HOW TO - remove a shiny resin finish from a marble table. Help please.

Thought maybe someone here could offer some advice. Friends have a 30 year old marble dining room table that has a shiny clear coat finish.
Can't determine if it is an epoxy or polyester resin but something like that. After all this time it has started to wear away and in a few places has blistered and chipped off - pencil eraser size holes in the finish.

They have asked me if I had any idea as to how to remove and recoat. I didn't have much to offer.

• Start peeling it off • sand it off • use heat and peel - Everything I suggest is speculative and requires a leap into the unknown. I'm guessing that once the finish is removed a sanding and polishing (without waxes or oils) of the top will be required before the next coat of "resin" is poured over it. Does anyone here have some experience with such a project?

The taking off the old is more the question than how to recoat.

Thanks for any suggestions.

It will need physical removal by grinding, sanding etc. Any chemical means of stripping is likely to stain or etch the marble which after all is basically just a form of calcium carbonate. Final polishing is with the correct grade of polishing stone and water. You will have to research what is available to you.

The good news is that current technology sealers are thin and penetrating so the refinishing won't be too arduous. Try to avoid a monolithic coating. Cheers

Thank you Wayne. Would heat from a heat gun or propane torch be helpful or create other problems?
I would expect that I would need to keep the heat moving and not be scorching as I go.

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Originally Posted by Sam Murdoch

Thank you Wayne. Would heat from a heat gun or propane torch be helpful or create other problems?
I would expect that I would need to keep the heat moving and not be scorching as I go.

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Don't use a heat gun - you run the risk of cracking the marble. It is very soft and porous so a stripper is even worse (trust me I know!)

Wayne nailed it. Scrape with a razor to get the big stuff off, sand and then polish - its easier than you think. Use a commercial marble sealer to finish it off

No heat gun! Bill is 100% right. Cheers