How to make new marble look old

[jonnyc]

I have been asked to quote for laying a new Carrara marble floor. Tiles will be cut from slab in to diamond shapes which will interlock with border.
no problem there but client wants the marble to be stained to make it look like it has been down for hundreds of years.
i have heard of companies using tea to stain the marble to get this effect but have never tried myself.
has anyone any experience of this or know someone who could stain the marble after I have laid floor. I would rather just fix.expensive floor

 

[Pebbs]

Jonny there is a diff between making a marble floor look old and one that looks stained. Do them a sample, and with any luck they might change their mind!

Lynn

 

[Qwerty]

I have heard of some people using a mixture of water, lemon juice, soil, and manure to age external stone, washing it off after a few hours. Not sure I would want to do it though!

 

[jonnyc]

Jonny there is a diff between making a marble floor look old and one that looks stained. Do them a sample, and with any luck they might change their mind!

Lynn

Exactly Lynn.
i could do a sample of a tile that they might approve but the ageing would really need to be done when floor has been laid, and then it could just look stained and be very costly mistake.
i saw a french specialist do an amazing staining/antiquing job on some new Paris ceramics stone i laid some years back for one of our most well known russian residents and the result was amazing, but I never took his details.
it can be done but would rather find someone who knows how todo this rather than me having a go to help out!

 

[John Benton]

Exactly Lynn.
i could do a sample of a tile that they might approve but the ageing would really need to be done when floor has been laid, and then it could just look stained and be very costly mistake.
i saw a french specialist do an amazing staining/antiquing job on some new Paris ceramics stone i laid some years back for one of our most well known russian residents and the result was amazing, but I never took his details.
it can be done but would rather find someone who knows how todo this rather than me having a go to help out!

Mr T? Seriously though Jonny, I have aged stone garden ornaments for myself outside with mud and yoghurt but this is a different ball game. With your waste you should be able to try and age some samples for the client but as you say it may require a specialist, ageing a 4" square of marble consistently should be easy - doing it over 40m not so.

 

[jonnyc]

Mr T? Seriously though Jonny, I have aged stone garden ornaments for myself outside with mud and yoghurt but this is a different ball game. With your waste you should be able to try and age some samples for the client but as you say it may require a specialist, ageing a 4" square of marble consistently should be easy - doing it over 40m not so.

john you and me see same problem.

 

[John Benton]

john you and me see same problem.

You know the answer Jonny!!!