BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair

Subject: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 06:05 PM

We have inherited round a 'lyre leg' (4 legs) marble topped table. NOT a claw foot, legs are on wheels. The round top is NOT attached to the legs at all.

The top has a place about 2-3" across with a serious 'gouge' in it. Is there any way to fill this in and 'fix' it? Sanding down the top is really not an option because the gouge is fairly deep.

If it would help I could take pics and put them up on my Flickr! site.

Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 06:39 PM

I have a table that is small, like a hall phone table, with a top that simply sits on it instead of being set into a frame or attached. Not something you want to put where it will be banged into; toppling over once is all it takes.

Stonemasons repair carving mistakes on tombstones and monuments all of the time. I think you should be able to find some kind of filler that would work on it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 06:42 PM

Can you simply turn the top over? It might be less costly to buff up the "bottom" than to repair the top. Deep gouges require deep repolishing and a filler will ALWAYS look like a filler on marble.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 06:44 PM

No, Rap....there is a bevelled edge on the polished top. Bottom is raw.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:01 PM

So ask a local kitchen installer to bevel the other edge and polish the surface.

Or--

You could consider the bad area a potential inlaid area, have a cutout done in an arty shape and have an insert (inlay) dropped in.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: GUEST,Bizibod
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:07 PM

Wax is what was used in days of yore to fill in scrapes and knocks on carvings and statues .
The word "sincere" means literally "without wax".

P'raps cunningly arrange a large vase or objet d'art to stand over the gouge ?

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:11 PM

OK, thanks, I'll inwestigate.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:11 PM

If you find a memorial stonemason, he will probably have offcuts of granite from his work, and will polish and cut it for you cheap. So you can get a new granite top (much prettier IMHO) for peanuts. I have a large granite section in my kitchen work surface, and it cost 60 quid!

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:16 PM

Almost any gouge can be repaired using a paste made from epoxy and a powdered form of the original material.

For a marble slab, if it's regular run-of-the-mill white marble (or if a 100% match isn't an issue) mix up a repair paste from pulverized marble and epoxy. Just get hold of a few marble chips (sold for landscaping or aquarium use) and beat hell out of 'em with a hammer. Then mix the epoxy according to directions and add the marble powder. Try a few different ratios of powder to epoxy until you find what seems best. I'd start with 70% powder/30% epoxy, but that's just a guess. Be sure to use a good grade of slow-drying non-yellowing epoxy.

If it's a colored marble, try to find rocks that are a close color match and use them instead of plain marble chips.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:35 PM

I think I'll get ahold of the gravestone carver first....

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 08:13 PM

OK, some pics HERE...click . Not exactly sure which page that will take you to, you might have to change pages?

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 09:53 PM

How deep is deep? Look shallow from the photo, so grinding down and polishing may be the answer. Your local marble and tile or tombstone shop should be able to do it. I had a verde antique marble slab from a former soda fountain repolished and it serves as the hearthstone of a fireplace. Usually they do this sort of thing after hours, the owner turns his back.

I used the stone powder-epoxy mixture once and it wasn't too bad- but I could still see it. It was that slightly gray with darker lines, much like yours- this was a very popular (and probably more abundant) kind at one time.
I replaced a broken top to a side table with new marble, too many fragments missing and mending impossible. Rather expensive, as beveling is so much per inch.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 03:00 AM

Many items are now made with re-constituted marble which is powdered and reformed... not sure how they do it but it is certainly practiced..... if you could source someone who does it then it could be realistically filled to match or maybe almost match. Failing that then I suggest getting it filled with resin in a colour match..
Best wishes, Mike,.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 05:45 AM

Suggest you google 'fake marble resin' and see what comes up. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 08:19 AM

Thanks, all! At least I have a starting place now.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: PaulF
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 10:53 AM

Save it for use as a tombstone, sure the gouge could be incorporated into someone's name.
Paul

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:02 AM

LOL...well, I just googled the table.....others similar are selling for $1,000 and up.....mine probably isn't in that good a shape tho!

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:08 AM

What an idea! :)

It's a beautiful table, Sorcha. I can see why you want to fix it. Keep in mind that sometimes the repair will diminish the value (think Antiques Road Show). I guess I'd probably live with the gouge, maybe try polishing it to decrease it's visibility.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:29 AM

1. The underside could easily be cleaned and polished. You could try a mild acid (e.g., vinegar, perhaps with baking soda) to remove the brown ring which is likely from furniture polish. If you want a high polish (and it doesn't have one hiding under the patina of ages) a decent gravestone maker could probably do it -- or try Bon Ami.

2. The gouge was probably caused when someone dropped something heavy on it. The beveling on the edge is also damaged and the edges of the damaged area are weakened and could eventually fall out. You'll need a good workman to repair it and he wouldn't guarantee the results.

This from an old (years ago) gravestone maker.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:37 AM

Yes, I decided this is NOT a DIY table. For all I know it's a REAL victorian table....and I don't want to totally destroy any value it has.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:41 AM

Doilies cover a multitude of sins, and this is prolly another reason they were invented. Antique dealers we know from our annual Antique Show would say leave it exactly as is, to preserve the value.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:46 AM

PS, another option is to leave it totally alone as an investment, but add a granite or glass round, un-glued on, on top of it, for making it pretty at home. You can put pix under the glass to distract the eye from marble blemishes.

At the homes of parishioners who used to deal and collect antiques, I've seen guess what-- LOVELY pieces that ALL, if you look close, have a multitude of blemishes. The art of antique display is to decorate around the blemish, knowing that the eye will go to color and form and ignore the blemish. This one only looks so bad because it's naked. Put some clothes on it-- decor of any sort.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: PaulF
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 12:05 PM

Think of it like an ugly woman wearing a very short skirt.
Who looks at her face?
Paul

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 12:05 PM

I asked my glass man once about cutting rounds.....he laughed and asked me how many I wanted to pay for before he managed not to break one?

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 01:14 PM

Wrong glass man. I know-- vendors in short supply in your area. Home Depot has carried them precut. Ask you glass man if he has better luck with acrylic or plexi.

A smallish framed, round mirror makes a nice base for a vase, and reflects the light and the vase so beautifully it should eclipse the blemish.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 02:58 PM

OK, I don't do 'tiddly' decorating. I don't WANT a 'glass top' on it. It is currently the Asyou....put it on the asyou and pick it up as you go by. I cleared it to take PICS!

Sheesh.

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 07:23 PM

Wax would probably be a benign treatment to diminish the gouged look. A circle of glass on the top of it wouldn't be bad, actually, but it would make it a bulkier table if you ever want to move it.

My ex took apart my small hall table and I've never gotten around to reassembling it. The marble is sitting in the middle of a kitchen counter with things sitting decoratively on it. He wiped out several of my antiques, though he meant well. The finish on a little old round oak kitchen table is gone on top but not on the rest of the piece. Took apart a rocker, took apart a lamp, took apart this table. This wasn't helpful and I asked him to stop taking things apart.

I haven't managed to reassemble any of them, though I think I still have all of the parts.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Help pls...round marble table top repair
From: jeffp
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 01:52 PM

Just make up a good story to explain the gouge.