Based in Maple Ridge · serving Vancouver & the Lower Mainland
Mon to Sat, 8 to 6
Based in Maple Ridge · serving Vancouver & the Lower Mainland
Mon to Sat, 8 to 6
Showers and vanities
A marble shower takes more chemistry in a week than a kitchen counter sees in a month. Shampoo, soap, cleaning products and standing water, every day, on a stone that reacts to most of it.
Free estimate, on site, with no obligation.
Almost always etching, and almost never what people assume.
Marble is calcium carbonate, so anything acidic that sits on it takes the finish off in that spot. In a shower that means product residue rather than a single dramatic spill: shampoo and soap running down the same part of the wall every day, or a cleaner that was never meant for stone.
And it is worth ruling out the thing people usually blame. Vancouver’s municipal water is naturally soft, so heavy mineral scale is far less common here than in hard-water cities. If your shower has gone dull, the odds are it is the products rather than the water. That is good news, because etching is exactly what restoration corrects.
The tell is the same as anywhere else: the dull area reads flat against panels that still have their shine, and on darker marble it looks grey. It will not wipe away, because there is nothing sitting on the surface to remove.
How to tell an etch from a stain is on our etch removal page, and it is worth two minutes if you are unsure, because they need opposite treatments.
Look at the walls under bright light rather than the usual bathroom bulb.
If a light film lifts with a pH neutral stone cleaner, that was residue. If the dullness is still there once the panel is properly clean, the finish has gone and it needs a polish.
Need help with marble shower and vanity restoration?
A shower is a small space with fixtures in it, which changes how the work is done more than what the work is.
On sealing a shower, one thing worth being clear about. Some people are told to seal marble with a topical coating that sits on top. That is wrong for marble, and in a shower it is worse than wrong: it traps moisture underneath with nowhere to go, and you end up with cloudier panels than you started with. A penetrating sealer soaks in instead, so the stone can still breathe. And it will help the stone resist staining, but it does nothing to prevent etching, on any stone.
On timing: a small stall can usually be done in a day. A large shower with severe etching, usually from the wrong cleaner, can take a couple of days, because shower work is more labour than a counter. Holding a hand machine on a wall and keeping it wet can be a struggle. The real number is in your quote.
Thinking about your shower or vanity?
778-862-4998
We work through Vancouver and the Lower Mainland: downtown and the West End, Yaletown, Coal Harbour and False Creek, Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale, Point Grey, Kitsilano and Dunbar, West Vancouver and the British Properties, North Vancouver, Burnaby, the Tri-Cities, Richmond, Surrey and White Rock.
For strata buildings and hotels, guest and common-area bathrooms take the same damage faster, and often from cleaning crews reaching for whatever is on the cart. The work happens on the stone in place, so a unit or a common bathroom is not out of use for days.
What moves the price: the size of the area, how bad the etching is, the stone and the finish. Our pricing page has the detail, including the minimum service call.
Before
After
Marble vanity. Dull and marked around the basin, polished the same morning.
Before
After
Marble vanity with black taps. Etched along its length; honed and polished the same afternoon. The reflection of the lights is the tell.
Almost always etching. Marble reacts to anything acidic, and in a shower that is usually product residue building up in the same places every day rather than one spill. The dull area reads flat against panels that still have their shine, and it will not wipe away because nothing is sitting on the surface. It needs the finish taking back down and rebuilt, which is what restoration does.
Probably not. Vancouver’s municipal water is naturally soft, so the heavy mineral scale that causes problems in hard-water cities is much less common here. What we usually find is acidic products doing the damage: shampoo and soap residue, or a cleaner that was never intended for natural stone. That is better news than it sounds, because etching is exactly the kind of damage restoration corrects.
Yes, and that is the whole point. The work happens on the stone that is already installed. The panels are wet-honed to take the surface past the damage, then the finish is rebuilt across the enclosure. Nothing is removed, nothing is replaced, and there is no re-tiling. What decides whether it is worth doing is the state of the stone, not its age.
No. Sealing helps the stone resist staining, which is a different problem. Etching is acid reacting with the calcium in the stone itself and no sealer prevents it. What does help is keeping acidic products off the marble, rinsing the walls down after use, and using a pH neutral cleaner made for natural stone rather than a general bathroom spray.
No, and this one matters. A topical sealer sits on top of the stone rather than soaking in, and in a shower it traps moisture underneath with nowhere to escape. The result is cloudier panels than you began with, plus a coating that eventually peels. A penetrating sealer absorbs into the stone and leaves it able to breathe, which is what marble needs anywhere, and a wet room especially.
Rinse the walls down after use so product does not sit on the stone, and use a pH neutral cleaner made for natural stone rather than anything acidic or abrasive. Squeegeeing the panels helps more than people expect. The thing to avoid is the cleaner that promises to cut soap scum, because most of them do it with acid, and that is what caused the dullness in the first place.
Send a photo or call. We will look at it on site and tell you honestly whether it is worth doing.
Free estimate. No obligation.
