Marble Floor Cleaning and Restoration Service
Marble is a metamorphic rock formed from limestone. It looks wonderful and it can last for generations, but it’s softer than most people assume, and it’s chemically sensitive. Grit scratches it, acidic spills eat into it, and a polished surface that’s been walked on for years gradually loses its depth.
The good news is that marble is very forgiving to restore. Most floors we’re called to can be brought back to a finish close to how they looked when they were laid, or to a different finish if you’d prefer one.
What goes wrong with marble floors?
Scratches. Marble is hard enough to feel tough, but the grit carried in on shoes is harder. It leaves a web of fine scratches, which scatter the light and flatten the shine, usually first along the route people walk most.
Etching. Marble is calcium-based, so acids dissolve it. Lemon juice, wine, coffee, some bathroom products and a lot of general-purpose cleaners will leave pale, dull marks. These are not stains. The surface itself has been eaten away, so wiping won’t remove them.
Staining. Marble is porous. Oil, red wine, tea and anything coloured can soak in if they’re left, and once they’re in the stone, ordinary cleaning won’t reach them.
A dull, tired finish. Even without an obvious accident, years of foot traffic wear the polish down until the floor looks flat.
How we carry out marble cleaning and restoration
The work is done in stages, and which stages your floor needs depends on its condition and the finish you want.
- Assessment. We check what type of marble it is, what condition it’s in and what finish it currently has. Marble varies a lot, so this decides how we approach the rest.
- Stripping old sealer. If there’s an existing sealer, we take it off so we’re cleaning and working on the stone itself, not on old product.
- Deep clean. pH-neutral, stone-safe cleaners lift dirt and surface staining without attacking the marble.
- Honing. This levels the surface and removes scratches and etch marks. On its own it leaves a smooth, soft satin finish that reflects less light. Many people like it just as it is.
- Polishing. If you want the gloss back, we polish the floor to bring out the colour and the veining.
- Sealing. Finally we seal the floor to slow down staining and make it easier to look after.
- Final check. We go over the floor in the light before we leave, and we tell you how to look after it.
Why people choose us
- We know stone. Marble is what we work on, and we know what it will and won’t tolerate.
- Each job is planned around the floor. A hallway with etching needs a different treatment from a worn kitchen, and we don’t use a standard routine.
- Tidy working. We protect the surrounding areas and clear up after ourselves, whether it’s a family home or a commercial space.
- Honest advice. If a floor doesn’t need the full process, we’ll say so.
With regular care and a refresh every so often, a marble floor can look good for decades. If yours has lost its shine, or has marks you can’t shift, get in touch. We’ll talk through what’s wrong and what to expect, and there’s no obligation. Contact us or call 0800 197 3838.
Examples of our work
FAQs: Marble Cleaning
The process we carry out will depend on your specific floor and the use that it gets. There will be variations for different materials and the finish that you wish to achieve. The process will also be impacted by the full scale of work that we carry out, for example which types of cleaning and restoration are being performed. It is not unusual to apply several layers of sealant if this is necessary and appropriate.
Firstly, a floor should always be sealed when it is first laid. Get in touch with us straight away if this hasn’t been carried out already. It will also need periodic sealing in order to protect the floor on an ongoing basis. How often sealing is required depends on a number of factors such as the specific material used for your flooring and the kind of use it has to survive. For example, a bathroom with natural tiles that is frequently exposed to water may require sealing more often than porcelain tiles in a kitchen. Frequent maintenance, such as sweeping and hoovering up the dust and grit that erodes floors when trodden on can help. Once the sealant is worn away, not only will scratches be more likely, the risk of staining or permanent damage from liquids is drastically increased as there is no protective layer to prevent absorption. If in doubt get in touch with our team of friendly technicians who can discuss your needs.
We have a range of high quality Faber products which will help protect your floors from damage. As every type of floor is different and has myriad uses, we will consult with you to work out the best way to protect your investment. We can apply topical sealants which form a protective layer on top of the floor, or if needed an impregnating sealant, which will be partially absorbed into the stone or tiles. There are many variations of these sealants and as each floor type has unique characteristics and vulnerabilities we can work with you to find and apply the the best kind of protection.
Absolutely. If this was not carried out by those who fitted the floor get in touch immediately to ensure that the appropriate protection can be applied as promptly as possible. We would recommend that this is carried out once the flooring is in place as this means the grout, which is generally more porous, will also be protected.
We apply a sealer to a floor in order to protect it. Different types of floor, both manmade and natural stone, are vulnerable to different sorts of damage. They can all be harmed by chemicals to a certain degree, even by the acid in food and drink spillages, as they will be very slightly porous. As well as this, they can be worn away by physical damage. Even foot traffic can have a big impact if dust or grit has built up on the floor, since it increases abrasions. A sealant will reduce the chance of a spill becoming a stain by reducing the floor’s ability to absorb liquids. It can also help protect the appearance of the floor by forming a protective barrier. A sealant won’t prevent all damage and it will still wear away over time, but it will help your floors last longer, helping protect your investment. Sealants will even help protect your floor from UV radiation which can lead to fading over the lifespan of a high value stone or tiled floor. We can consult with you to find the best sealant for your floor and the type of use it gets to make sure it receives the best form of protection.
Yes certainly, this is one of our key services.
No, typically these veins run all the way through marble, so removing abrasions from the surface has little to no effect on the amount of veins in the stone.
Yes, if you’re looking for a less reflective or matt finish we can take care of this.
Absolutely! This is one of the most common issues with marble since installations are typically taken to a high level of sheen. Our rotary polishers will have no problem restoring the shine.
Whilst we may use specialist chemicals in the course of our work, we can assure you that by the time we leave all residues will be gone and your tile, stone or LVT flooring will be perfectly safe for everyone to use. We work to extremely high standards of health and safety, conducting proper risk assessments where appropriate and never putting you or anyone else in danger.
We always work in the most considerate way possible. Work will be tailored to your needs and will fit around your schedule where possible. We avoid bringing loud or bulky machinery into your home and when a job is complete we thoroughly clean up after ourselves to leave your space looking as tidy as it did when we arrived.
