Got Marble?
Does it look dull and worn?
Marble is relatively softer stone than granite. The reason behind this is that Marble never went through such a harsh time, such as heat and volcanic eruptions as granite did, as you all know…
"What Does Not Kill You Makes You Stronger"
Overall, what granite rocks experienced throughout its existence is much more than what marble did, therefore it is stronger. Marble is softer and more sensitive to most of the things around it.
A softer marble represents a softer surface and less resistance against wear and tear which showed as scratches, dulled areas, and etched spots.
Dulled and spotty marble in combination with dirty grout is not an ideal floor surface to have in your home. Typically, you will get frustrated and end up googling answers to these problems.
"Marble Cleaning"
"Can my marble be restored?"
The most popular refinishing system for marble surfaces involves 5+ steps of diamond honing and polishing beside grout cleaning… In future blogs, I will write about grout cleaning and repair highlighting important details but this time let's underline diamond refinishing steps in progressive order.
Once the estimator/technician inspects and identifies the degree of wear and tear of the existing marble floor, it will lead to decision making of which particular grit of diamond becomes the first step of the refinishing process.
Most of the time, it is a 120 grit resin bond diamond pad system. This grit is aggressive enough to remove any surface scratches and expose a new layer of the stone but not aggressive enough to disturb the marble surface as metal bond low grit diamond systems do. We don't want this type of disturbance (for other more aggressive refinishing systems the disturbance is necessary) for our 5+step process, thus it will add steps.
After 120 grit wear and tear removal, it follows with a 220 grit resin bond diamond pad system. This grit will remove the scratches left behind by the previous diamond and close the diameters of pores in the marble surface which is equally important in this refinishing methodology.
The next step is a honing process that is executed by a 400 grit resin bond diamond pad system. This exercise accents more into the idea of closing the pores and creating enough friction to start developing the natural sheen of the marble. After this step, the result should lead to a scratchless and low sheen surface.
The ideal honed marble requires an 800 grit diamond pad system. This particular grit increases the natural sheen to medium-high and preps the surface for the polishing process. Sometimes honing will require an additional grit of 1500 for a higher degree of the sheen and the "+" in this phrase is there to represent these additional steps.
Polishing is not a part of the diamond refinishing process. It is more preference and choice that clients can have between polished and honed stones and you can read about it more in my previous blog: "Polished Or Honed Yours To Choose"
This blog covers and highlights precisely those preferences.
Polishing and sealing steps give the most pronounced results that clients want to see but effective results can not be achieved without these well planned 5+Diamond refinishing steps.
Written by:
Kosta Ebanoidze
Pinnacle Stone Restoration, Inc
