This is polished white marble flooring throughout the kitchen, dining room, hallways, laundry, bathroom, and master bathroom. The flooring has extreme wear, the tile and grout have darkened from soil absorption, and there are fine stress cracks throughout. We will be converting the worn polished finish to a satin honed finish.
Polished vs Honed Finish
A polished finish is beautiful as long as it is kept up with proper maintenance. Polished finishes show scratches and wear whereas a honed finish tends to hide the wear and scratches resulting in less maintenance. The polished finish is quite shiny and the honed finish has a softer, warmer appearance. A honed finish is safer to walk on, providing better traction and more slip resistance. Satin honed finishes have been trending with homeowners and interior decorators lately.
This floor has not had any professional maintenance or sealer applied since 2005. That’s over 13 years!!
Pre-Cleaning White Marble
Pre-cleaning white stone in this condition is done so as not to promote any staining of the tile and grout prior to the grinding process.
The above picture shows pre-cleaning as the first process of restoration. I used an aggressive stone cleaner and allowed it to dwell (as seen in picture) and hand-scrubbed it off to remove the patina created by years of use.
Converting Finishes
When I convert a floor from polished to honed, ALL edges and corners are wet-sanded, honed, and prepped prior to the restoration with the floor machinery. I want it to look as if the floor was installed with the honed finish.
Notice that there are no windows (uneven finish along the tile edges)around the tiles from improper use of equipment. Consistency of finish across the entire floor is important to Alexandria Marble Restoration Limited.
Crema Marfil marble flooring
This is another polished to honed satin finish in the same house. These are 16″ marble tiles.
