One of the biggest draws when it comes to purchasing a Granite or Quartz surface in your home is the knowledge that you are investing in a durable product. Where an identical surface of wood or laminate would be damaged, a good piece of Granite or Quartz would gracefully endure. However, this does not mean that damage can’t or won’t occur, especially in a busy household.
Even these hard materials can still get worn down with enough time and use. Fortunately, despite their imposing nature, repairs for Granite and Quartz surfaces are not just possible but are relatively simple.
Granite Repair
Granite repair is not something that seems immediately intuitive, Granite is after all one of the hardest stone surfaces you can buy and so much as scratching a well-made Granite surface is no mean feat. Once the damage has been done however you might be forgiven for thinking there’s nothing to be done, though you’d be wrong. Granite repair for scratches is a reasonably simple and they can be carefully buffed out with high grade sandpaper. The area should then be cleaned with water and sealed with high quality granite sealer.
Granite Cracks
Cracks are a slightly more nuanced problem, provided the crack is small enough the impacted area can be filled with a clear epoxy or resin, which ideally conceals the crack and prevents the problem from getting any worse. Finally, there’s the issue of dealing with Chips. This problem is the most straightforward of all, you solve it with good old-fashioned superglue and determination. Simply glue the chip back onto the granite surface, take care of the excess glue and sand down the result so that it rests flush with the rest of the surface. Due in large part to its robust nature, Granite repair can be reasonably straightforward as there is reduced risk of damaging the surface during the repair.
Quartz Repair
Quartz repair is more interesting than Granite, as most of the time Quartz surfaces are composites of quartz chips and a binding resin. This makes them highly resilient to wear and tear even by stone standards, but this also has implications with regards to repair. For scratches the major resin component of a quartz surface is highly beneficial, as it can normally be filled in with yet more resin. Clear resin is always advisable in these circumstances, as it neatly sidesteps the issue of having to match the colours.
Quartz Cracks
Fixing any cracks is equally simple once again due to the high presence of resin already existing in the quartz surface. Filling in the affected area with clear epoxy both prevents the issue from getting worse and renders the crack indistinguishable from any other segment of the surface. The final aspect of Quartz repair to consider is dealing with chips. Chips are highly uncommon in Quartz surfaces, due once again to the high levels of epoxy in its construction. That being said they still happen and can be solved with superglue and fine abrasive paper to smooth over the finish. Quartz repair can therefore be considered more specialized and technical than Granite repair due to the high levels of epoxy in play.
Epoxy
Whilst most of the repairs for Granite and Quartz that have just been listed seem simple, they can easily go wrong and make the problem worse. Decisions over the correct kind and amount of epoxy can be crucial for any repair job. High quality epoxy can leave the repair almost invisible to the naked eye, shoddy repair can stick out like a sore thumb. Correctly skimming the level of epoxy to ensure that it lies flush with the surface prevents having to go over the result with abrasive paper, which greatly extends the lifespan of your Granite or Quartz surface.
Contact a professional
In severe cases the trained professional eye can detect the difference between a repair which can be performed as a quick DIY job and a repair which requires specialist tools and approaches. A botched repair job can easily ruin the whole surface, so it’s well worth calling in people who now what they are doing. Granite and Quartz has a dedicate team of experienced, qualified professionals who are capable of quickly assessing the nature of the damage and in most cases fixing it there and then. Whenever you require Granite repair or Quartz repair, contact Granite and Quartz.
At Granite & Quartz Installations we offer nationwide fittings along with a lifetime guarantee so that any repairs you may require will be carried out by our specialist installation team. To find out more about our granite and quartz worktops and receive a quote for your upcoming project get in touch with us at info@graniteandquartzinstallations.co.uk.