How to restore Marble Tile Fllor

SmithySeller

Folks need a bit of advice. Some 6 years ago we had a quite expensive Polished Marble Floor put down, crema marfil, about 60 square metres. After about 8 months the floor looked terrible and badly stained, so I got the person that laid it back who blamed me on not looking after it. I also had an independent tiler look at it who said it was not sealed correctly. Anyhow the tiler cleaned it up somewhat. After two years I did a search for marble restoration and after some enquiries and reference checks I settled on a guy who restored the whole lot for €15 a square metre. Although he was rough, the floor looked like new when he was finished, with a fantastic mirror effect on the floor. It seemed to seal well because it lasted 1.5 years before it started to fade off. 2 years later I got the same guy at €12.50 and again I was happy with the job. About three months ago, I rang them again and they were gone out of business, but I was given the number of a reputable guy by another person who does a lot of this type of work and locally too. Now I dont know the technical terms of what they do but this guy said for €11 a square metre he would have it looking like new through powder polishing. Again I dont know if this is what the previous guys did. But the end result was a clean floor, and quite shiny but nothing remotely like the mirror effect of the previous two times. In fact I feel like I have wasted my money. Does anyone know if the previous guy might have done something different, because this guy is saying this is what I signed up to, powder polishing and re-sealing. Its now three months since he did it and the floor while not staining has a cloudy effect all over it, nothing like polished marble should look like :mad:

no idea but id be very interested in the answer as i have a marble floor which is badly in need of some tlc

shame there's been no response on this, I'd love to sort out getting my floor fixed

red sean

Hi guys,
Not a tiler but just throwing my ten cents worth in.
When I got my slate floors done the tiler said it was very important to keep it cleaned and sealed with the proper chemical substances. The tile showroom recommended HG products which they sold and I've been using them since. You can google it but I would recommend talking to another tiler and get his opinion as this is obviously an expensive floor.

yeah it is, unfortunately when we bought the house it was 2 years old and the original owner had not taken care of the floor at all.

Depending on how much it would cost, I would love to get it sorted. It irritates me every day I walk on them

marble cle

SmithySeller wrote: »

Folks need a bit of advice. Some 6 years ago we had a quite expensive Polished Marble Floor put down, crema marfil, about 60 square metres. After about 8 months the floor looked terrible and badly stained, so I got the person that laid it back who blamed me on not looking after it. I also had an independent tiler look at it who said it was not sealed correctly. Anyhow the tiler cleaned it up somewhat. After two years I did a search for marble restoration and after some enquiries and reference checks I settled on a guy who restored the whole lot for €15 a square metre. Although he was rough, the floor looked like new when he was finished, with a fantastic mirror effect on the floor. It seemed to seal well because it lasted 1.5 years before it started to fade off. 2 years later I got the same guy at €12.50 and again I was happy with the job. About three months ago, I rang them again and they were gone out of business, but I was given the number of a reputable guy by another person who does a lot of this type of work and locally too. Now I dont know the technical terms of what they do but this guy said for €11 a square metre he would have it looking like new through powder polishing. Again I dont know if this is what the previous guys did. But the end result was a clean floor, and quite shiny but nothing remotely like the mirror effect of the previous two times. In fact I feel like I have wasted my money. Does anyone know if the previous guy might have done something different, because this guy is saying this is what I signed up to, powder polishing and re-sealing. Its now three months since he did it and the floor while not staining has a cloudy effect all over it, nothing like polished marble should look like :mad:

Hello
As for polishing marble has a bit of a challenge. Currently, the market appears different means to the polishing. There are different wax, polishing agents and polishing powder also mentioned who is best for polishing marble, but it depends on quality. Crema Marfil marble is rather special, the market is imported in different qualities and with a strong luster of the weaknesses which are gradually disappearing. From my own experience I Crema Marfil polishing wax used, but the effect was the marble remained traces of wax. Recommended quality polishing powder. Marble floor must be cleaned every year and means of protection "Seler". From our own experience suggest means "Fila". Admittedly expensive but good quality. 1 liter/19m2. As for the price per m2 is hard to say, it depends according to a dirt floor as the floor Every day is busy. Base price is currently moving at 250 euros honed marble on polished marble 350 depends what kind of polishing powder is used. prices are at 25 m2 floor. By the way, as the company which I polished the floor last. nice day

