Painted Marble Fireplace

[monmaison2009]

Hi

I am restoring my property and the main room has a fireplace that I thought was wood however after scrapping some paint from one of the hidden corners I have found out that it is marble. Unfortunately it is covered with 0.5 ml thick layer of paint. Could give me some good advice on how to remove the paint without damaging the marble?

Many thanks

 

[Feltwell]

Lots of regulars on here (including me) use this firm for paint stripping supplies:-

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/

The only thing I wouldn't use their products for is stripping paint from softwood. Give them a call if you're in doubt at all about your marble.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I also used Nitromors for stripping paint from slate with no apparent deleterious effect.

As with everything try it first on an inconspicuous section.

 

[AMc]

In a previous house the marble fireplace had been painted. The builder we bought from had removed the paint with something chemical. Mostly it worked but there were some ugly brown stains in the stone that may have been the result of what was used or may have been the reason it was painted. Certainly he hadn't been 100% effective at removing the paint.
I would try a phone call to a local monumental mason/kitchen worktop company for advice on what will damage marble and test anything you try in the least conspicuous place you can.

 

[Penners]

there were some ugly brown stains in the stone that may have been the result of what was used

This is pure speculation, unsupported by any empirical evidence, but I wonder whether the stains could have been caused by using a liquid paint stripper, which soaked into the stone, rather than a thick paste stripper.

If this were the case, it would seem to argue in favour of Klingstrip, rather than liquid Nitromors.

 

[monmaison2009]

Hi

I have ordered a couple of tubs of Klingstrip and will give it a go at some point next week. I will post results and recommendations.
And some pictures

Thanks

 

[monmaison2009]

Kling-Strip in action:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

How exciting..... looking forward to the next pic!

Just remember the next stage will involve a lot of water, so you'll need to prepare/protect appropriately.

 

[Penners]

Can't wait to see the results!

 

[yamin]

Thats exciting - looking forward to seeing the fireplace 'after' pics! Its a lovely shape. Nice floor too.

 

[monmaison2009]

Hello everyone

Ok, the results are more than interesting, to be honest I have never seen a fireplace like this before. See for yourselves:

 

[yamin]

Wow! Is that marble? Or is it slate? Hasn't it cleaned up amazingly. Its really dramatic. The dark colour goes really well with that imposing shape. I like it! Are you pleased?

 

[Feltwell]

Looks like slate to me. It's lovely - well done! What's behind the panel in the middle - I presume you've taken that vent off for a peek? Has the insert survived, or been ripped out?

If you want to see other examples, put "slate fireplace" into Ebay - there are usually some on there (of dubious origins in some cases I suspect).

 

[monmaison2009]

hi

I will take a pick later on today removing the vent
I do not know if any of you have come across those incrustations in what I think it is slate, I have been looking for similar things on the internet but I have not been able to find anything. If you can see in the picture (might not be too clear) there are two colors to the mantel, the piece on top and the big piece on the front going across are a different color, kind of black purple ish and those parts are the ones that have the incrustations (you can see in one of the pictures above), the other parts like the columns are just normal slate.
I called a dealer yesterday to find out if he had come across those sort of incrustation but he also has not ......
Any ideas welcome

thanks

 

[Lime]

It's slate.
The marks are fossils.
The different colour slate is exactly that, a different colour.
(Probably either a different composition or, more likely, different compression and heat from within the Earth.)
Usually the fireplace would have had a painted marbling effect on it originally.
You may be able to see it on the inside of stripped-off paint if you look carefully.
Otherwise very careful scrapping of the paint left behind unstripped may tell you what colour it was painted originally.

 

[chuckey]

Looks the same as my one, same mouldings etc. My mantlepiece was too deep 12"? from memory so I took it off and cut 2" from the back of it, looks much better. Ironically I still have the 2" X 50" offcut rattling around in the garden, still in one piece after 20 years !!
Frank

 

[monmaison2009]

Hi

I did remove the paint very carefully however it is just white paint ... it is possible the previous owners might have removed the original paint though
Do you have any other examples of slate with fossils ? I have not seen any anywhere :shock:

Thanks

 

[Schoolmarm]

My mantlepiece was too deep 12"? from memory so I took it off and cut 2" from the back of it, looks much better.
Frank

:?


:lol: :lol:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Looks the same as my one, same mouldings etc. My mantlepiece was too deep 12"? from memory so I took it off and cut 2" from the back of it, looks much better. Ironically I still have the 2" X 50" offcut rattling around in the garden, still in one piece after 20 years !!
Frank

:shock: What a shame. :roll:

Do you have any other examples of slate with fossils ? I have not seen any anywhere

I have a Welsh slate cill with exactly the same kind of pale "bloom" fossils in it. I figured that as they'd been there for a few million years, they could reasonably be considered a feature of the slate and enjoyed. 8)

 

[JoceAndChris]

monmaison - that's a beautiful fire surround, and you've done a fab job of cleaning it up. Well done. Is it Georgian?

I haven't seen fossilised slate either (what a nice feature), but have 2 matching Derbyshire (apparently) fossil marble fireplaces here in the dining room and front parlour. I think the Georgians liked the stuff, seen a few of them about now. Mine were never painted.


Dining room fireplace: