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Natural stone (marble, granite, travertine & limestone) tiles and counter-tops are beautiful to look at, but over time their gloss can be scratched, faded and etched by foot traffic, acidic cleaning agents and Foods. Our clients in the Boston, Massachusetts area call us for the restoration of the original shine and refinishing of their marble, limestone, granite or travertine.
The process works like this: we look at the installation and assess the current situation. Are there ‘water spots’? These are likely etched and can be restored by honing or refinishing and then polishing. Wear and tear from foot traffic can leave the floor scratched and dull, with little shine.
For marble floor restoration, we use diamond honing pads and then marble polishing compounds to bring up the luster to the desired level. We hone the stones only as much as needed, using progressively finer grits. Then powder polish brings out the shine. Then we regrout and recaulk corners if the client would like to complete the restoration and add a final sealer to the stone. Sealing the stone will protect it in the future.
This full restoration by honing and polishing can add years of useful life to marble walls, showers, floors, counters, vanity tops, and other tile installations.
It is very important that you guard against some inferior and less time-consuming methods to polish marble.
These include a process called crystallization (also known as the fluorosilicate method and the vitrification method) instead of diamond refinishing. Some stone experts actually believe that crystallization damages the tile.
The reason being that the product combines the natural calcium carbonate in the marble, travertine or limestone with the product and alters its chemical nature.
At best, this is a temporary fix that needs to be repeated often and as time goes on it has decreased effectiveness, so it needs to be repeated at more frequent intervals. After a few treatments, the product can no longer come in contact with the calcium carbonate in the marble as what is near the surface has already been altered, vitrified, and what is deeper is covered over. Eventually, it no longer has any effectiveness at all. At that point, you have to do a complete restoration and marble polishing of the floor by grinding it. This process is literally twice as expensive as just diamond honing.
If anyone tells you they are going to shine or polish your marble, travertine, granite or limestone floors, walls or vanities they are likely using this process or even simply just waxing.
If they were going to actually diamond hone and polish they would surely spell it out because since polishing ample this way takes longer and costs more so they would want to justify the extra expense.
If there are chips and holes, we can use color-tinted epoxy to repair them and renew the look of the counter or floor.
After we finish, we can show the property owner how to clean the marble safely and maintain it beautifully for years to come!
If the finish desired is honed instead of polished, the process works the same, but the diamonds are used without the polish at the end.
Although complete restoration or refinishing of your floor or wall by diamond honing and marble polishing powder is expensive, it is well worth restoring your marble, travertine, limestone or granite to its lustrous state!
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