The sparkling look of newly installed marble floors can't be beat. As time goes on and people walk by, the beauty fades, and the owners wonder if it can be brought back. It can, yes!
So let's start this step-by-step guide to show you how to polish your own marble floors. We are going to show you two different ways to polish marble floors. First, we'll talk about dry polishing for small rooms with tight spaces, like bathrooms, and then we'll talk about wet polishing for bigger areas with few obstacles.
We end by talking about how to polish marble floors professionally and how much it will cost if you want factory-fresh results.
HOW TO BRING A MARBLE FLOOR BACK TO LIFE (DRY POLISHING)
The rich shine of marble is still there, but it is hidden under a scratched and cloudy surface. It is just ready to shine again.
Using a dry cleaning method, here's how to do it.
Wet polishing (our second way below), which uses water and polishing powder, is another option. However, it takes practice to do it right, and it makes more mess that needs to be cleaned up to keep the marble from getting stained. When cleaning marble for the first time The dry polishing method is better for do-it-yourselfers, but it takes a lot of work for big areas.
GET OUT OF HERE
Maybe it goes without saying, but it's easier to work in an empty room than to move furniture as you go. It will help you focus on the job, keep track of what you've polished, and keep you from tracking polishing dust into other places.
DRY POLISHING – GATHER YOUR TOOLS
First, safety! When you dry-polish marble floors, they make dust that you don't want to breathe in.
If you don't want fine marble and diamond dust to irritate your skin when you touch the floor, you must wear leather gloves, long pants, and knee pads.
An orbital sander: A standard drill (worst) or an angle grinder (better) can be used, but an orbital sander is best for this kind of work. If you haven't used this tool before, one look will show you that it gives you better control and lets you apply strong, steady downward pressure. You can see why people also call an orbital sander a palm sander
DIY tip: An circular sander with a cord is better than one without a cord. Even though it's a little annoying to keep the cord out of the way, you'll be glad to have power for many hours of cleaning. You won't have to stop what you're doing to switch batteries or wait for one to charge.
You can rent a palm sander at Home Depot and other places, but the cost for a single weekend is about half of what it would cost to buy it. DIYers will find a lot of other uses for the sander, so we think it's better to buy it than to rent it.
Diamond polishing pads for marble: In order to properly polish marble, you will need a set of diamond polishing pads that range in grit from between 50 and 3000. The majority of kits also include a backer pad, which can be inserted into the sander and grabs the Velcro backs of the pads.
This Change Moore set is fantastic because it includes everything that you might possibly require, like as the most common grits and a polishing pad that can truly bring out the gloss. It is simple to place an order for additional pads of varying grits as well as a buff.
DIY tip: If you are cleaning a marble floor that is bigger than a bathroom, buy a second set of diamond polishing pads. You won't run out of pads in the middle of the job, and the extras can be used to fix small scratches, saved for your next marble floor cleaning job in a few years, or used to refinish things like metal cabinets and more.
With a soft-brush head, a shop vacuum: Make sure the filter is in place because you are about to make a lot of fine dust.
DRY POLISHING TOOL AND TECHNIQUE TIPS
Here is the basic way to polish marble, and then we'll put it to use.
Set up the tool: Put the pad backer in the sander. Make sure it's tight. The instructions for the sander will explain how to do this. Put on a 50-grit pad.
Controlling the tool: Coarse pads have a lot of grip, so if the sander isn't held tightly, the whole thing will spin, not just the head. Turn on the sander and hold it tightly with both hands, one on top and one around the tool's neck.
DIY tip: Practice in a place where no one can see you, like under the fridge or where the bath rug usually is. Before working in places where people can see you, you should practice the technique we're about to show you.
To sand, press the sanding pad against the floor and move it in a sweeping manner from side to side. The gentle arc should be anywhere from 24" to 48" long, depending on how you feel.
Let the tool do the work as a DIY tip! Hold the pad down firmly, but don't press too hard. If your shoulders and forearms get tired quickly, you're pressing too hard. If you're making very little dust, which isn't likely, then your touch is too light and you need to apply a little more force.
Start in a far corner. Once you're comfortable with the technique, start polishing in a far corner and move side to side and backward so that most of your body is always on unpolished marble. This will keep you from scratching the newly polished marble by pulling sanding dust onto it.
POLISHING FROM ROUGH TO FINE GRINDING
You are on the threshold of a freshly polished marble floor in only a few short steps.
1) Get gritty: Start by going over your floor with the pad that has the highest grit number but is still the coarsest in the package, which is often either 50, 64, or 100. To prevent gouging the marble, you must keep the sander moving at all times and never keep it in one location. The entire floor should be covered.
A helpful hint for do-it-yourselfers is that the edges of flooring are rarely worn down by foot traffic. However, if the edges of your marble are appearing dull, consider wiping them off with a damp cloth first. It's possible that they just need their house cleaned.
Remove the baseboard trim if they appear to still be dull, since this will allow you to run the sander all the way to the ends of the baseboards. You should number the boards as you remove them so that you can easily replace them in the correct positions.
2) Vacuum in between each grit: When vacuuming, always use a head with a soft brush, and never use a head with a hard plastic. This will prevent you from spoiling the lovely surface that you have just finished laboriously creating. It is not cause for alarm if, after using a pad with 50 or 100 grit on marble, you notice circle marks on the surface. They will disappear as the pad is worn in and becomes smoother.
3) Carry out step 1 once more: This time with grits that are progressively finer: After polishing and vacuuming the surface, go over it again with a smaller pad. From where we are now, the procedure goes like that. The finished flooring will be more beautiful and the effort involved will be simplified proportionately to the number of grits used.
For instance, if you purchase the pad set that we recommend or one that is comparable, a suitable succession of grits would be as follows: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, and 3000. If the floor is in extremely poor condition, it is possible that you may need to begin with the 50-grit pad.
Tip for do-it-yourselfers: these cushions are designed to repel dust. In the event that your pad becomes caked with dust, you can clean it as necessary with a gentle nylon brush. When the pad stops producing dust, the diamond grit is no longer present; therefore, the pad needs to be replaced.
4) Give the marble one more thorough vacuuming: Then clean it as you normally would. Check out our guide on how to clean marble floors if you don't already have one or if you're curious about what the professionals recommend.
5) Ensure that the marble floor in your home has been sealed: This is of the utmost significance. Do not leave your floor unprotected and vulnerable to stains by leaving it unattended.
PROFESSIONAL MARBLE POLISHING COST
You are not the only one who feels that this would demand more expertise than you currently possess or more work than you currently want to put in at this point in time. Even though a person has a lot of experience, they should still employ a specialist if they want their marble polished. It's the most efficient strategy for getting what you want out of life.
A marble polishing rate for a floor can be an average of $3.25 to $4.50 per square foot, which is the typical cost. The quality of the floor has the greatest impact on the total cost. There is an up charge for marble that is not in good condition and for floors that have scratches that need to be filled in before they can be polished.
In addition, there can be a minimum payment of $200–$300 if the room is extremely compact, such as a bathroom with a floor that is 46 feet long.
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