How Chips and Cracks are Repaired on Stone Countertops

A pot slips out of your hand, seeming to fall in slow motion towards your beautiful countertop. As it clangs to a rest, you quickly run your fingers over where it made contact and confirm your worst nightmare, a chip. What now? Sell the house? Rip out the countertop? Hide it with a decorative vase? Step one, calm down. It’s not the end of the world, most chips are repairable. 

The process of fixing a chip is a lot more straightforward than some might think. The basic process starts with the stone being carefully and meticulously cleaned and prepped. The area will then be taped off and filled with a clear epoxy, with the excess scraped to allow it to dry just slightly higher than flush with the countertop. After the epoxy is completely cured, it will be sanded down smooth with the countertop surface. These repairs, if done correctly, can be very concealed. 

Cracks are a different situation entirely. One of the first things to realize is that a fissure is not a crack. Fissures are natural occurrences in the stone that can resemble cracks to the untrained eye. Some people may choose not to even repair cracks as they often are very inconspicuous. 

If you do decide to get a crack repaired, the process is not too intensive. The repair will be done differently based on the location and size of the crack. The basic process is that the countertop is cooled down, allowing the crack to open wider as the material contracts. The crack needs to then be carefully cleaned out with a degreasing agent. The area will then be heated to close the crack up. Glue or epoxy is added to the crack and will seep in and begin the bonding process. After 24-48 hours, the glue or epoxy should be completely cured, and the next steps can be done. Some of the glue most likely has dried higher than the surface of the countertop and will need to be removed. This will be done by using a razor to scrape most off most of the excess. The next step will be sanding down the remaining glue by using first a lower grit sandpaper, slowly working up to polish level sandpapers. A buffing tool and polish will then be used to polish the area and leave it looking like new!

If you have questions about getting a countertop repaired, or even a new one installed, feel free to contact us.