When you own multiple buildings, run numerous offices, or even care for several homes, you have a decision to make when it comes to your marble care and maintenance: Should you hire full- or part-time employees to take care of your marble or should you use contract maintenance?

The answer depends on a number of different factors. These include your employees’ experience working with marble, the number of marble surfaces that require care, and the type of maintenance or repair you need.

Training and Experience

Multi-unit managers generally have maintenance or janitorial staff on the payroll. But unless your workers are experienced at working with marble, they may do more harm than good when cleaning and maintaining your marble floors, walls, and other features.

Marble requires specialized care and attention. While it’s true that just about anybody can buff a marble floor or polish a marble countertop, procedures like sealing, protecting, or even repairing marble require technicians who are skilled and experienced. Try to do it yourself or put an inexperienced, untrained worker on the job and you can ruin an expensive piece of marble very easily.

Contract Maintenance Benefits

There are other benefits to contract maintenance for your marble. For one thing, you generally only pay for it when you need it. Rather than paying full-time wages and benefits to an employee — not to mention managing and supervising them — instead you can simply have your contracted marble maintenance team perform the required cleaning, maintenance, and repair when it is required.

Another benefit is that your marble will look more luxurious and impressive when it is cared for by experts who do nothing but marble. It’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, for your janitorial staff to make your marble look it’s glamorous best when caring for it is only one of dozens of tasks they routinely perform.

For owners and managers of multiple properties, contracted maintenance usually makes the most economic sense.