How restorers beat salt on marble: a penthouse on Palm Jumeirah
The marble floor of a two-storey penthouse on Palm Jumeirah was releasing salt, and after every grinding the white marks came back in about two months. Restorers spent around three months finding a treatment in three steps — cleaning, a neutralising impregnation and a protective coating — that kept the existing stone in place.
How did the problem show itself?
White marks on natural marble are among the most unpleasant problems of a premium interior. The stone is whole, there are no cracks, and yet the surface looks dirty however often it is washed.
That is what the owner of a two-storey penthouse on Palm Jumeirah ran into. Natural marble lies on the floor there, and at some point whitish streaks and patches began to show on the surface.
These were salt deposits coming out of the stone. Close up the film can be missed. Step back and look towards the window, against the light, and the whole area turns out to be covered in patches.
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For a flat of that level it is a visible blow to the appearance. The floor stops looking cared for, and ordinary cleaning changes nothing: the film appears again.
What are the signs of salt coming out of marble?
Whitish streaks are the main sign, and they are seen best against the light.
Patches across the area are the second: the film is distributed unevenly over the floor.
The stone itself stays intact. There is no mechanical damage of any kind.
And the problem repeats. After cleaning, it comes back.
Why does grinding not solve it?
Because grinding works on the visible surface only. It takes off the top layer together with the film, while the process that drives the salt outward goes nowhere.
The standard reaction to marks on marble is to call a crew that will grind and polish the surface. The craftsmen take out the marks, the floor shines again, the job is accepted.
That is what was done in this penthouse too, and the result was the same every time: roughly two months later the salt showed through again.
After a while the deposits reappear and everything repeats. The cause stays where it was.
Is regular grinding harmful to the stone?
Yes, and this is the second problem with that routine. Every cycle of grinding takes away part of the stone.
Once, it is unnoticeable. Repeated regularly, the marble gradually becomes thinner, and the owner pays for the same work again and again.
The balance is poor on every count: a temporary effect of about two months in this case, a loss of material with each cycle, repeat costs for the crew, and salt that keeps coming to the surface.
What task did the restorers set themselves?
A different one: not to bring up the shine one more time, but to keep what was already laid and to stop the process itself.
Replacing the floor in a finished penthouse means dismantling, matching new stone to the existing pattern, dust and a serious budget.
Endless grinding means the gradual loss of the covering. A third way was needed.
No ready-made solution for the situation was found. Natural stone behaves differently depending on the type of rock, the base beneath it and the conditions, so the treatment had to be chosen for this particular marble.
How long did it take to find the recipe?
About three months. The team tried different materials, compared the results and consulted colleagues in Canada and England who had experience of similar cases.
Stone restoration is a narrow specialism. An exchange of experience between craftsmen in different countries means nobody has to walk the whole path of trial and error alone.
The outcome was a working recipe. It is not a single product but a sequence of stages, each of which solves its own part of the task.
Which stages does the treatment consist of?
Three, and the order is a matter of principle: a stage cannot be skipped or moved.
Cleaning comes first. The salt deposits that produce the streaks are removed from the surface. Without this step the protective layer would simply seal the marks in.
Impregnation is second. The stone is treated with a compound that neutralises the salt. This is the stage that sets the solution apart from grinding: the work goes beyond what the eye can see.
The protective coating is last. The finishing layer closes the marble off from the air and shields the surface from outside influence.
In the end the stone stayed where it was, with no dismantling and no further layer taken off.
What it means for property owners in Dubai
Natural stone is a familiar material in the premium flats and villas of Dubai: marble floors, bathrooms, staircases, worktops.
When a problem appears, the wish is to restore the look quickly, and the quick way almost always means grinding. If the marks return, though, that is a signal that the work is being done on the effect and not on the cause.
Before ordering yet another polish it is worth finding out what exactly is happening to the stone, and considering a treatment chosen for the specific material.
That takes longer at the start. Over the long run it preserves both the covering and the budget.
The takeaway
Salt on marble does not mean the floor has to be replaced or ground without end. Temporary measures return the shine for a couple of months and gradually eat away the stone.
An approach in which the treatment is chosen for the particular material — cleaning, impregnation, protection — allows the existing marble to be kept.
In the penthouse on Palm Jumeirah that took three months of searching, and the result was a preserved floor instead of one more round of polishing.
Frequently asked
Why do white streaks appear on marble?
In this case the stone was releasing salt: the deposits came out onto the surface and formed a film that was especially visible against the light.
Will grinding and polishing help?
They bring the look back, but not for long. In the penthouse described, the salt showed through again after roughly two months.
Is regular grinding dangerous for the stone?
Every cycle removes a layer of material, so with frequent repetition the marble gradually becomes thinner.
Does the floor have to be replaced if the salt keeps returning?
Not necessarily. The task can be solved by a treatment in three stages: cleaning, a neutralising impregnation and a protective coating.
How long does it take to find a solution?
It depends on the stone. Here the search for a recipe took about three months, with advice from colleagues in Canada and England.
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