Category Archives: Countertops

Honing Out Etch Marks on Kitchen Island Marble Countertops

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ETCHES SHOW BEFORE DIAMOND HONING

This project was a large marble island in Marblehead Massachusetts. The owners noticed some etch marks, the result of acid eating away a layer of the stone’s finish. It was not a polished, glossy finish but a matte, honed finish that looked sleek and elegant. Usually honed finishes are more forgiving by not showing etches as much, but these were noticeable.

Marble is a luxury product, not the cheapest building material. So you might assume due to its expense that it would have some sort of chemical sealer or protective coating to avoid damage from common household chemicals or foods. On the contrary, marble and similar stones are completely vulnerable to etching when it comes into contact with low pH acids.

Clients sometimes send us still photos of their counters and have a hard time capturing the marks, or ‘water rings’ as they sometimes call them. We’ve found that video shows them more clearly, so see the before and after video below to show that they can be removed.

In this case, we were referred by another contractor who specializes in stone protection and sealing. They provide a physical barrier they put on the stone to prevent future acid exposure. Their product is a polymer film for marble countertops that looks and feels very realistic. So after we honed away the acid damage, they installed their film the following day. That way, the client gets rid of the unsightly spots and doesn’t have to worry about them in the future. In conclusion, problem solved! You can see the results below, the ‘after’ look the client was aiming for. Click on the image for the video that shows it better.

If you have these etches on your countertops now and you’d like to get rid of them, feel free to get in touch with us by phone or text at 617-221-4002 We will get you a free, no obligation quote in writing.

ETCHES GONE AFTER DIAMOND HONING

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street #138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Polishing Out Water Rings on Marble Countertops

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STONE COUNTERTOP WITH WATER RINGS
STONE COUNTERTOP AFTER POLISHING OUT WATER RINGS

Polishing out water rings on marble countertops is a very feasible solution to those unsightly etches. This was a beautiful leathered finish stone countertop in the Metrowest area that had etch marks. Etches on marble always come from some type of acid. Often, it’s foods and drinks that are acidic. (If you think about it, anything that tastes tangy has some acid in it – think of lemonade, vinegar, wine, orange juice, etc). The acid etches showed up as milky white rings and detracted from its appearance.

Frequently it’s easy to see an acid etch, but hard to capture it on a photo, because our eyes can see the variation in shine better than a camera lens. On this particular countertop they were easier to see because of the color contrast of the whitish etch marks up against the dark colored stone.

How do we typically go about polishing out water rings? At first, we always spend some time protecting adjacent surfaces with plastic drop cloths. That takes time upfront, but it makes final cleanup much easier. Next we use diamond abrasive pads to gently remove a thin layer of stone. Finally, we keep making the surface smoother and smoother, ultimately using a powder to polish it back to life.

Handling Stone Restoration ‘Curveballs’…

This project threw us some ‘curveballs’, though. Normally, diamond abrasives work best for a truly flat surface, like most polished stone. But the leathered finish on this counter was deliberately leather like, to show texture, hills and valleys, so to speak. How do we take off enough of the damaged stone surface without flattening the stone, destroying the charm of the leathered grain feeling?

In this case, the solution for polishing out the water rings was using a softer pad, so it can follow some dips and curves without aggressive removal. The pads are called diamond impregnated pads. We buy them from M3 in Cohasset and in situations like this, they can save the day. Overall, the client was very pleased with results!

Flexible diamond abrasive pad

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Call or Text

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Removing Water Spots – Etch Marks – On Countertops

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WATER SPOTS ON MARBLE
WATER SPOTS BEFORE
POLISHING MARBLE REMOVES WATER SPOTS
WATER SPOTS REMOVED!

If removing water spots on marble countertops is on your to do list, you’ll understand exactly how this client of ours felt. This homeowner called us right before an open house to show his loft style downtown Boston condominium unit. He had gone through extensive renovations to floors, walls and ceilings in recent months and wanted the unit to ‘show well’ at the upcoming Saturday open house.

The only problem was some unsightly etch marks, so called ‘water spots’ on the gorgeous marble countertop. But that countertop was the very first thing you see as you walk into the open kitchen….with the sunlight showing every mark or defect in the stone! He was understandably a little bit frantic, because there wasn’t much time before the open house.

To speed up the process, we asked him to send us a photo showing the overall size and layout of the countertop. Incidentally, when you try to take a photo of an acid etch, it’s tricky to get it to show correctly. Actually a video shows it much better as you move and the angle of light changes. But in this case, it was clear from the photo what the issue was. Not to worry – we remove etch marks all the time!

First, he tried cleaning the spots away. Logical enough, he tried several methods of marble stain removal. However, that doesn’t work with acid etches, since they’re not soil on top of the stone. They are actually areas where acidic foods or cleaning liquids have eaten into the surface of the marble. Marble is a calcite based stone, and acid and calcium just don’t play well together. The acid dissolves the top crust of the stone, ruining the shine. He realized that marble cleaning and polishing was not his day job! So after that didn’t work, he got in touch with us. (Good move – marble restoration and marble refinishing is our specialty)!

