Suggestions for Rehabbing Marble Tile Floor?

I'm on my second temporary residence here in Saudi while my permanent quarters are getting painted and fumigated, and this house (like all the houses I've seen here so far) has some great features and some interesting quirks. The best part of this house is the marble tile floor that runs throughout; unfortunately, that is also the element that seems to have taken the most knocks over the years.

Though I'll be moving out in a few weeks, another of my colleagues will be moving in so we are looking for advice on restoring these floors to their original condition.

As you can see from the pictures above, there are several places where the floors are stained, and of course we have no idea how old the stains are or what caused them. In some areas the browning is small and localized, in others it seems lighter but more widespread. What you can't see in the pictures are the myriad of scratches caused (I imagine) by years of careless furniture moving and just general wear and tear.

The questions now are what can be done to lighten or remove the stains, what (if anything) can be done to remove the scratches, and how can we protect the floor from further abuse in the years to come? Our housing here has been neglected for a number of years because of frequent employee turnover, but we are now focused on rehab efforts to restore the homes to their former glory, so any assistance from savvy Apartment Therapy readers would be greatly appreciated!

Comments (9)

I'm pretty sure there's a solution you can buy to rub in some love. I'd check out a marble tile website that specializes in such things.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-clean-a-marble-floor

We had a company come in and grind down our marble floors, re-polish and seal them. They look brand new. I hope the stains aren't too far down.

Not sure if it's available in Saudi - but it must with the middle-eastern love of marble floors(which I'm allowed to comment on since I'm of descent. Dad loves himself some marble and gold foil.).

The yellowing may be a sign of a water leak. Water may be leaking from a pipe and the rust on the pipe leaches into the marble. You may want to get that checked.

Otherwise you should have the floors buffed and waxed regularly.

You would do the same as any other marble - Use a poultice.

For the stains, first try scrubbing with a paste of baking soda and water, or a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. If the stains are soaked into the marble, soak a towel with hydrogen peroxide and let it sit on the stain for at least 24 hours, periodically redampening the towel till the stain disappears.

Finally seal the floors to prevent future damage.

I did some quick googling, and this is what it said: "Floor Restoration

If a marble floor is scratched, deeply soiled, or has a build-up of yellowed wax or discolored sealers, the lustre and natural color can be restored by wet sanding and chemical stripping. This messy, noisy process requires protection of workers with proper gear and temporary protection of adjacent surfaces, such as pews, doors, base moldings, and floor-mounted fixtures. Sanding is followed by honing and polishing. Repeated heavy sanding can noticeably wear down a floor, producing visible depressions; thus it is best to avoid the need (and the expense) of this procedure by maintaining the polished finish. "

This website seems to be a good resource with endless questions and answers about marble care : http://www.countertopspecialty.com/cleaning-marble.html

Are you sure it's staining? In looking at marble samples sometimes the vein just oxidizes naturally and even if you grind it down, you're still going to find that color....I have the same problem with (definitely stained) terrazzo; can't stand it and my landlord doesn't want to strip it because who knows how far down it actually goes (old building). However, I dropped a bottle of vinegar on the floor the other day and it did bleach; I might take a crack at it; it's not like I can ruin it much more. Much Luck!