Hello Gentelmen;
This will be long winded, but I hope the lifetime experts will take time and weigh in.
Fred, I believe you were contacted by Italian Tile Imports in Ocala.

So I get called by an installer about six weeks ago about a substantial 1700 sq ft
new installation that had water marks he could not remove. After hearing what I thought
It would take to address this, they elected to use a national franchise marble cleaning company.

They were not able to fix these issues , so I get called again.
After speaking in detail to the franchise owner about what they actually did, it turns
out to be a completely "coated" resinated stone.

So I was compensated to make a long drive and do an inspection.
This is a beautiful stone, lots of color movement. The installation was mediocre
With measurable lippage on nearly every 24" stone, and was also apparent in the stone reflections that there were both "crowned" and " bellies" effecting reflections in the stones themselves.
The stone is very hard, but extremely brittle ( epoxy mesh backed).
So the national cleaning company started removing the surface coating when they used polish compound ( I found large crystals in incorners , and appear to be like mb22).
On my inspection I could then remove in these areas with a razor.
My experience is that an epoxy coating is nearly impossible to remove with a razor.
So my guess is urathane or possibly acrylic.

According to installer It was spilled thinset and grout water that caused these marks,
And these guys were sloppy , because it's everywhere.
My thoughts are that the alkaline of the mortars reacted to the coating.

So I have done mock up samples, ground ,honed to 800 and polished.
Pure 5X left an orange peel in seconds
MB 12 totally crispy fried the stone
Mb 22 left a clear rock star polish

A few years ago, I restored a 12,000 sq ft home with similar stone, it's absolutely beautiful except kitchen that requires regular maintance because of its extremely sensitivity to anything acid.

I certainly know how to fix this situation, but my questions are:
Why would a manufacturer coat a stone capable of a pristine diamond polish?
Is it just to save polishing steps?

How will epoxy mesh coating on the stone backs effect efflorescence?
And what potential long term problems might this create?

Is it likely that this stone will also require continuous maintenance where exposed to
Acidity?

I am coming across many coated stones recently, some like the Chinese garbage sold
As Negro Maquina , that cannot be fixed to my standards. This is a black eye on the stone industry.

Any opinions or suggestions are greatly appreciated

P.S. I had big email issues trying to first post this
I was able to grind all coatings, remove all lippage, hone to 1800, polish, impregnate and burnish to a perfectly flat, "palace like" pristine polished floor

Best Always
Scott Wilson

Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad