Marble Repair GuideMarble repair is not as troublesome or difficult as you might imagine from what you read online or even hear from some stone sales people and fabricators. Below you'll find information about the most effective, simple and cheap DIY marble repair methods for the most common marble cleaning issues. You'll find solutions for marble stains, etching dull spots, glass-rings, chips and scratches along with links to more in-depth information where necessary. As noted on our introductory cleaning marble page, many marble cleaning myths get passed around endlessly. Some of these are simply mis-interpreted or mis-applied and there's plenty of plain wrong advice floating around about marble repair methods.
Now, in some instances the only option will be to hire a marble cleaning or marble repair and restoration professional to return your marble countertop or floor to it's previous or original condition. Depending on the degree of visible damage you may choose to go straight to a pro, however, it is usually far cheaper and easy enough to exhaust all DIY methods first. A crack is the only problem that is permanent and cannot be returned to original condition. Cracks can often be stabilized or made functional, but once something breaks/cracks there's no way to put it back together as it was before. Of course, this is when you call a pro immediately. But for all other types of damage it may not even be possible to know if a pro is necessary until the correct DIY cleaning marble methods failed to yield satisfactory results. The key word in that statement is "correct" methods. Many people "try" all kinds of things or unknowingly follow wrong advice, which can lead to more damage or is the cause of damage in the first place! So, the first and most important step is to acquire the correct information and learn how to clean marble the right way and apply the effective marble repair when needed. And again, professional help is not commonly required if you know what to do. The Cleaning Marble Secrets e-book provides comprehensive information on everything you should know about protecting marble, marble cleaning and maintenance including detailed, step-by-step solutions for all the problems noted below and many more. Marble StainsContrary to what you may have read or been told, marble does not stain easy. People confuse "staining" with "etching" (see below), which does happen easily. The procedure for marble stain removal depends on what substance actually caused the stain and etching can complicate it. The Removing Granite & Marble Stains e-book (or the "Cleaning Marble Secrets" e-book noted above) contains a comprehensive explanation along with step-by-step directions for the only effective methods of removing all types of marble stains. You can also check out the marble stains page for more info. Etch MarksEtch marks are the dull spots and glass-rings that result from a chemical reaction to acidic foods, drinks and harsh cleaning products that contact your marble countertop or floor. This is a common issue and usually occurs because the marble owner simply was never educated about the properties of marble, marble maintenance and protection or how to clean marble the right way. The best solution for etch marks depends on the type of surface finish: polished, honed, etc. You'll find a complete discussion of this issue (too many details to go into here) along with discussion about prevention options in the Removing Etch Marks e-book. (or in the "Cleaning Marble Secrets" e-book noted above). Go to Marble Polishing & Removing Etch Marks page for additional information on this topic. Chips & ScratchesMarble repair for chips and scratches will vary. Depending on the size and depth of the blemish a couple products are very effective, although again in some instances professional marble repair, restoration or re-finishing may be necessary. Light Surface Scratches For light surface scratches that can be seen, but not really felt or only barely so, then this Marble Polishing Paste & Etch Remover works very well on polished marble. Using it on a honed or non-polished finish may turn the matte honed surface into a shiny finish.... which will likely be much more obvious than the scratch. The Cleaning Marble Secrets e-book presents information about removing scratches on honed marble. Chips & Pits Chips and pits can be filled when deep enough and not too large. Your fabricator can do this with an epoxy, but it is usually a pretty obvious repair. You can do-it-yourself with a color-matching epoxy as well, but these require mixing, can be messy and difficult to use, color never quite matches and again, leave an obvious marble repair. Epoxies used to be the only way, however..... **We highly recommend using one of these new acrylic Granite & Marble Repair Kit for chips and pits as the simplest and most effective solution. These kits are far easier to use than epoxies or resins, no mess, cure quickly and don't require mixing or color matching! The acrylic dries clear allowing the natural color and pattern of your marble counter tops, floor or tile to show through for a virtually invisible granite repair or marble repair. It's available in a flowable gel for horizontal countertop and floor surfaces or in a paste for vertical walls and edges. The chips and pits need to be deep enough into the marble for the acrylic to bond. So again, light or shallow scratches you'll need to use the above-mentioned Marble Polishing Paste or they may require professional refinishing in some cases.
Answers To Marble Repair QuestionsLearn even more! Click on the links below to read detailed answers to common (and unusual) marble cleaning questions.
Cleaning, Repairing and Sealing Marble floors
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