Marble is a beautiful decorative stone that is used in many places around the home. Entry ways, bathrooms, fireplaces, kitchens, table tops and counters. People are drawn to marble for different reasons. Some love the colors and the unique variations in the veins. Many are drawn to the rich glossy shine that marble can have. Whatever the reason, marble has been a part of architecture for thousands of years.
A common misconception about marble is that because it’s a stone it’s highly durable. Unfortunately this is not necessarily true. Marble is generally considered a soft stone. It scratches easily and is very porous and so it can stain easily if it is not properly sealed. (The lighter the color the softer the stone.) So if you have a high gloss marble tile in your entry or kitchen it won’t take long before the scratches and stains begin to show. What can be done when that happens?
We get many calls from people asking us to “put the polish back” on their marble. What they don’t realize is if they have a true glossy marble, the shine they see is not a coating put on top of the stone but the stone itself. When you damage the surface you are damaging the stone. The high shine is accomplished by diamond sanding with finer and finer grits and then a final polish with special products to create that high gloss. The finished product is a highly polished marble- not a dull marble with a coating on top. Worn, scratched and dull marble can be refinished in this way to restore its original beauty and shine.
Some manufacturers do put a coating on dull marble to give it that high gloss. This is essentially cheating. It is much easier (and cheaper) to slap a coating on marble than to take the time and carefully polish it. Coatings on marble can be dangerous. Marble needs to breathe. Some coatings prevent this from occurring and moisture trapped beneath the surface can cause spalling; cracking, flaking, and popping. Other coatings can discolor. In addition, by applying a coating to your marble you will have to strip and refinish the coating as it gets scratched, dulled, and discolored- which is the same way you would care for a vinyl floor. Most people buy stone for a reason; they want a natural stone surface, not a wash and wax surface. We do not recommend putting any kind of coating on most marble, travertine, or limestone.
For more infomation about marble polishing in Longmeadow MA you can call visit www.likenewfloors.com.
