heavy-duty so-called “wear and tear” patterns: a combination of millions of little tiny scratches and the chemical etching created by the bleach and only the gods know whatever else was used to “clean” that floor.

Now, of course, the surface is “rough” and gets dirty real fast, and stays stubbornly dirty, too!

 

What to do?

 

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