Refinish Marble Tile Floors

Refinish your marble tile floors for less than $100. This method also removes the thin layer of grout which has been left if grout was installed and not immediately cleaned afterwards.

Steps

  1. Get all the items listed under the things you'll need at the bottom of this article.
  2. Section your floor into smaller work areas. If you use small 5 x 5 ft sections it will make your work easier to keep clean. Use rolled up towels or drop cloths around the 5′ x 5′ perimeter to limit the amount of kickback spray from the spinning motion that the angle grinder generates. If you don't do this, the milky colored spray will get everywhere.
  3. Wet the section of the floor with water and cover the tiles with a nice layer of water (more is better as it provides lubrication for the pad).
  4. Add a small amount of buffing compound and mix thoroughly (just spread it around with your hand).
    • Be sure the water/compound mixture completely covers your work area.
    • Make sure the water/compound mixture is milky and pretty dissolved before buffing.
    • Be sure to wear gloves when doing this as the buffing compound is acidic and will dry up and irritate your skin.
  5. Use the angle grinder with the nylon pad to go over your tiles one by one. Let the angle grinder do the work and just hold the sucker steady. It will take a bit of getting used to at first, but you'll get the hang of it. Spend least 30 seconds on each tile to make sure the scrapes, scuffs, scratches are buffed down and smoothed as much as possible. Keep the grinder moving in small circles to polish the tiles evenly.
  6. After you have finished the sectioned area, pour clean water over the area and mix it around making it wet again. Use a shop vac and suck it all up. Then if necessary, rinse with clean water and suck that up too.
  7. Move onto the next section until every tile is done.
  8. Use a clean wet towel and wipe your floors so you can get as much of the leftover splash and residue from the buffing compound off the floors and fixtures. Then go over your tiles once again with a dry towel.
  9. Finally, after your tiles and grout lines are dry, use a stone/marble sealer to seal your tiles. Two coats are sufficient and your floors will look as good as new.

Tips

  • Make sure you seal the floors after.
  • Wear grubby clothes when you do this, and wash them separately from the rest of your clothes. The polishing compound smells really sour, and the spinning action of the grinder is will get it on your clothes.
  • Use Gloves
  • If you have deep gouges or scratches, this method will not eliminate them (they will shine and look much better, but the they will still be visible). You will have to grind down the marble with several diamond abrasive discs to smooth out the tile (which is very time consuming and may be worth paying a professional to do). But after you do so, you can use this method to regain the shiny finish.
  • This method of refinishing will give you back the shine and polish of marble tiles.

Warnings

  • The polish compound is an acidic compound. Wear gloves when handling. It is not terribly caustic, just an irritant to the skin, but failing to wear gloves will result in dry irritated hands.

Things You'll Need

  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of buffing compound for marble (available online or any professional flooring shop). I used the “M” variant for marble ($30).
  • A variable speed angle grinder which uses 5/8 attachments (or if you want to do this more quickly, rent a floor buffing machine).
  • A 4″ velcro loop attachment (which uses the 5/8 fitting) to use with the angle grinder ($10). It's a little disc attachment which has little hooks on it (like velcro) to grab onto velcro disc pad attachments.
  • A white polyester buffing pad. It will be a big circular disc. (Costs about $6). This should be available at most large home supply stores. Cut a piece of the white polyester buffing pad in a circle shape to fit the angle grinder velcro loop attachment. Stick it onto the attachment and make sure it stays put (the hooks will grab onto the polyester fibers).
  • A shop vac to suck up the leftover water and compound mixture.
  • Tile/Stone sealer for marble

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