Natural Stone

 

Marble is a beautiful and classic material that has been used in great works of art, architecture, and design, since the earliest days of human civilization. Unfortunately, it is one of the worst materials you can use in restaurant flooring.

A restaurant environment is hectic, it is high traffic, and it is sometimes a little messy. These are all factors that can destroy a marble flooring installation.

ACID STAINS

First of all, marble is made up of a chemical base. That is important because the matter that makes up the marble itself, will have a chemical reaction whenever it comes in contact with a material which is a chemical acid. This means that if any acidic substance touches the marble, your going to have a change in color that looks like a big nasty stain.

Some common acids you find in restaurants include pasta, salsa, barbecue sauce, really anything that contains tomatoes, all fruits and fruit juices, and most spicy sauces. Even most of the powerful cleaning agents you would use to clean up a spill or mess on the floor have acidic agents in them.

Of course it is always possible to add a sealant. A sealant is a chemical substance that is placed on installations to create a thin, invisible barrier. It is kind of like a watery glue, that you put on the floor. When teh water in the “glue” evaporates, all that is left is the dry and invisible barrier, sitting silently over the actual marble material. This thin barrier can keep acids, and any other stains off of the marble.

The problem is that over time, the sealer will tend to wear away, especially in high traffic areas. That means you will have to reapply it every few months. Whats worse, if you forget or go too long without reapplying it, you may start to aquire stains that are nearly impossible to remove.

SLIPS

One of the great draws of marble is that when it is polished, it has a smooth and glistening surface. In fact white marble is often used in art and sculpture because when polished, it becomes semi-translucent, and light can penetrate a little bit into its surface, making its eem to glow.

The problem with all of this beautiful polished marble in a restaurant floor, is that if it gets even the slightest bit wet, it is going to become a slip and slide. Condensation on a warm day, a slight spill from a waiter, and droplets from a wet coat on a rainy day are all potential lawsuits if the wrong person steps in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The alternative to polished marble is to purchase the material brushed. A brushed finish means that the stone has not been poliushed down to a glistening, flat, shean, but instead has been left in its original rough and unfinished state. However, some grinding is done to brushed material that takes away the majority of the dimensionality of the stone, leaving the surface textured but flat. A flat textuired surface is going to have traction, even when it gets a little damp. You should still strive to clean messes as quickly as you can.

The drawback to Brushed marble is that you don’t get the glistening appeal that is so heavily associated with marble. It is that elegant appeal that makes the material, whether brushed or polished, so expensive.

BREAKAGE

Everybody knows that stone is hard. But what most people don’t understand is that some stone can also be brittle. This is determined by the strength of the bond between the elements in the stone.

As far as stone goes, marble is pretty week. It is prone to chips, cracks, and breakage of every variety.

In its polished form, it is also prone to scratching. White marble will hide the scratches some what, but in darker colors it will be rather obvious.

CONCLUSION

The fact that marble is so hard to maintain, means that it is only used in applications where the customer has the resources to maintain the installation. This makes the demand for marble lower, which raises the price of quarrying, and importing the material, as well as processing it.

Mix that fact, with the classic history of marble, the fact that it is used in art, and has been favored in the palaces and monuments of kings, and it is easy to understand the dynamic of why marble is so expensive.

Considering the price, why would a restaurant owner want to go to the trouble of installing marble flooring? There are only two answers. Either the restauranteur is ignorant and or uninformed, or they want to make a specific and distinct impression and are willing to spend the resources to do that.

If you know what youa re doing, and you are willing to take the precautions, then you should use marble in your restaurant. However, everyone else should avoid it. There are a variety of alternatives such as polished slate, sandstone, and even granite, which will be much less of a headache and a hassel