Slippery Rock Gazette

Bob Murrell 

M3 Technologies

Photos by Bob Murrell

First, let’s take a moment to remember our fellow Americans who suffered an unimaginable disaster. For many, it’s been a brutal season, heading into the holidays. Two back-to-back hurricanes in October (at the time of this writing), Helene and Milton, both took a tremendous toll on the southeast. I live in East Tennessee, and our eastern most counties were ravaged by Helene. Interstates I-40 and I26 are closed indefinitely. In Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Northwestern South Carolina and Northeastern Georgia, hundreds of people lost their lives, and more are still missing. Thousands more lost everything they own. The floods here were said to be of Biblical proportion. The same is true when the two hurricanes hit Florida, albeit the Floridians are more experienced and prepared for this type of natural disaster than we are here in Appalachia. It will take years to recover from this devastation. Volunteers have come from all over the country to render aid to their fellow Americans.

In a local medical facility, multiple almost identical commercial lobbies were a great project to be involved with. There were 8 of these, approximately 1,000 square feet, multi-colored marble lobby floors. The main field of the marble was a buff-colored stone with inserts of darker materials in set patterns. The floors were worn from foot traffic, especially in the pathways and pivot points. The clients wanted the natural polished restored to as close to newly installed condition as possible. 

It was a quality original install and fortunately, the lippage condition was mild and there were only a few excessively high areas that gave the operator trouble. It was decided that, with the minimal lippage concerns, honing would begin at a 400 grit level. M3 TX Triple Thick resins were the diamond disc tools of choice because of their flexibility, quality honing performance, and good life. Because mild lippage is not the same as no lippage (ground in place, post install with total lippage removal), some additional cushioning effect was required, to effectively hone the marble. 3-inch x 1 /4-inch rubber spacers, plus Velcro-type drive plates with a built-in foam cushion were used to achieve the extra cushioning needed for the diamonds. This helped with both the high and low areas. Remember, in many cases, the lower areas are the hardest to rectify.
These low areas can show up later as, what I call, picture framing. This can be especially true with darker materials and, in some cases, may require grinding completely flat or monolithic, to better blend the tiles.

The TX-400 pads did a phenomenal job honing the floor while handling the mild lippage. As hoped, the 3-inch spacers helped the TX-400s minimize the picture framing effect. The 20-inch M3 Heavy Duty machine was used with 5 each TX-400s, SPACER3s, 1 each 25lb horseshoe weight (total machine weight of about 125 pounds), Majestic Stone Soap, used for lubrication (helps extend diamond life) and ease of slurry cleanup, at 1 ounce per gallon of solution in the tank, while a pattern of 10 perpendicular passes, 6 east to west and 4 north to south, was implemented. The key here is to render the surface to a consistent 400 grit hone. If you see scratch patterns or inconsistencies, you’re moving too fast. Use of splash guard is essential, especially when using the diamond discs. This helped to reduce the amount of Tape & Drape, masking material, that was needed to protect the adjacent vertical surfaces. Transitions between carpet and the marble floor required both Tape & Drape and additional masking measures, like red polyvinyl tape. Honing was only done to within about a foot of the wall as these tiles still looked good. There was no traffic wear in these areas. The hopes were that the Majestic 5X Gold would blend everything, including to the wall and low area picture framing.  

Left: Before restoration, with traffic wear and etching from spills. Right: Floor after honing with 400 grit TX Triple Thick diamond discs and polishing with Majestic 5X Gold.

Another of the eight lobbies restored. Notice there are none of the darker tiles in this floor.

These marble to carpet transition lines were honed using diamond hand pads in 220 grit, 400 grit, and 800 grit and polished some by hand as well with Majestic 5X Gold and a natural pad center. This helped tremendously to keep the transition line looking perfectly sharp. 

Once the floor was consistently honed to the 400 grit level and the transition lines were looking good, the main floor was polished using the same weighted machine, a Combo natural pad, and Majestic 5X Gold marble polishing powder. Eight slow perpendicular passes (4 and 4) were used in the same fashion as the honing process.  The beige field, as well as the other colors of marble on the floor, responded very well to the Majestic 5X Gold polishing process. Any remaining picture framing from the 400 grit honing process was easily blended and turned out great. The honing and polishing prescription worked as planned.  

In case you’re wondering how to ensure the best results with the marble polishing step, I recommend using plenty of water to start with, and adjust as needed. Some marble does better with plenty of water and others do better with less. The solution is test, test, test. As I often recommend, the post-5X Gold polishing process was followed with a PLP 12,000 grit DIP, which was run wet. This procedure will help to alleviate any heat swirls or residue still remaining on the marble.   

These lobby floors turned out amazing–all 8 of them. The client was ecstatic. The hardest part of the lobbies were the men’s and women’s restrooms on each of the lobby floors. Because they were smaller spaces, it was more difficult to maneuver. Other than that, the finished product was a repeatable and efficient project with great results. It was one of those wash, rinse, and repeat things. 

I always recommend doing a test area on any project to confirm both the results and procedure. Also, the best way to help ensure success is by partnering with a good distributor, like BB Industries, that knows the business. They can help with technical support, product purchase decisions, logistics, and other pertinent project information.

As the end of the year closes in on us, there’s no better time to count our blessings with family and friends. I wish you and your families a safe and very happy holiday season.

Bob Murrell has worked in the natural stone industry for over 40 years and is well known for his expertise in natural stone, tile, and decorative concrete restoration and maintenance. He helped develop some of the main products and processes which revolutionized the industry, and is currently the Director of Operations for M3 Technologies. Send your comments and questions to Bob at attn:
publisher@slipperyrockgazette.net .