FLOORING PLUS ROCHESTER
Marble, quarried in mountainous regions around the world, has been a very popular building material for millennia. Prized for its beauty, style, and elegance, this material has graced the palaces of kings and queens for centuries, making it an upscale, luxurious option for interiors.
WHAT IS MARBLE?
Marble is a very popular natural stone that is quarried and cut into slabs and tiles for a variety of residential and commercial building applications, including countertops, floors, and wall tiles. It is a metamorphic rock that forms when a sedimentary stone, such as limestone, is transformed under heat and pressure into a harder stone with beautiful color and veined patterns. Marble is sometimes confused with granite, however, granite is an igneous rock derived from volcanic magma, not layered sedimentary rock. Granite typically has a pebbly or spotted color pattern, while marble usually has a wavy veined pattern.
MAINTENANCE
Once installed, routine maintenance of a marble flooring is relatively easy; it requires the same kind of sweeping and damp mopping you would do with a ceramic tile floor. However, unlike ceramic tile, marble is fairly porous, so you shouldn’t allow water to puddle and stand on the surface. Standing water can penetrate the stone and discolor it.
Marble has a pH on the base (alkaline) side, due to its origin as a sedimentary limestone. This means that it can have a chemical reaction whenever it comes in contact with acidic substances. This includes a wide variety of foods, sauces, beverages, and cleaning products. Unfortunately, the discoloration stains that come from these materials are usually permanent. This can be prevented by applying a chemical penetrating sealer, as well as a surface sealer after installation. But for optimal protection, the surface sealer needs to be reapplied annually.
Even though it is stone, marble is actually a relatively soft material that can be scratched, scraped, and chipped under the wrong conditions. This is especially true if the material is polished, as the imperfections will be more noticeable on the smooth, flat solid surface. Unfortunately, scratches cannot be easily repaired without replacing the damaged material entirely.
We welcome you to contact us to discuss your flooring options.
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