We sent him the quote right away and he had some questions about the whole concept of countertop resurfacing. After we answered his questions and explained how the process worked, we sent some job photos and references. Not to show off, but to demonstrate that we are one of the most experienced countertop restoration and countertop refinishing companies in Boston. He accepted our offer. Still, he was concerned due to the schedule. He could not afford us being delayed, because the only available day was Friday, and the open house was Saturday morning!

Not to worry! The etch marks below were honed and polished away on Friday so the open house schedule stayed on track! With beautiful marble countertops, problem solved!

Another Example of Removing Water Spots

If you’d like to get a quote on any marble cleaning service or grout and stone restoration or even just resealing marble or grout, you can call or text us at 617-221-4002 or simply fill out the form below.


Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street #138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Polishing Calacatta Gold Marble Countertops

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Dull marble before diamond honing
Before
After marble polishing much better shine
After

If your marble countertops or vanity tops have become worn, with ‘water spots’, etch marks and small scratches, they can look dull and tired. Polishing the countertops is the best way to remove the marks and brighten the surface.

In most cases, it’s a one day process that will renew them and bring them back to a polished shine – or a low sheen honed look with a sophisticated matte finish if you prefer. Refinishing marble always starts with a lower shine and works its way up. We can stop almost anywhere on the gloss spectrum.

The island above was from a home in Newton. A beautifully designed and installed Calacatta Gold island, it just needed some professional attention to be brought back to life. This type of marble is well known for outrageously beautiful large veining that shows up best when the piece is large, like this island, as opposed to being cut up into 12 inch tiles.

Calacatta Gold marble is a distinctive white Italian marble with gray and gold veining. Available as marble slabs and marble tile in both honed and polished finishes, this elegant natural stone is the perfect choice to create stunning marble countertops, marble kitchen islands, marble floors and backsplashes.

MSISURFACES.COM

They got in touch because we had worked for them several years before, polishing countertops and floors. We did a sample area showing what the stone would look like refinshed to a honed, low sheen look. But the homeowner really preferred the high polished look, so we proceeded polishing the countertops to a rich gloss.

The final touch was a coat of penetrating sealer that helps protect the stone from staining.

If you’d like to get a quote, you can call us at 617-221-4002 or simply fill out the form below. It can speed up the process if you send us some photos showing the overall size and layout of the countertops.


Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Cleaning and Sealing Granite Countertops in the Boston Area

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If you would like some professional attention to your granite countertops, just let us know. We’ve been cleaning granite surfaces for years, both residential and commercial.

We expect a lot from our granite and other stone surface countertops. For example, we can’t help if they get exposed to cooking oils and wear and tear from sliding plates and pots and pans across the surface. Over time, they can end up looking tired and grimy, not really the look you want on a food prep surface.

If you feel that way, not to worry. You can have your granite counters restored to a smooth shine in less than a day, sealed and cleaned to their glossy best.

Cleaning Granite Countertops: Our Procedure

Step 1: First we clean the whole surface of the countertop meticulously and also with attention to the stone backsplash. Together with some with alkaline cleaning liquids and scrub pads, a bit of good old fashioned manual labor does the trick. The goal is to loosen ground in soils and residue from previous sealers. We scrape off any old paint spatters or loose caulking to make sure only the stone is showing, then a clear water and solvent rinse. If there are any chips or divots in the stone, the following step is to fill them with a color-matched tinted epoxy fill material. (Generally, color matching can be tricky – it’s not an exact science).

Step 2: A sealer is applied to the entire surface of the stone and allowed to penetrate. We have to dry it to the touch, so there’s no real inconvenient drying time after we leave. The kitchen can be used right away.

Step 3: Power buffing to bring out the gloss and burnish in the shine. Only if needed, we recaulk the edges with color matched caulking if you would like.

Make the most of your investment – enjoy the look and feel of clean, sealed, glossy granite counters in your kitchen!

If you’d like to get a quote, you can call or text us at 617-221-4002 or simply fill out the form below.

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
https://cleanpolishmarblegraniteboston.com
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Marble Stains, Water Spots, Hard Water Stains on Marble or Granite…..Can They Be Cleaned Away??

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Every week potential clients ask us this question: “Can you clean away the stains, water marks, water spots or rings on my marble vanity, marble floor or granite countertop?”

The answer, in almost every case, is “Yes, we can get the marble stains out and it can look beautiful again!”

Wellesley brown marble vanity with etch marks water spots rings
Marble Stains on Vanity
Wellesley brown marble vanity after removing etch marks by polishing
Marble Stains Gone

For example, the photos above was a brown vanity top in Wellesley with ‘water rings’. They can’t be cleaned away because they are not soil sitting on top of the stone. So removing the stains is not usually a matter of just ‘cleaning’. In most situations, what looks exactly like a hard water spot or a stain on the marble is not a true stain that you can just scrub away. Instead, it is more often an etch caused by acidic chemicals. To add insult to injury, many times the acid was inside a liquid or spray cleaning chemical used to keep the marble clean. Ouch! Or as Architectural Digest put it, “For marble, acid is kryptonite“.