Undo edits

JMSE

what was that, is somebody sitting in Delhi googling forums worldwide under 'crema marfil polish' because thats what the above post looks like to me

harvester of sorrow

Just saw this post....i have a travertine marble floor that was in the house when we moved in,it wasnt looked after very well and had gone dull and some holes started appearing in the tiles as well.We where going to put down a timber floor over the tiles and be fininshed with it,but i decided to look into getiing them polished and sealed.In the end we got them ground down slightly,sealed and polished,and they are like new.I cant really say how much better they look without picture but the end result is excellent,very happy.
The guy that did it for us is based in Tipp i have hes no.and details if any body wants them give me a pm.

marble cle

Travertine, one of my favorites. Travertine as you mentioned the time, it makes the hole is very soft and he is alone inside the hollow in certain parts. It is very easy to maintain and also to polish. As you mentioned a good selear Wax Finish is beautiful. But between the travertine and crema Marfil is a different procedure for the polishing and also another reaction to Crema Marfil on wax. There are two varying marbles.

marble cle

Travertine, one of my favorites. Travertine as you mentioned the time, it makes the hole is very soft and he is alone inside the hollow in certain parts. It is very easy to maintain and also to polish. As you mentioned a good selear Wax Finish is beautiful. But between the travertine and crema Marfil is a different procedure for the polishing and also another reaction to Crema Marfil on wax. There are two varying marbles.

marble cle

Hello
As for polishing marble has a bit of a challenge. Currently, the market appears different means to the polishing. There are different wax, polishing agents and polishing powder also mentioned who is best for polishing marble, but it depends on quality. Crema Marfil marble is rather special, the market is imported in different qualities and with a strong luster of the weaknesses which are gradually disappearing. From my own experience I Crema Marfil polishing wax used, but the effect was the marble remained traces of wax. Recommended quality polishing powder. Marble floor must be cleaned every year and means of protection "Seler". From our own experience suggest means "Fila". Admittedly expensive but good quality. 1 liter/19m2. As for the price per m2 is hard to say, it depends according to a dirt floor as the floor Every day is busy. Base price is currently moving at 250 euros honed marble on polished marble 350 depends what kind of polishing powder is used. prices are at 25 m2 floor. By the way, as the company which I polished the floor last. nice day

SmithySeller

Ive used HG products, THB and no offence I found them to be terrible. This may not be the brightest thing but Im going to start doing it myself. Its too expensive to be getting other people to do it and from what I see its not rocket science, lots of demos on YouTube. Rent a 175rpm floor cleaner and buy the polishing powder and sealer (where I dont know)..

Joey the lips

There is nothing wrong with HG products when professionaly used. Thats really all i can say.

Any restoration will depend on 2 things.

1. Quality of the marble fitted
2. Amount of traffic

Road-Hog

harvester of sorrow wrote: »

Just saw this post....i have a travertine marble floor that was in the house when we moved in,it wasnt looked after very well and had gone dull and some holes started appearing in the tiles as well.We where going to put down a timber floor over the tiles and be fininshed with it,but i decided to look into getiing them polished and sealed.In the end we got them ground down slightly,sealed and polished,and they are like new.I cant really say how much better they look without picture but the end result is excellent,very happy.
The guy that did it for us is based in Tipp i have hes no.and details if any body wants them give me a pm.

Looking to get some marble tiles resorted would you be able to send me the number of the guy you used. I'm in south east area

harvester of sorrow

Here ya go.....;)
http://www.stonerestoration.ie/index.html

Road-Hog

Many thanks for the link, I contacted company and they will be out to have a look early next week..........

SmithySeller

Although this is an old thread, I thought I'd update it with what I did. I purchased the following;

• Nilfisk 180RPM Low Speed 17" Buffer and VAC for €300 on Donedeal with 6 month Warranty. 2nd hand obviously.

• Klindex KP85 Polishing Powder 5kg tub from Ebay

• Klindex SuperShine Soft Pads 2 & 3 from Ebay

• Box of 5 Hogs Hair Pads from Ebay

• Seal. I cant remember the brand, sorry. From Ebay also. Although the HG impregnator might do the same job.

Some of the floor was worst than others. My main Kitchen had quite a bit of staining at this stage, a lot of scrapes from a Baby Walker and a cloudy appearance. Other parts such as the hall had gone very dull and had tracking from where people mostly walked.

Anyhow, only on the parts with scrapes did I use the Supershine Soft pads,i.e. The Kitchen. I started with 2 and then progressed to 3 on a lightly wet floor. To my surprise this left a very clean floor, including the grout, but with no shine. All scratches gone. The Klindex Supershine Pad 3 I thought would leave some sort of shine, but it didn’t. So I now was left with a cleaned type of honed look. Quite nice actually. After each number I sucked up all the water. This part was very easy!

