Marble Restoration & Repair
At Re-vive Stone we have many years experience in restoring marble.
Services we offer for marble are:
- Deep cleaning
- Grinding and honing
- Polishing
- Chip and crack repairs
- Face filling with grout or resin
- Cutting and shaping
- Tile replacement
- Sealing
- Regular maintenance
Types of finishes for marble:
- Antiqued or Tumbled
- Brushed
- Bush-hammered
- Flamed
- Honed
- Honed and Pillowed edge (cushioned edge)
- Polished
- Sandblasted
A Guide to Marble
Marble is a beautiful metamorphic stone. (Metamorphic is Greek for change of form.) There is a saying that “Marble is limestone but limestone is not marble.” However, just to confuse things further, in the stone industry if a limestone takes a polish it is considered a marble. Examples such marble is Crema Marfil, a popular Spanish limestone, and Emparador Oscuro. Marbles and limestone both consist of carbonate minerals, Calcite and Dolomite but there are differences:
Marble – Soft, porous and acid sensitive. However as a metamorphic stone it is harder with more stable chemistry and more able to take a polish. Minerals give different range of colour.
Limestone – Generally a little softer, more porous and more acid sensitive than marble. Large variation in colour and physical characteristics due to sedimentary formation.
Marble has been used extensively for thousands of years for all sorts of uses and decorative purposes. From prehistoric times essential tools and weapons were developed from stone and soon the same skills were applied to decorative items of jewellery from many parts of the ancient world.
The word Marble may bring to mind magnificent sculptures and ancient temple buildings, mosaics on floors and walls and the wonders of the ancient Greek and Roman empires. The Romans love of coloured marbles became an obsession and wherever their Empire expanded quarries were excavated and marble shipped back to Rome to be cut into beautiful pieces by the prised stone cutters of Rome.
Today marble comes from many places all around the world and is widely used as a material in construction pillars, paving, cladding, sculpture, table tops, walls and flooring. It is also used for ornaments, fireplaces, stairs, washbasins, patios, and many other architectural applications.
Selecting Your Marble
Before embarking on your desired project its always a good idea to consider your choice of stone. While a particular colour or the look of a certain marble may be more desirable, it’s good to consider the suitability for your project.
If the Marble is for a wall, and is purely decorative and not subjected to stress, then a structurally weaker stone would not pose so much of an issue. If however it’s is used for flooring or in areas of high footfall then it becomes more important to purchase marble tiles that are much more solid and have fewer natural faults, fissures, cracks, pockmarks, crumbling and fill.
Ask your supplier for samples. Look at the tile from an angle – any polished stone that has dull spots or lines along veining will likely have been filled. Turn the tile over and check the back to see if any cracks run through the tile.
If you are investing in a marble for long term wear and tear then the thicker the tile the better. Tiles as thin as 12mm are sometimes sold for flooring but when it comes to lippage removal and ongoing restoration in heavily used walkways it presents problems.
