Marble has been considered a premier building and interior design material for centuries. Used extensively for building and furnishing both interior and exterior spaces in the ancient Greek, Roman and other civilizations, this beautiful stone has prevailed to fortify and adorn commercial buildings and homes throughout the modern world.
Marble is often associated with a sense of luxury. Adding marble stone flooring to your space or going for a marble stone bathroom in your home is a sure way to add some flair and extravagance.
Is marble a natural stone? Yes, it is!
Because marble both absorbs and reflects light, its intriguing patterns and often subtle color combinations and contrasts can lend a soft yet radiant glow to the decor of an entire room. Especially when you install marble slab flooring or marble tile walling in a room, these surfaces can bring amazing highlights of coloration and beauty to any interior fashion and setting.
Pros and Cons of Marble as a Building and Renovating Material
There are definite pros and cons associated with the use of marble as a material for building or renovating your home or commercial stone masonry work, including the following:
Pros
• Marble Can Be Highly Polished. – Marble is easier to polish highly than stones like granite and porphyry, making it popular with home and building owners as well as contractors since less time is required for finishing and sealing marble flooring, walls or benchtops. Because marble has large calcite crystals, light can penetrate its surface without being totally absorbed. This gives marble the intriguing quality of limitless depth and a beautiful sparkling ambiance that cannot be matched by other building stones.
• Marble is Strong and Durable. – ‘How long does marble stone last’, you may be wondering? Marble is typically a strong, resilient stone that is rarely affected to any high degree by water saturation. Since most contractors will recommend applying a sealant to marble surfaces when installed, especially in kitchens, bathrooms and utility areas, most liquids spilled on marble surfaces should not cause serious staining. If any foods, beverages or cleaning agents do cause marble surface staining, these surfaces can be refinished to return them to their original beauty and luster.
Cons
• Marble Appearance May Be Altered During Installation. – When thin marble slabs or tiles are installed, if dark cements are used to secure them, the marble’s surface appearance can be changed because the cement colouring can actually be seen to some degree through the marble. Also, in some instances, the alkali and other salts in the cement may penetrate the stone, actually changing the coloration of some areas of the marble.
• Marble Surfaces Can Be Stained, Chipped or Cracked. – Due to the many portable kitchen appliances, metal cooking vessels and sharp knives or heavy utensils used to prepare foods in kitchens today, beautiful marble benchtops, walls and floors can be damaged when heavy or sharp objects are dropped or banged against their surfaces. When these marble surfaces become deeply stained, chipped or cracked, they will need to be refinished or refurbished by crystallisation, a process that rubs or burnishes the marble with a fluoride-based compound.
This process forms calcium fluoride on the marble surface as a sealant, making the stone less porous and harder so that it will be more resistant to surface staining, scarring and scratching. However, both crystallisation and refinishing of marble surfaces can be rather costly. Although refinishing usually protects the marble for several years, crystallisation may need to be repeated every three or four months to maintain heavily used marble surfaces.
How much is marble stone worth? This will depend on a range of factors and prices can vary. Contact us today to arrange an obligation free quote.
When you consult the marble experts at Melbourne Stone Mason (MSM) Group in Dandenong, Victoria and serving Melbourne and surrounding areas, you will receive excellent information, advice, and marble installation services for your home or office setting.
Our well-experienced professionals will help you select the ideal beautiful and durable marble to enhance your new home or commercial building or to complete renovations of your kitchen, bathroom, utility area or other room to meet your exact specifications, preferences and needs. Contact our marble experts today for further information.
