What is marble?
When on hearing the word marble, it is the graceful, picturesque astounding icon of love, Taj Mahal that comes to our minds. The white milky marble that sparkles in the reflection in the Yamuna on a moonlit night is justly one of the most venerable vistas in the world. Ancient people made their optimum buildings with either granite or marble. For instance the Egyptians worked chiefly with granite and Greeks with marble. Romans also used marble with great skill. The most famous quarries for marble are Carrara, Italy, which have been used since the time of Emperor Augustus. The finest quarries were discovered later and were made famed by great sculptors, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
But geographically, what is marble? How is it formed?
Marble is limestone, which has been metamorphosed through the action of heat, pressure and time deep beneath the earth's surface. The result is a hard composition of crystals running the color gamut from nearly pure white to black. Colored marbles are the result of minerals or small amounts of staining matter. Ranges in many colors and is usually heavily veined and shows lots of grains. Natural quarried marble has highly appealing inherent variations in color and physical properties. The main consistency is calcium and dolomite. Hardness rates from 2.5 to 5 on the MOH Scale.
Marble is classified into three categories:
1. Dolomite: If it has more than 40% magnesium carbonate.
2. Magnesium: If it has between 5% and 40% magnesium carbonate.
3. Calcite: If it has less than 5% magnesium carbonate.
Marble comes polished to a mirror like finish, which captures the beauty and brilliance of the natural stone. A practical finish to use on marbles which are subjected to heavy traffic wear is the Honed finish.
Marble for construction:
For thousands of years Marble has been used, as a decorative material for Walls and Floors and its natural beauty remains unsurpassed. Marble provides a durable finish of recognizable quality, which is considered essential for many prestige buildings today. It is used extensively for public buildings and in offices, banks, hotels, entrance halls, shopping centers as well as individual shops. In quality housing Marble is used for floors, staircases, bathrooms, kitchens and fireplaces. More and More ordinary homes owners are enhancing their living environment by employing these beautiful materials. Applications Marble can be used for internal wall linings and external cladding, all mechanically fixed to the structure, as well as for paving, stair treads and risers. Marble tiles 10 mm. thick, provide a cost effective alternative to slab for walls and floors in bathroom and toilet areas. All Marbles are suitable for internal use. For external use, Limestone marbles and Travertines are suitable but advice should be taken on the selection of appropriate materials. Polished finishes are not recommended for external applications. Dimensions The maximum size of individual stones will depend on the type of marble and the incidence of fissures, vents and veining characteristics of the particular material. Practical size limits must be checked and agreed with specialist suppliers, but slab sizes of up to 750mm. X 1200mm. for cladding and up to 0.6M2. For paving can be produced. Normal thickness for internal linings is 20mm. up to 7 meters if continuously supported. Externally 20 mm. can be used to 1st. floor height with 40mm. at higher levels. Polished tiles usually with a chamfered edge are readily available. Common sizes are 305 X 305 X 10mm. for floors and walls. Some materials are available in 300 X 150 X 7 or 10 mm. for walls.
MAINTENANCE OF MARBLE
Some informative clarifications for fitting of marble on floor: -
- Flooring should be laid after walls/ceiling are plastered.
- Prefer to start flooring from top storey in multistoried structure.
- . Use larger size of marble slabs to avoid number of joints.
- A cushion of lime concrete/cement concrete 2½" thick should be given below flooring for two purposes: -
- Base mortar should be well compact below stone to avoid hollow sound.
- Use good quality white cement paste/slurry beneath marble stone and in joints while laying.
- Floor should be properly cured and polished as per requirement thereafter.
- Fill the cracks with adhesive be fitting.
- Layout should be planned and checked before fitting.
i)To reduce transmission of sound from one floor to another.
ii)For thermal insulation for the lower storey.
taking care of marble:
Marble is the most sought after building material in the present day. Be it building a home of one's dreams or a business firm, the first and final word in flooring and construction is marble. But most users don't know the inexpensive and easy methods of sustaining the durability and beauty of marbles for years.
Maintenance
- Floor should be cleaned daily with dry/damp mop and weekly/fortnightly with mild soap solution, cleaner.
- Don't use harsh cleaning agent or any cleaner, which from acid after adding water.
- Since marble stone also breath, we should not use any sealer treatment over.
- Stains should be cleaned/washed away immediately.
- Marble scrubbing should be within a month by scrubbing and used the hand liquid soap after the scrubbing.
- Buffing in a year on Granite polish.
There are some other inflictions, which affect marbles:
STUN MARKS:
Pinpoint pressures inflicted on marble due to high heels of women or blunt pointed instruments cause tiny explosions inside the crystal of the stone. They appear as white stun marks on the surface of the marble. They are difficult to remove. Grinding/honing can reduce the number of stuns but some travel through the entire thickness of the stone.
WARPING:
It is believed that the water fills the pores of the stones and when the water evaporates the orientation of the stone's crystal changes and causes warping. Grinding green marble flat to cure it of warping usually fails, since additional water is introduced during the grinding process. So the green marble warps again. Which means, the only way to prevent warping is to install it properly with a non water-based material such as epoxy. You could even seal the back of the tile with epoxy and install it in a water-based system.
Do not attempt to seal the back of the tile with a silicone sealer. The silicone acts as a water-repellant and will cause the setting material to fail, resulting in bond loss.
SCRATCHES:
A process called 'honing' removes scratches on the surface of marble. Like grinding, it too requires the use of abrasives but it is not as aggressive. Both these processes give fair amount of smoothness to the marble. And, to maintain the shine on the surface of marble, a process called recrystallization or vitrification or even incorrectly referred to as 'marble polishing' is used.
