How to Resurface & Repair a Marble Floor

Marble is a soft stone compared with other natural stones such as granite. Everyday wear and tear, coupled with home redecorating and moving furniture around, can cause a marble floor to appear dull and scratched. Not everyone has the time every day to use strict preventative measures of cleaning to keep marble floors looking new. By refinishing the marble floor, you can easily bring the surface back to life, while repairing minor scuffs and scratches.

• 1

  Remove everything from the marble floor in the areas where you plan to repair and refinish.

• 2

  Tape over all surfaces you wish to protect with painter's tape. Secure plastic sheeting over baseboards with the painter's tape. The marble stripper can splatter and ruin surfaces where it lands.

• 3

  Mop the marble floor with a microfiber mop to catch all dust, dirt and small particulates.

• 4

  Roll up thick towels into logs, and place them on the marble floor to create a dam to stop the stripping solution from flowing outside of the work area.

• 5

  Pour 1 gallon of water into a mop bucket. Measure 1 cup of common household ammonia, and slowly pour it into the bucket of water. Add 1 cup of vinegar to this water/ammonia solution to create your marble stripping mixture.

• 6

  Spread the stripping mixture inside the dammed area, pouring from the outside corners in. Allow the stripping mixture to sit on the marble floor for 15 minutes.

• 7

  Mop the stripping mixture from the floor, using a long-handled mop and bucket. Continue to mop the floor until all stripping mixture is gone. Rinse the floor with a clean, dampened mop.

• 8

  Attach a diamond sanding pad to the floor buffer. Begin sanding the marble floor with the floor buffer, using side-to-side motions and keeping the floor wet with water if required. Keep the floor buffer at least 6 inches from all walls. Continue to sand the marble, going over the marble floor two to four times.

• 9

  Sand the marble floor in the areas next to the walls where the floor buffer was unable to go with a hand-held sander equipped with a diamond pad.

• 10

  Turn on the wet/dry shop vacuum and remove all the water and sanding grit left behind by the floor and hand-held buffers. Use a clean mop and bucket to give the floor a final rinsing and cleaning.

• 11

  Wipe the surface with a chamois to buff the marble to a polished shine.