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You may have encountered a situation where your marble floor even after best of polishing keeps becoming cloudy all over. It would look like it has lost all shine and is stained. This issue starts becoming visible after 1-2 days of finishing the floor. The polishing team might repolish the floor but the issue keeps raising its head again and again. Was the polishing done improperly? Did the polishing team not use proper chemicals? Is there some problem in the marble? Would use of a sealer remove this problem? So many questions pop up in your head.
The technical term for this issue is Blooming.
This issue usually appears in marbles installed on ground floor or in basement. The cloudiness is caused by water vapours rising from below the marble to the surface and condensing at the top layer. This covers the shine and makes it look dull and cloudy. Just a quick buffing with a machine or elbow grease makes the problem disappear but the problem reappears the next day. Normally the problem is more pronounced in the rainy months and gradually lessens in hot dry weather.
There is nothing that a floor polishing team can do in this situation. This is not a problem caused by bad polishing. The polishing team can use sealers which may lessen the problem but not to a great extent. Second option is to use a wax. This will keep the surface shiny for a longer time as this will cut off the flow of vapour from the base to the surface. But over time, this will destroy and discolour the marble as the vapour pressure will crack the stone.
We have encountered this problem and have tried to explain to clients. But most clients refuse to believe.
What should have been done?
The root of this problem lies in faulty installation. Many times, the architects and their contractors give out installation contracts to the lowest bidder. So, to save cost, the installer misses one very important step. When installing marble on ground floor or basement, the back side of the marble needs to be coated with a sealer so that no moisture can seep upwards into the marble. One such suitable sealer is anti stain coating 2015 by Akemi. This is to be applied at the back of the marble and on the sides of the marble. Use of this will save you so many problems in future. If you require any type of floor polishing, you can contact us- Arrow Solutions.