Marble floor restoration is the process of bringing your floor back to life, making it look the way you want. In most cases, that means cleaning and polishing the stone. But not everyone wants a polished glossy finish. So sometimes we create a matte finish, a low sheen look. Other times, the grout is one of the major issues, so we end up regrouting the tiles.

In this case, a homeowner in Weston Massachusetts contacted us while finishing up a renovation in her master bath. Most of the construction was done, but the floor needed some attention. She wanted to know all about the process we use for marble floor restoration.

Marble floors are durable, but over time, foot traffic and normal wear and tear can dull the finish. In addition, small ‘micro scratches’ can become visible, which has the effect of blurring the finish. This particular floor was a gloss polished finish originally. So that was the end goal – restore it back to its original glory!

The Floor Restoration Plan

The homeowner initially sent us photos to get an idea of the job. We don’t always need to come on site for an estimate, but in this case we did. After reviewing her goals and the current state of the floor, we decided that her marble floor restoration plan would be the following:

• First, mask off any adjacent areas with plastic to protect other surfaces
• Second, use several different diamond abrasive pads on a floor scrubbing machine to progressively hone away a thin layer of marble (we only need to take off about the thickness of a piece of paper and it’s done wet so we don’t have airborne dust)
• Third, follow up with a paste polishing compound (this is even finer than jeweler’s rouge)
• Fourth, clean the whole floor and scrub the grout lines
• Finally, apply clear penetrating sealer to seal and protect the stone and grout lines

As you can see, the ‘before and after’ effect is very noticeable. Marble floor restored, client happy!

If you have a marble floor and you’d like to consider restoration, feel free to get in touch with us. You can call or text us at 617-221-4002 or 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

• Natural Stone Restoration
• Countertop Restoration – Marble and Granite
• Boston Marble Restoration
• Restoration of Historical Tile Floor in Copley Square Boston
• About Us

Boston area marble restoration jobs vary from house to house and from commercial building to commercial building. This particular job was a sunroom for a fine home just South of Boston on Route 128. They had several rooms of polished Crema Marfil, fairly large 13 inch tiles.

According to MSI, “Crema Marfil Marble from Spain is a classic cream marble with tan undertones. This collection is ideally suited for indoor bathroom and kitchen applications, such as backsplashes, flooring, countertops, and wall coverings”. It looks stunning in this setting, creating almost a monochrome color for the room.

The Marble Restoration Process – How It Works

This marble restoration job was a honing and polishing job in Canton, just south of Boston. That involves running diamond abrasive pads over the floor to remove a very thin layer of stone. Essentially, the process exposes the fresh stone underneath.

First, we needed to move some of the furniture out of the way. When polishing a floor, we want to do the whole floor, from wall to wall. Then the honing process takes several stages, so it’s not a one pass procedure. It’s more like the way wood floor refinishers sand and refinish floors. Wood floor companies sand the floor several times, starting with rough sandpaper grits and gradually proceeding to finer, smoother grits to leave the floor very smooth for the final finish.

That’s how marble restoration works as well, whether in Boston or anywhere else. At first we start with a low grit, rougher diamond. For example, a typical starting grit might be 60 grit or 100 grit. (The grit system for our diamonds is exactly the same as the grit system for sandpaper, but the abrasive’s form is different than sandpaper used by wood floor companies).

One important difference, though, is that we always do our diamond honing wet. That keeps the dust from becoming airborne. It makes some mud on the surface of the floor, but that’s easy to vacuum up and wash. So there’s no vast dust cloud all over your house!

End results? The floor came out awesome and the client was very happy!

If you have a marble floor that is showing its age and you’d like it restored, feel free to get in touch if you’re in the metro Boston area. You can call or text us at 617-221-4002 or just 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

• Countertop Restoration – Marble and Granite
• Natural Stone Restoration
• Act One – Marble and Tile
• Cleaning Marble Stairs in Downtown Boston

One thing I like about living in an older town like Boston is the original marble floors that you see in the common areas of apartments. Many of these are now condominium hallways and the owners wisely kept the marble floors to convey luxury and style. Sometimes they’re only in the lobby, but sometimes all the stairs are thick chunks of marble, and even the walls. Cleaning the marble stairs and halls can be a problem, though.

After all, our New England winters drag sand and salt in. Additionally, think of years of foot traffic, plain old wear and tear. Eventually marble floors and stairs start to look ‘beat up’. They attract soil that you just can’t clean away, regardless of how much liquid detergent your cleaning company uses. As a result, we’ve seen some people blame their cleaning staff for not being able to clean the marble stairs and halls well enough.

Don’t Put the Blame on the Cleaner! Cleaning Marble is a Job for the Pros!

Don’t fire your cleaning person! At some point, they need more than plain cleaning. Occasionally they need a ‘tune up’. Basically, that’s a marble restoration project that calls for us to use diamond abrasives. Essentially, we actually sand away the scratches from foot traffic and expose fresh stone.

That’s not a job for an amateur – your cleaning company is wise to pass on it.

Give us a call and we can do it for you. The diamond honing pads gently remove a paper-thin layer of the stone. Then we apply clear penetrating sealer to protect the marble. All honing is always done wet to avoid airborne dust.

Frequently, we also caulk or grout the edges of the stairs so the whole job looks fresh and new.

Condominiums can gain value from a stunning looking common area – or they can lose value if it looks beat up and neglected. Make sure you keep the value of your investment high and enjoy your marble the way it was meant to be experienced!

The pictures below are from a building in the Brookline area. The owners wanted the marble floor on the steps and lobby to reflect the care they had put into the renovation and restoration of the property. The job was done on a fairly tight schedule, on budget and the results speak for themselves. In this case, they didn’t want a polished, shiny finish – just a clean and honed look and a smooth edge treatment with white caulking. If you click on the pictures, you can get a higher resolution photo.

If you own or manage a condominium with similar issues, feel free to give us a call or text for a free estimate at 617-221-4002 or fill out the form below. We service Boston, Cambridge and all the suburbs in Eastern Massachusetts.

Our contact information:

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

• Natural Stone Restoration
• About Us
• Cleaning Marble Stairs in Downtown Boston
• Polishing Marble Lobby for a Boston Property Manager
• Cleaning Tumbled Marble Floors