We have been cleaning and sealing one of our Distributor's showrooms (we are an installation company also) this past week. Floor is a unpolished/unfinished Italian Porcelin with Marble/Slate/Granite inserts here and there. We use our porty with a Turbo Hybrid going over with stripper on the first coat then StoneTech Restore on the porcelin (not the polished stones) afterwords. Floor looked great in the process of cleaning after the first day so we sealed with Dry-Treat stainproof. Come back the next day you can still see the marks and some dirt on the porcelin. Owner is 'ok' with the job knows it is much cleaner but this is a BRAND NEW install 2 months old. We have had problems with unfinished porcelin's before and their marks but nothing like this. My question is what has anyone used to remove the Dry-Treat or get some shoe/dirt marks off from the stone once sealed? Secondly, we used Klenzall on the polished stones with the turbo and they are noticing alot of scratches in the marbles. In the light you can see them looking almost like a circular motion. We have used this tool many times before on these surfaces with no problems but owner is sure it is from us. We are trying to make the best of this situation using honing powders and going to Dia-Glow with some success but we are scared to grind down with diamonds these areas because we cannot seem to get the factory finish back up if we do. Sorry about the novel but any comments or help will be much appreciated.

P.S Al, I'm awaiting your response, please!

I can tell you we installed SP on a White Crema Marfil floor recently. We hand buffed it (don't have a machine yet)until all the walk marks etc we did were gone. Not too bad but we need a machine for the next one. Maybe you need to buff a little more. It came out nice.

As for the scratches in the marble, you may have had a piece of dirt stuck on the turbo. Do a search about "turbo and marble" I think is where I found it. One little piece of dirt could have left the swirly pattern you have.

About fixing it? I don't much about that yet don't even want to try to go there yet. We have lots of good people who will help you there.

Again, I don't know if the above is right or not but I THINK it is. I'm trying here guys....haha...

Josi

Well you are headed in the right direction if you are using SP. Its not the buffing we did two buffs and the stone is smooth, no hazes at all. I was considering the idea of some of the sand from the grout or dirt on the turbo but the way the scratches are appearing isn't consistant with how our back and forth motion with the turbo is. Thanks for the help tho any is appreciated as we are lost on this one.

If you have the nylon ring, could that be your source of scratches?


P.S. SP is permanent....in repsonses to earlier question according to Al Spaet.

Diamonds should work on most marbles. You may have to start at a lower grit but you should be able to bring it back up. Most marble is pretty fixable. The question is how much experience do you have with diamonds. Where are you located?

dave

Sounds like this installation was done with sanded grout? If that's the case, we always warn the client up front that there is a chance the sand will break loose from the grout joint and scratch the marble (leave a swirling scratch pattern)... it can't be avoided... there is always a chance. If this is the case, I wouldn't recommend using diamonds to repair the problem... too aggressive (unless you are very careful with a hand polisher and 4" diamonds avoiding the grout joints).... although on occassion we have used the diamond hand pads to remove deep scratches and/or etches. Honing powders are less aggressive and usually our choice when marble, limestone or travertine is installed with sanded grout and in need of restoration... but you still run the risk of the sand getting under the pad and scratching... we let the client know this in advance. Perhaps you could talk the client into letting you put a honed finish on the marble? Put some enhancer on the stone to bring back the color after honing? This would make the marble easier to care for and would show less surface damage in the way of scratches and etches.
Did you use a floor machine to buff the excess sealer off the floor? If so, this is probably where the sand got under the pad and created the scratch pattern you are seeing.
Are you the only company to ever care for the floor? Are these scratches pre-existing? Was there a topical coating hiding these scratches before you cleaned? These are just a few of the questions I'm asking myself when I read your post.

Hey, call or e-mail me or David Howard with any questions. I have not been on the board, so I didn't know you had a problem.

Looks like Karen and everyone else analyzed the problem with the scratches, etc. to perfection, so I don't need to go there.

As far as the DT sealers are concerned, as you know, they are chemically insensitive, so there is no stripping them. If you used too much and it is sticky, then either a little acetone or some more of the identical sealer will get the excess off.

But once DT sealers are IN, they are IN, and they can't come out, as they are now part of the stone. That is the beauty of the products.

Brent, you said the marble is 'inserts'.

Depending on the size of the insert it can be anywhere from sorta conceivable to downright impossible to use diamond pads on an insert. If it is a 12 inch tile, OK. But most inserts are smaller, so the working surface may be too small to fit any rotary pad, even a handheld buffer/grinder. So don't promise what can't be feasibly done.

I'd double check Karen's hunch about sanded grout - pretty darn likely.

But even if it's non sanded, are you aware that just cleaning marble can make previously darkened scratch marks more visible? If the pattern matches your tool, maybe not. But if they resemble foot traffic, it is definitely possible.