Problem
This beautiful, multicolored marble panel fell and broke into six or seven pieces. The owner of the Victorian-era row house in a historical neighborhood in Philadelphia called Facility Specialists, but fully expected no stone restoration contractor would be able to repair such extensive damage. Since this marble panel was one of several decorative panels set into the bottom of the walls of the entry hall, finding a new piece of stone to match the others would have been a difficult or impossible task.
The homeowner was pleasantly surprised when we told him that we could not only put the panel back together again, but we could do it with such precision and expertise that nobody but him would ever know it had been damaged.
Solution
Our first step was to reassemble the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. Once we were sure where each piece belonged, we used a strong epoxy to bind one piece to another until the panel was one solid piece again.
Cracks, crevices, chips, and voids were evident on the stone’s surface. To remedy this problem, we mixed several batches of polyester epoxy and color tinted each batch to match various colors in the marble. We added hardener to the first batch and applied it as a base layer; we added hardener to the second batch and applied it over the base layer in certain areas; then we added hardener to the third batch and applied it in other areas, and so on, layering and touching up to recreate the geologically formed veining in the marble.
The final stage of restoration was to hone the bumpy surface flat, revealing the layers of color tinted filler, and polish it to a beautiful, glossy finish. As you can see, the marble panel now looks undamaged and elegant again. We reinstalled the marble with extra care to ensure it would stay in place for decades to come.
For more information on marble repair and other marble restoration services, visit our Marble Page.