How to Remove Marble Stains

The first step is to identify what type of stain we are dealing with. To be technical, most people misuse the word ‘stain’. A true stain is anything that added color to the stone that wasn’t there before. Think of grape juice sitting on a countertop and leaving a purple blotch on previously pristine white stone. That’s a true marble stain. These are possible to hone out or clean out, but in the long run they may require a poultice paste to gradually pull the stain color up through wicking action. This process doesn’t always work, so yes, in some cases, a stain is permanent and we can’t get it out and neither can anyone else. In showers where there is hard water, there can also be hard water deposits that aren’t actually added color, but they are on the surface of the stone and can be removed.

But mostly what looks to people like a stain is actually an etch mark from acidic food or makeup or cleaning chemicals. This shower below was damaged by acid based cleaning chemicals.

Etched Emperador brown marble Sudbury shower walls
Acid Damaged Shower
Polished Emperador brown Sudbury marble shower bench
Acid Damage Gone

The process that works is to hone down the marble or granite by using diamond abrasive pads. Then we go over the area with a marble polish that builds back the shine. If there is any soil on the surface, this also removes it and achieves cleaning at the same time.

If you have a ‘water mark’, a ‘water ring’ or an etch or ‘hard water stain’ on your marble or granite, whether it be a shower wall, shower floor, marble floor, granite countertop,  or marble vanity, give us a call at 617-221-4002 or fill out the form at the end of this page and we’ll get your stone back into shape!

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Polishing Green Granite Counter Tops

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Of all the requests we get for refinishing and polishing granite counters, green and black granites and marbles top the list.

Why?

Because the stone itself doesn’t carry a shine as well as some other colors. Even brand new factory polished countertop slabs in green are not as glossy as other colors. And black granites can have problems with some etching, water spots and color variations (not ‘black enough’ in some spots)

So we get more than our fair share of these extra challenging colors. To get them to shine, we need to go through some extra hoops and use more powerful sealers than usual.

These photos are from a recent green granite job we did in a suburb north of Boston. The cat was so curious it was hard to find a photo where he wasn’t ‘inspecting’ the work!

If you’d like us to polish your green granite or marble counters and you live in the general Boston area, including any of the towns listed below, feel free to fill in our form below or just call at 617-221-4002 and we’ll be happy to get you a no obligation quote in writing.

Usually all we need to get started is a short conversation about your concerns and a photo or two from different angles. It’s best if you can send an overall view picture that shows the overall layout. Then we can send you your quote in writing. After that, all you need to do is tell us what day we should come and you’re on the calendar to get your stone professionally maintained.

Green granite counters water spots before polish near sink - Boston suburb
Green granite counters water spots before polish near sink – Boston suburb
Green granite counters after polish sun view with cat in sink
Green granite counters after polish sun view with cat in sink

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Call or Text

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Can ‘Water Spots’ Come Out of Marble?

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Water Spots on Marble Countertop
Water Spots on Marble Countertop

We often have property owners tell us they have unsightly ‘water spots’ on marble counters and vanity tops or marble floors.

They DO look like dried spots of water, but the difference is that they have dulled the marble surface, and so they stand out from the rest of the stone.

Are these really water spots?

No, in almost all cases they are small acid etches.

Or, as the folks at marble.com put it: “Marble etching is surface damage due to a chemical reaction in the form of a dull mark on the natural stone that contains calcium carbonate. The etching is caused when an acidic substance comes in contact with a Marble surface”.

So water doesn’t create etches on marble. We use lots of water to hone the marble and granite while removing the etches, so it can’t be caused by water. The only exception is water so heavy in the mineral content that it actually leaves a film deposit on the surface of the granite or marble. It is correct to call them hard water deposits.

Before you say “Oh, I never use acid on my marble!”, pause and consider: Many common products or liquids the marble may come in contact with have an acidic component. Do you ever have, for example, orange juice? That’s a mild acid. Lemonade? Fairly strong acid. Vinegar? White or red wine? Pickles?

Even cleaning agents can contain acids, especially tile and grout cleaners, toilet bowl cleaning liquids and even some ‘natural’ based cleaners that use natural vinegar.

Additionally, cosmetics like shampoo and hand soap can contain citric acid, so it’s fair to say that in most residential usages, marble is likely exposed to more acid than we think at first.

The Solution To Water Spots on Marble?

  1. Have the marble professionally restored. If you call us at 617-221-4002, we might be able to give you a recommendation on who could do that…. 😉
  2. Review cleaning liquids and cosmetics used. Yes, it’s a pain in the neck, but it’s also a one time project. If no acid touches the stone, you simply won’t get etch marks.
  3. If you have a countertop that you’d like to not only restore but also protect against future etching, let us know and we can review some options with you.

The good news is that about 99.99% of cases, etches and water spots on marble come out completely, so they’re no longer visible.

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts