Repairing Tuckahoe Marble — the Right Way
The tendency of Tuckahoe marble to “sugar”
Tuckahoe marble was first quarried in Tuckahoe, New York—just north of Manhattan. Due to this proximity, you’ll see lots of Tuckahoe marble in Manhattan. The greatest challenge of Tuckahoe marble is its tendency to delaminate into a powder — also known as sugaring.
I’m regularly asked if this type of stone can be restored successfully. My response starts with a question: was a consolidant used on past repairs? Consolidants trap moisture and cause rapid deterioration of the substrate from the inside. It is difficult to impossible to repair extreme consoldidant damage — especially with Tuckahoe marble. If a consolidant was never used, Tuckahoe marble can be repaired.
ROCK Architecture & Engineering called on us to assess 100 Grand Street in Lower Manhattan due to the delamination of its Tuckahoe marble facade. I recommended our Jahn M120 Repair Mortar, which is specially engineered for compatibility with marble. And, most importantly, Jahn Mortars do not trap moisture or salt.
Damaged sections of the marble were removed
The first step of the restoration was to remove the damaged sections of marble, which in some places was up to two and a half inches deep. Fortunately, the depth was not a concern because Jahn Repair Mortars can be installed in deep, single lift patches.
Although Jahn M120 Repair Mortar is available in standard, premium, and custom colors, I recommended a basic white for this project. There were natural color variations in the original Tuckahoe marble that would be better replicated with a stain. I worked with Tribute Restoration, the contractor who would be applying the stain, to select the necessary Potassium Silicate Coating colors for the job.
We performed various color mock-ups for the stains directly on the building, which lead us to the proper color to clear silicate ratios.
As you can see from the photos here, Tribute Restoration showed superior workmanship. We look forward to partnering with them and the team at ROCK Architecture & Engineering in the future.
Jahn M120 Repair Mortar was used for the repair
If you have questions about restoring any type of stone and selecting products designed to preserve and protect for generations, please get in touch with me at tech@cathedralstone.com.
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