Risks of Installing Marble add elegance to your fireplace, but you would also need to maintain it. If the situation demands you to renovate (when the marble chips, cracks or gets discolored) or redo the fireplace, you should take the right measures at the right time to save a lot of trouble later on.
Maintenance Tips
• Use a soft cloth and some warm water. You could use a mild detergent to add to the water, but avoid strong detergents or other abrasive products.
• Steer clear of any cleaning agent that has citrus in it. Also, avoid vinegar or bleach because the marble can get damaged by such products.
• If you have to remove the stains, you may have to use whiting, which is powdered, and hydrogen peroxide. You can even use a substitute that will remove the stains.
• You would need a clean cloth, or a microfiber piece. You could use the powder, according to the instructions given by the manufacturer and make it like a paste and apply it to the stained part.
• Cover with a plastic wrapper and wait for a couple of days. Later, wipe the paste away, and rinse with normal water. You may have to repeat this procedure till the stains go away.
• Don’t allow any citrus or alcohol-based products to come in contact with the marble.
• If you have a really old marble fireplace, you may have to bring in experts to maintain it. Modern-day marble fireplaces have a protective layer on top of them.
• If you have to use a brush, you could make use of one that has soft bristles. Sandpaper is also an option.
• Also, when you clean a fireplace, whether marble or any other, try to cover the floor and the adjacent area with some old sheets so the ash and dust don’t spread all over the house.
Renovating marble fireplaces
If you have used tiles in your fireplace, and those tiles are good, all you have to do is lay new marble tiles over the old ones. If the marble tiles are chipped or in a poor shape, then you may have to get the old tiles removed before the new ones are laid.
Another option is to paint on top of the marble surround. Before that, you would need to clean the marble layer. Apply a primer to start with, and then use a layer of top coat. Once the basic priming has been done, you can start with the painting process.