Many clients are worried that their old marble floor will become thin and start cracking if they get it polished. This article is to reassure them that this is not expected to happen.
The thickness of marble slabs for flooring varies a lot depending on where you bought it from. For Indian Marbles, qualities like Morwad, Agaria, Katni are available in 14-15mm thickness. Wonder white, Wonder beige, pista are available in 17mm thickness. Buildings constructed before 2008 normally had Indian marble of higher thickness of 18-20mm. Some 10-15 years ago, marbles started to be cut in thinner slabs of 14-17mm thickness.
Italian marbles like Dyna, Emparedor, Carrara, Travertine, Statuario etc are normally available in 18-20mm thickness.
So, how many times can I get my old marble floor polished?
The first grinding of the new marble is always the most extreme. This grinding step needs to remove lippage and other imperfections from the floor to make it perfectly flat. This step could result in removal of 0.5 to 1mm of thickness. Most shine restoration of old marble would result in removal of a 10-15 micrometers of thickness. 1mm is equal to 1000 micrometres. Many clients feel a need for marble polishing every 3 years. So, that gives us 20-25 years of time for 1mm of thickness. So, rest assured, old marble flooring can be polished enough times to last the lifetime of the building.
How to get more life out of marble?
Surface damage to marble is the most fundamental reason which necessitates use of aggressive grinding to remove the damaged layer. To prolong the life of the marble, clients needs to take care of the marble. Some important precautions are
1) Avoid scratches-
Use spacers under the furniture.
Avoid sliding heavy furniture on the floor.
Use a cutting board while using sharp implements on the floor
2) Avoid use of acidic cleaning chemicals
Most tile cleaning chemicals are acidic and will damage the marble. Avoid using them.
Do not use local disinfectants like phenyl regularly.
3) Use microfiber mops for cleaning the floor.
4) Use a high quality mat to avoid dragging dirt onto the floor.
5) Whenever polishing is required, choose diamond polishing which removes less material from the stone to achieve better smoothness as compared to older methods.