I try not to do this too much, out of fairness to you guys and the intent of this site.  But, I bring you another question from GardenWeb.  The post says:

I finished my kitchen remodel about six months ago. Last week I noticed a small chip in my silestone countertop. It is right in front of the sink on the edge. I thought quartz was supposed to be relatively indistructable. Has anyone had a similar problem? What's the best way to remedy it -- learn to live with it or try to have it repaired either with some sort of filler or grinding it down. Any thoughts would be welcome.

If you can post anything here that might help this nice lady, I'll be glad to repeat it to her as something I got from "a friend in the business". 

I would say that this lady needs a local repair/fabricator to come by and fix it up(Like the company that she bought it from?).  Does she say where she is located?

No, I don't see a reference anywhere to her location, except that her profile says she lives in "United States", which I'm guessing doesn't narrow it down enough to be helpful.

I'm understanding your response to mean, though, that there are repair options and possibilities in such a case? I get the idea that she's wondering if repairing it is even an option.

Randy,
Usually an epoxy type repair is successful. The chip being in front of the sink puts it in a more obvious spot (I am assuming on the front edge, rather than an undermount sink edge, which would be much less visible), so there are other factors to consider.

I would bet that if she looked up the nearest Cosentino dealer and called them, they would likely get her to someone.

She can start here:

http://www.silestoneusa.com/index/i...N=71653438

Randy:

Link her to me. If she's within driving distance, I'll patch 'er up and she'll love it.

Joe
loosedeckcannon@comcast.net

If Joe isnt in driving distance and ya dont feel like doing the tinting and poly fill/epoxy work ask to put a deeper roundover on the profile to make it go away...this way there is no repair  also Gordon, Karl and Jim heaphy who participate on here have countertop repair connections worldwide....they are the Navy seals of the repair industry in my opinion

but a small sink chip might be just a quick fix

Quartz is a very tough product but there is no counter surface that is "indestructible." If it's a case where a piece of quartz popped loose then filling it is the best option. If a large chuck broke off somehow then it's possible to epoxy it back on and re-polish the area but depending on the color it could still be visible.

My advice for the homeowner would be to call the original fabricator. If that doesn't work then call Silestone directly.

Have her visit either of these companies.

www.BackToPerfection.com

www.nationwidesurfacerepair.com

Calling her fabricator may help as well.

 

Good news is that it can probably be fixed without noticing it too much.  Just depends on the location and the size of the chip.

Sounds fixable enough all have offered best advice contact the fabricator, installer or dealer as be the case to get the skinny.

Just a question that pops into my mind is this. Why is that when these things happen people jump to sources such as Garden Web etc first instead of first contacting the peole whom the dealt with originally?

Thanks very much for the quick and helpful replies, gentlemen. I have shared your thoughts.

Reuben, I can venture a possible explanation for how it could be that someone would turn to GardenWeb (or a similar resource) first. If you become accustomed to relying on an online community for advice about all the decisions that have to be made in a full kitchen remodel (when you're in the middle of one, it feels like a million), then you might easily turn to them in a case like the one this lady finds herself in. "What color paint looks best?", "Which style cabinet door should I choose?", and "What about this chip in my countertop?" can seem like a natural progression of questions.

My guess is that you're viewing this from a fabricator's perspective, and thinking that it almost feels like throwing the fabricator (or manufacturer, or both) under the bus before they've even had a chance to try to help their customer. In some cases, that may be exactly what is happening. In others, a person may just be turning to the same place for help that they have been using for everything else. The only thing that I can think of that you might be able to do to affect this kind of thing is to assure your customer that you don't expect anything to "go wrong", but that you really want them to contact you right away if they have any sort of concerns.

For what it's worth, I see complimentary posts on GW all the time, by people who are really happy with something that a craftsman has done for them. So, I guess it can work both ways. If this lady calls her fabricator and is thrilled with the outcome, I bet she'll post about that too.

This is a pretty straight forward fix, the problem we see is that the top edge of the sink cutout is often done with only an 1/8" round over. This is an EZ edge to make BUT also an EZ edge to chip, we see this more and more with Granite and E-Stone tops.  We're seeing this more and more on the front edges also.

 
THANKS ANDY !!!

Your Welcome.  Anytime.

"You're" welcome!

Funny you bring this up.  We used to run an ad for years that said, "Whether your looking for a small bath or ..."  something like that, the your was wrong.

I always forget about the you are and spell check is no help. 

Ok, while we're at it way too many people on here use the word seam the wrong way, it seems to me.

We get confused between the two and spell check doesn't help.

Good Larry on a popsicle stick! We're concerned about proper syntax and spelling?

I'm duemed.

For the record, it's "row to ho", "moot point", and "graven image".


Now excuse me whilst I go spend a penny. - Oh, yeah, "skip to the loo"

Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy. A kidd'll eat ivy too, howz about youze? I love you, Gene Greenie.

I love that word, "Whilst".  It is on the side of the Surecare sander.  They are from Australia.