Frequently Asked Questions
Will I be able to see the repair when it is complete?
You may remember where the chip-or-crack was but you will have a difficult time finding it, and it will certainly not draw your eye to it as the chip or crack did originally. Your MARBLELIFE craftsman has the ability to not just repair your stone surface but to blend the color to either match the stone background or a vein so that it blends the repair beautifully.
In fact, our craftsman are so good that we can also blend terrazzo repairs. In this case, we have to match the base color of the epoxy or concrete floor, match the size and colors of the different chips, and then match the percentage mix of the chips in order to blend your repair. This is not an art but a science.
Why shouldn’t I just replace the tile or counter?
TILE – Unlike manmade tile where we have a quality assurance process to maintain a uniform color batch to batch, mother nature has no quality program. Even if you could purchase a tile that came from the same quarry, the variation in color in just a few feet deeper into the quarry wall will vary sufficiently for the eye to see it. It may have the same pattern and general color, but once put into your floor you will be able to see the NEW different tile. Far better to repair the existing tile and blend the repair so that you cannot find the repair than to replace it.
Then there is also the cost and dust associated with replacing the tile (from most tile installer or removers). MARBLELIFE can actually do this without create dust, but using water to contain and control the dust created in the process so as to create a non-airborne mud, instead of dust. But here again, no need to replace when we can repair.
COUNTER – Unlike a tile where we can replace 1 tile out of 1000’s. With a counter this replacement of the entire counter is extremely costly versus the time and effort to repair and blend the repair.
At what point should I just replace the marble tile?
If you have a couple of extra tiles, you should save those for when your MARBLELIFE tradesman says he has no option but to replace. This is a very rare event. It is more likely that these tile may be used when one remodels and moves the counter and needs to extend the floor. In this case, the extra tiles match and it can be done, but as soon as you run out you are replacing the floor, or living with that one tile that is close but not quite a match.
You would need to pulverize a marble tile before MARBLELIFE would be unable to repair it.
Why does MARBLELIFE recommend REPAIRING over REPLACING a damaged surface?
Repairing is cheaper, easier to deliver a color matched continuous surface, faster, creates virtually no dust, and can be returned to service immediately upon completion. The entire process generally takes less than 1 hour.
Replacement is more expensive, may result in a mismatch is color if one does not have extra marble tiles on hand, can create dust on removal (unless done by MARBLELIFE who uses water to contain the dust), will mean taking that area of floor out of service until the mortar and grout has reset, grout lines will have a different color until the grout gets as dirty as the other grout (unless you have the floor MARBLELIFE Colorsealed). Repairs are much better than replacements.
Will this be a dusty process?
No. Your MARBLELIFE craftsman will start by cleaning out the dust and dirt in the chip or repair area. They may open the repair or remove damaged issues just as a dentist will remove damaged neighboring material. Then the a repair material is mixed and colored to match the stone or vein and packed into the repair. Once cured, the surface can be honed and polished. Unlike replacing a tile which requires removal of grout and mortar beneath the tile which WILL create dust, a repair process can be done without touching either the grout or the mortar in most cases.
In the event your repair includes a broken tile that is no longer adhered to the floor and the mortar on which it rested, then in this case the mortar is removed and fresh mortar is installed into which the tile pieces are re-assembled. Once set, we process the repairs of the cracked areas. In this case, MARBLELIFE will remove the mortar and grout in the presence of water to catch the dust and create a much which can be vacuumed or wiped out without sending dust airborne. In this manner even if the dust creating process is needed, MARBLELIFE has developed processes to avoid the creation of a dust cloud.