Your gorgeous granite countertop has a crack. Maybe someone was a little too forceful with a pan, or maybe someone got distracted moving a new appliance in. Regardless, you’re probably wondering what you can do now that your beautiful counter has been chipped.
Assessing the Damage on Your Counters
Granite is a heavy, durable material. It’s hard to chip and even harder to crack. Before you move forward with any type of repair, assess the damage. If there’s a crack spreading from the chip in your granite, it’s going to take a little more work to fix it. This is because the granite itself is heavy, and it may start resting unevenly across the counter supports as the crack grows larger.
Even if it’s just a chip, the size of the chip is going to matter.
There’s No Real Way to Fix Chipped Granite
Certainly, you can fix it until it’s acceptable. But you can’t actually “fix” granite. Granite is a natural stone, and there’s no replacement for that. Moreover, most granite is fairly unique: the patterns, textures, and colors are very difficult to match.
When trying to fix granite, most people will fill cracks and chips with epoxy. This epoxy isn’t color matched, usually, unless there is a very large chip. More often, it’s transparent. The transparent epoxy shows the color of the granite behind it, so it can be very difficult to see. Once the epoxy has dried, it may not be noticeable unless you’re looking for it.
However, that does make a difference in how the counter actually looks. Not everyone wants a dollop of epoxy around their counter edges. If it’s in a highly visible place, it may be even more frustrating to behold. Still, it’s the only way that you can at least try to fix chipped granite.
Repairing Your Granite with DIY Epoxy
If you choose to go the epoxy route, it’s possible you can even do it on your own. There are granite counter epoxy repair kits sold with everything you need. Clean your counter thoroughly beforehand, fill the chip with epoxy, and then apply a hardener. As long as you do it correctly, it should be very hard to tell that the granite has been chipped.
With small chips, you can significantly extend the life of your granite with DIY epoxy repairs.You can also hire a professional to do it too. Even though your granite was undoubtedly expensive, epoxy repairs for graniteare usually fairly affordable.
Granite Can Be Resurfaced
Now, if you have a lot of tiny chips in your granite, it is possible to resurface it. A company may be able to bring your granite’s edges back a little or round them out so the chips are no longer noticeable. This takes a lot of grinding and a lot of polishing. Resurfacing granite is a good idea if you have granite that you’re particularly attached to, such as a very large, single-piece granite counter, or a granite counter that’s original to the house. One of the great things about granite is that because it is a natural stone material, you can resurface it and repolish it at any time.
Granite can also be partly replaced. In some installations, there may be multiple slabs of granite used. But be wary of this option, because it is very difficult to find granite that will perfectly match the granite that you already have. Natural stone simply has too much in terms of natural variation. It’s usually better to replace the granite entirely in this situation.
Replacing Your Granite
If you have cracks or chips in your granite, a little epoxy should seal and protect it. But that doesn’t mean that you want a half-epoxied counter. You can replace your granite entirely if you decide that you don’t like the epoxy look or if you end up with more chips in your granite. While the epoxy should fix any functional issues with your granite counter, it may not be able to fix any aesthetic issues you have with it. The transparent epoxy may be more visible on some types of granite than others.
Sometimes repairs are an excellent excuse for an update. While granite is timeless, your own granite may be scratched, chipped, and dulled to the point that a replacement is in order. If you want to get your granite counter looking like new again, contact the experts at Wholesale Granite Direct.
