Restore Shine to Marble Floor?

Talking Dreams

I built my home three years ago. My very high traffic foyer is about 12 x 12 and the floor is a beautiful pink veined marble. The floor had a glass like shine for about two years and then….no more shine.

Additional information edited in because I just saw the October 29, 2008 post asking for similar info and apparently the more info given the better:

My 12” tiles are not thick and I believe them to be marble because they were sold to me as $$$ marble. I don’t know what kind of marble. They were installed by a relative who has done maybe 50 tiling jobs in his life. I don’t know what is under them and they are fitted together very tightly (no real grout lines).

I’ve never used anything except clear water to clean them. Nothing has been spilled on the floor either. Everyone in my house takes shoes off right inside the door, but I do have a number of small dogs. There have been no chemicals or orange juice etc.

The areas close to walls (obviously they don’t see much traffic) are still shiny. I don’t know if it was originally sealed, but the guy that just tried to restore it did seal it with something. I think it was an Aqua product. It has never been waxed.

I recently had someone attempt to restore the shine. He had a big buffer and he did put some type of sealer on the floor. About half an inch on each side of the grout lines, does not shine.

The guy said it is because the tiles are not level so the buffer can't get close to the grout lines.

He said that I need to wax and after numerous coats of wax, the grout areas will shine.

Any thoughts on this process? Should I wax and if so, what kind of wax?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

yesitsconcrete

never use marble for interior flooring w/any guarantee of polish level or permanence as its calcium carbonate w/low shore hardness rating so it wears according to traffic patterns as you've found,,, suspect your floor's either etowah pick marble OR, due to cost, imported ( more likely ),,, we recently had granite c-tops fabricated & installed - was amazed at the level of ignorance thruout the whole industry as a former monument bldr w/much experience in better quarrying/fabricating/polishing/engraving/carving methods & mtls.

you need to find someone who's experienced in repolishing & has the nec equipment,,, rarely does this run on 110v - usually 220v 3-phase however some guys have lite 220v that'll run off the dryer or range line,,, wax's not hi-build but sacrificial so that's a waste imn-s-hfo

Bud Cline

This guy you had work on your tiles kinda sold you a bill of goods.

If the tiles are cupped or saucered or concaved it is likely they have been that way since they were originally installed. You probably have "green marble" which has nothing to do with the color. Green marble is moisture sensitive and will curl slightly if the wrong adhesive is used to install them.

All is not lost but you need to find a professional "restoration expert", not some guy with a rented buffer.

Your marble must first be honed (re-honed) to eliminate the curling. This can easily be done with the right equipment. Then and only then will the marble be plane enough to polish properly. Polishing takes a series of pads and pumices and polishes to do it properly.

I would never use a garden variety floor wax on marble I think that is some novice and bad advice. Once you do that you have created an ongoing maintenance issue and the only way to keep the floor looking nice would then be to strip it of the old wax from time to time and that is a very bad idea with marble. Strippers can ruin the stone.

yesitsconcrete

bud, ' green marble ' ? ? ? marble absorbs less wtr than more porous granite,,, certainly the rest's correct & we agree but you're saying thin marble tiles warp due to moisture-sensitivity ? ? ?

thanks, bud.

most polishing's now done wet or dry w/diamonds.