The Powder Polishing was a bit of a learning curve. Small bit of powder sprinkled evenly for every 2 square metres, I added about two/three cups of water to create a yogurt like paste. TBH, I relied a lot on Youtube for this part, and practised on the first part a couple of times with a hair pad attached to the buffer. I spent a few minutes on each section, always making sure it was wet, and then sucked it up with the VAC, and then damp mopped again. When I had half the floor done, I was keen to see the result, so I whacked on a new hair pad and proceeded to polish again without any powder.RESULT, it popped a fantastic shine.

This is where I started to go wrong, the second half I started rushing thinking this was easy. I followed the same procedure, but didn’t damp mop after I sucked up the slurry. I waited until I had it all done and then polished with the Hair Pad used earlier. I was left with some, not lots, but some etching here and there from the powder. The mistake I made was clear, don’t let the floor dry, keep it damp, and when doing the final polish with the cleaner hair pad keep it damp also.

About 3 months after that I gave it all another go, but powder polishing only, the whole lot took about 2 hours and its gleaming, grout and all. It has a real deep shine and looks excellent, far better than the second contractor I got.

Lessons learned where keep the floor damp at all times during polishing. The Klindex Soft Supershine pads took out the light scratches easily and was very easy. This shouldn't need to be done again unless its scrapes you want out. No need for excessive water at any time. Sweep daily. When damp mopping on a weekly basis, keep it just that, damp, use two buckets, one for dirty water and one for clean water, if you don’t, expect dirty grout in no time. Change the water when it gets dirty too. Oh and use a microfiber mop, the woolly ones leave water stains when damp mopping.

It all cost me about €500 and from what I can see from the powder used and the pads, they should last me years and years to come providing the machinery keeps going. I might need new hair pads in maybe 3 to 5 years I reckon. These were cheap. But the best thing now is they are always clean (well nearly). You do not have to put up with dull tracking, stains and the like.

Hope it helps. And btw I would not consider myself handy at all! For me it was money well spent.

UrsusMaritimus

Sorry to highjack thread but i have a few questions SmittySeller,

I am in the same situation as you with a large area of marble floor that was not looked after by the previous owners of my house. I got klindex super-shine pads 1-3 some time back and did a small area with a floor buffer borrowed from work however i got only a fine honed look, it certainly got some reflection back into a badly worn floor but wore away pretty quick.

You said in another thread that a slower machine is better, i have used both a 400rpm and 130rpm but found the 400 gave a much better finish for cleaning only, have you tried a higher speed machine or is a low speed the way to go? (reason i ask is i want to buy my own so i don't have to be constantly trying to do work at weekends while i have a borrowed machine)

did you get the klindex powder online or in ireland? it appears to be about €110 for 5kg is this about what you paid?

SmithySeller

UrsusMaritimus wrote: »

Sorry to highjack thread but i have a few questions SmittySeller,

I am in the same situation as you with a large area of marble floor that was not looked after by the previous owners of my house. I got klindex super-shine pads 1-3 some time back and did a small area with a floor buffer borrowed from work however i got only a fine honed look, it certainly got some reflection back into a badly worn floor but wore away pretty quick.

You said in another thread that a slower machine is better, i have used both a 400rpm and 130rpm but found the 400 gave a much better finish for cleaning only, have you tried a higher speed machine or is a low speed the way to go? (reason i ask is i want to buy my own so i don't have to be constantly trying to do work at weekends while i have a borrowed machine)

did you get the klindex powder online or in ireland? it appears to be about €110 for 5kg is this about what you paid?

Hi. Firstly I bought the Supershine Soft Pads, and yes I was quite surprised that these left a honed look also. I double checked with the supplier and he confirmed that was normal. You must then use the Klindex Spongelux or (what I used) the Klindex KP Polishing Powder to achieve the high shine. The Spongelux is a shining pad that has the same polishing powder impregnated into the pad. The Pad could be easier to use, but is not as cost effective. I bought everything on eBay and donedeal. The Powder for 5KG tub was about €80 from memory. With regard the speed of the buffer, I asked this question numerous times and found that a 400rpm was much easier to get, but 'ALL' experts told me NO, you must use a speed of around 150 to 200. Rental shops and people selling them had no problem trying to sell me a 400rpm machine. Klindex I believe recommend and sell 175rpm, hence I bought a 180rpm. I think the 400 could damage the floor when using both the supershine pads and most definitely using the polishing powder. Maybe the 400 is ok when the job is complete and you are doing a quick shine with a hair pad and no chemicals. My advice is stick with a slow speed machine, approx. 175rpm. Hope that helps. One last thing, please bear in mind Im not an expert, but the above is what I did, and got great results.

