A home should be beautiful, welcoming, comfortable and durable. The marble that you put in your home should be the same way. Marble is a natural material, so it breathes and ages. It is necessary to take appropriate care of it so that it lasts decades. That is the focus of this article.

Repair, Maintaining, And Fixing the Marbles: For A Longer Beautiful Lifespan

Properly chosen and maintained marble can look just as good decades later as the day you bought it.

What problems can arise:

1. Yellowing
2. Cracking
3. Chipping
4. Dulling

The most important factor is which marble you buy. Some marble is more prone to all of these than others. This is dependent on the calcium carbonate percentage composition of the marble. Materials with higher calcium carbonate composition such as Bottechino and Michaelangelo are very strong and are not prone to any of these problems. That is why they are so widely used.

Marble like Satvario, on the other hand, has a low calcium carbonate percentage. This means that in order to maintain it properly, it requires much more maintenance and care. Therefore, even though it looks beautiful, people are preferring marble that is easier to maintain.

In order to pick the right marble for your home, you need a great marble dealer you can trust.

Some Factors to Consider

• If installing any type of white marble, get an anti-porous treatment done to the marble. All Marble is porous, and stains are more visible on white marble. Anti-porous treatment works by saturating the marble so more cannot be absorbed as well as forming an anti-porous layer on top of the marble.

• When using a marble that is softer and more prone to breakage, consider Densification, which will harden the material and make it easier to install as well as reduce risk of cracking and chipping.

Installation

There are various different ways of installing marble and they are priced differently. The method of installation determines how much longevity your marble has.

There are 2 primary methods of fixing marble

1. Wet Fixing- using cement, sand and mortar. This is the old-fashioned method. It is messier and takes more time. If the sand’s iront content is not removed properly, it can lead to marble discolouring. If there is a water leakage in other parts of the building, it can pass through the cement and cause absorption in the marble. However, it is substantially cheaper than the alternative.
2. Dry Fixing- Using Adhesives such as Laticrete. This is fast and clean but also more expensive. Since there is no sand involved, discolouration of the marble due to iron content is impossible. The adhesive also forms a hard water resistant layer beneath the marble, protecting it from leakages in other parts of the building. Dry fixing is a wholly superior method of fixing marble when compared to wet fixing. We provide a blanket recommendation to all our clients to dry fix marble wherever possible.

Caring For Marble Once It Is Installed

Do’s for the Caring of Marble

1. Cleaning- Marble should be mopped with soft water only on a daily basis. Useage of hard water or cleaning chemicals will eat away the polish of the marble
2. Polishing and Buffing- Whenever you feel the polish of your marble is reducing, you should get it repolished. This will be once every 5-10 years depending on the hardness of the material used and how heavily the marble is used.
3. Fillings- Incase marble chips or cracks, it can be bonded and filled with Crackbond or Tinnex. Crackbond is a lengthier process, but it lasts much longer. Tinnex fillings can be done quickly and cheaply but can wear out quickly. If you have filled crackbond in a marble, then you don’t have to worry about it until the marble gets repolished, at which point fresh crackbond may be necessary. A good contractor will colourmatch the fillings with the marble such that it is almost completely unnoticeable.

Don’ts for the Caring of Marble

Here are the things you should avoid to maintain the lifespan of your marble:

1. Avoid using hard water or cleaning agents to clean marble
2. Avoid neglecting your marble. 90% of the work of maintaining marble is just making sure it is swept/mopped regularly.

The above information may sound like a lot, but it is important to remember the basics. Firstly, ensure that you find a good marble supplier you can trust who can guide you through the purchase process as well as recommend what treatments you should get for the marble you finalize. Second, make sure to only use soft water to regularly clean your marble. Lastly, in case you have any of the problems mentioned above with your marble, reach out to your marble dealer or architect and they will guide you through the process.