Advances in Marble Restoration

Recently there has been a significant improvement in the maintenance of polished floors made of limestone (includes marble and travertine); either a floor of solid stone or individual tiles. The mechanical polishing technique (use of diamond cutting plates), has always been the preferred way to go versus chemical means (crystallizing). However, it was expensive, labor intensive and messy. Now the mechanical method has been applied to simple buffing like pads using just water…

We have used these Zoom pads to successfully restore several floors. The most common situation is a commercial entrance designed with tiles of marble which have lost their luster from years of ground in dirt, scratching the marble and turning the grout black. This was an expensive restoration project usually resulting in nothing being done.
This project first requires a strong alkaline solution to clean the marble and grout, followed by renewal of the polished surface. Using the Zoom pads and procedures labor time is drastically reduced, resulting in a savings of 60%!

Another scenario is cleaning the same tiled surface, but after attempts to create a polished look through a wax finish. The grout lines will continue to be a hopeless restoration project,** but if you mistakenly apply wax to marble it can now be restored at a much lower price.
Marble stone surfaces will always require frequent cleanings and periodic polishing in order to maintain the original luster. However, if that is not possible, then restoration projects are now economical.