Andrew Campbell

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread it gave me the confidence to have a try and now I can add my own experiences to the thread.
we have 36sq m of marble floor in our kitchen and sitting area. Its cream in colour and when down first looked really well. after 6 or so years of use and abuse it looked terrible. the grouting was dirty the tiles were all etched and dull and there was dirt in the veins of the tiles. people using acidic cleaning products on it were its main enemy.
I had a company come and do a quote but I had no confidence that the €1200 they wanted would leave it like new. something just didn't sit right with me about them so having read this thread I decided to have a go myself.
I hired a polisher from Hire Here on south circular road and they were really helpful. I took it on the Saturday morning of the bank holiday weekend so had it for 3 days but only got charged for 1.5 days. they sold me 6 pads 2 rough (black) 2 medium (red) and 2 light (white). it was sale or return so I only used one of each and returned the rest. I left a deposit of €230 but when all was returned ok the total job cost me only €95.
I didn't use any cleaning products or polishing pastes only water.
To start off I vacuumed all the loose dirt up from the floor and donned a pair of wellies which were perfect footwear for the job, kept your feet dry, trousers free from splashes and easy to slip of when you wanted to have a break and not tread the sludge all over the rest of the house
When I started off first the polisher was tricky to master and the first half hour was like wrestling with a bull by the horns. Soon I got the hang of it and could get it to stay in one position till I moved the handle slightly and it headed off in that direction. The more you fight it the more it fights back, you need to be gentle with it.
Starting with the black pad I kept the floor wet from the water dispenser and once you got going the grindings from the marble mixed with the water and a sort of abrasive paste formed which helped the process. Over and back up and down like you see in the you tube videos keeping it moving all the time. When I had done 1/3 for the floor I mopped up the grey sludge and repeated the whole process with the red pad and finally the white. The grouting which was below the level of the tiles was still dirty in a few places so I scrubbed it with a deck brush and cleaned up well. when I buffed the tiles with a dry cloth I was pleased but not delighted with the finish from my six or seven hours of work. I was however exhausted, 12sq m was enough for one day. Content with my days work I sealed the floor with a tin of sealant that was left over from the original fitting. My arms and shoulders ached and my hands were red.
the next day I repeated the process on the second 1/3 and this time I knew more what I was doing and as I worked the final light grade white pad back and forth I could feel from the slippiness under my feet that there was a nice shine developing. When this section was all cleaned off and buffed and sealed it looked great and I was delighted with my efforts. There wasn't a mirror finish but there was certainly a high sheen. I think the down lighters over that area showed up the shine more and the white pad was worn down a bit giving a smoother finish.
The third day I was spurred on by my success the previous day and I finished the job off easily enough.
I was thrilled I hadn't spent €1200 on it and will happily do it again in 2 years time now I know whats involved and hopefully it wont be as bad as it was before I started this time. Once again the floor looks like the special material that it is. I hope my experiences will give you the encouragement you need to do the same.

UrsusMaritimus

After seeing Andrews reply it reminded me I should have posted back with my results also.

Thanks again to SmithySeller for the advice given.

My steps were as follows:
Borrowed a 180rpm buffer for a weekend, cleared off wife and kid.
Masked off all wood skirting and kick boards
Cleaned floor with LTP Grimex and a red buffing pad.
Mopped and wet vac the floor.
Gave a pass with #2 & #3 Klindex pads, with a mopping and vac between.
Then used the KP85 in a white pad to polish the floor, gave a number of passes and used a squeegee mop to move the slurry around and keep it in pad, I noticed the pad can run dry quickly. Squeegee was very handy as it allowed me to control the slurry and stop it from just ending up against skirting boards.
Mopped and wet vac'd 2x times.
Then gave a pass of a dry hoghair pad, fun to hold the buffer but gave a great shine.
Sealed with LTP MPG impregnating sealer and buffed again with a dry pad.

Very happy with the results, the marble was very worn with about 6years of use and no care and no marble cleaner used.
It is due a polishing again in the high traffic areas and two things that will be done differently are, clean the grout thoroughly before hand (didn't do this and it showed after) and seal the high traffic areas twice.