Chris Yaughn
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| 31 Aug 2008 03:14 AM |
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This is my first attempt on a scrap piece. If you are transitioning to working w/ granite, you really need to look into this. After I practice for a while I will be able to take scratches out of granite, as well as polish seams.  I took out some scratche I made w/ a diamiond blade. |
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Chris Yaughn
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| 31 Aug 2008 03:21 AM |
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Forgot to add that the one on the left is the one I polished. The right side is a few inches to the side of the repair.
I need to stop at 2000g to match the factory on this, I think. (Kashmir White).
Considering the conventional wisdom in these parts is, if a granite top gets a scratch it simply, well........ has a scratch. This is a very exciting development. |
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Gene McDonald
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| 31 Aug 2008 04:10 AM |
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Chris, do you seal after you got it to that polished look...and when taking out a scratch do you just grind down the scratch area or do you sand down seam to seam? I always wondered if you hadta remove a scratch would hafta take down the whole top? I also wondered if the previous sealer cakes up your pads? Looks shiny...Great job.... i could imagine how shiny its gonna get when the sealer goes on  |
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Chris Yaughn
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| 31 Aug 2008 04:40 AM |
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Gene,
If I am following your question, you shouldn't have to re-polish an entire run to fix a small scratch. I am not sure you could reasonably ($ or time) do it that way. The trick will be to match the sheen.
Also, In my limited expereince, the sealer should not add shine nor would I expect it to gum up pads. I could be wrong on that, but premium sealer, in my estimation should not alter the look of the stone.
I am still in the learning phase but very excited about the possibilities. |
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al
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| 31 Aug 2008 05:03 AM |
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We've been top polishing for a year now, nothing to it. Some of the blacks (absolute is one) are problematic, but it can be done.
No need to polish the entire slab. |
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| "if it is so safe, why aren't they supporting the testing?" |
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Karl Crooks
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| 31 Aug 2008 03:24 PM |
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RESTORE ~ RENEW ~ REJOICE !
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Chris Yaughn
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| 31 Aug 2008 06:39 PM |
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That is pretty much it. I will try skipping the 2000 ceramic on the next lighter stone. My first real live attempt will be on Black Pearl.
I still need to practice on scrap to be comfortable w/ that color, but I think I could do a lighter stone tomorrow.
What stinks now is thinking about a top about a month ago that could have been saved.  |
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Andy Graves
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| 01 Sep 2008 07:05 PM |
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Our experience with any polished surface is that when you look across the material you will see a wavy area that doesn't match the factory finish.
Is this the case with stone or can you get it so it looks perfectly flat?
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Adam Nelson
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| 02 Sep 2008 12:17 AM |
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We have been top polishing for over a year now and have been doing just fine with it.
Andy- If you get enough practice with it, you shouldn't have any problems with waves in the surface. I spent the better part of a week learning what worked for me and i still have to tweak the process from time to time on different stones. I would just get out a piece of material and scratch it up and give it a shot!
I know that the ability to do this has saved me well into the thousands of dollars over the past year or so! |
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Eli Polite
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| 29 Sep 2008 01:53 AM |
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go to stone advice my self as well as many others have posted much information on this subject i have been top polishing for 7 years |
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Chris Yaughn
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| 29 Sep 2008 05:31 AM |
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Andy Graves
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| 01 Oct 2008 06:00 AM |
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Let me start by saying, I do not top polish any of our stone seams. We do it the traditional method.
I am curious to know if anyone doing this can actually top polish absolute black without noticing any inconsistency? If so, why can't you do this in the middle of an island to remove a scratch?
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Karl Crooks
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| 01 Oct 2008 02:51 PM |
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Posted By Andy on 10/01/2008 1:00 AM
Let me start by saying, I do not top polish any of our stone seams. We do it the traditional method.
I am curious to know if anyone doing this can actually top polish absolute black without noticing any inconsistency? If so, why can't you do this in the middle of an island to remove a scratch?
Andy any issues with the finish of an island counter can be seen ezaly, as you can walk all the way around the island and look at the finish from all angles. There is no forgiveness. |
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Gordon Doull
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| 01 Oct 2008 04:53 PM |
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Posted By Karl Crooks on 10/01/2008 9:51 AM
Posted By Andy on 10/01/2008 1:00 AM
Let me start by saying, I do not top polish any of our stone seams. We do it the traditional method.
I am curious to know if anyone doing this can actually top polish absolute black without noticing any inconsistency? If so, why can't you do this in the middle of an island to remove a scratch?
Andy any issues with the finish of an island counter can be seen ezaly, as you can walk all the way around the island and look at the finish from all angles. There is no forgiveness. Karl is right here, Andy. Absolute black granite IS very unforgiving. That said we DO top polish it and DO remove scratches from it fairly regularly. Absolute Noir Caesarstone too. The area has to be blended, but only slightly and the customers are always thrilled with the end result. Blue and Black Galaxy are equally difficult to put the full, original shine back onto. Usually we come behind contractors/fabricators/installers that have scratched the products or tried to grind out unlevel seaming, leaving a hazed "trail" behind. We had to basically create the final process we use. |
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| Gordo (a.k.a. The Fro Bro)<br>Surface Authority, Inc.<br>www.surfaceauthority.com |
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Chris Yaughn
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| 02 Oct 2008 04:34 AM |
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Andy,
Top polished seams are by no means the norm or a standard in the stone industry. I would be willing to bet that what you guys do would be better than the norm for our market.
I wanted to learn top polishing to fix scratches and to be able to help problem seams. Like raised bar tops where I can only get one gorilla grip on them. I had one set up yesterday that stunk. So I polished it (acted like I knew what I was doing, even tho' it was the first time "live" in a house) and they came out good. They feel GREAT. They look good. You can see a few problem spots when you get the light "just" right. BUT, the net impact of the seam is much better than before.
We did not polish the other 3 seams in the same kitchen. no need. Where top polishing can yeild some amazing results is where some guys are usings cnc'c or a device called a seam phantom to get seams that are basically as tight as a solid surface seam. Then making it "feel" like a solid surface seam. The problem I have found is I can't get paid for the additional work that it takes to do this. A good traditional seam has the same perceived value as a "silly good I can't freakin see it or feel it" seam. So, for the most part we do good "traditional" seams. |
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Andy Graves
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| 05 Oct 2008 10:28 PM |
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Chris, Gordon and Karl,
What kinda time are we talking about to remove a scratch? Also, what time to flat polish a seam?
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Eli Polite
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| 06 Oct 2008 01:26 AM |
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it all depends on color how bad the scratch is or haw well the seam is put together on average seams are about an hour. and depending on the scratch 30 min to an hour. i am currently testing a granite polishing compound that is not quite on the market yet if its good ill post up the info on it. it is supposed to make the final finish easier to obtain |
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Gordon Doull
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| 27 Oct 2008 06:08 PM |
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I would double those time frames to be safe.
Scratch=1 hour, Seam=2 hours. More or less.
All are different, but I hope that helps. |
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| Gordo (a.k.a. The Fro Bro)<br>Surface Authority, Inc.<br>www.surfaceauthority.com |
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Karl Crooks
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| 27 Oct 2008 06:27 PM |
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Posted By SAI Gordon on 27 Oct 2008 01:08 PM
I would double those time frames to be safe.
Scratch=1 hour, Seam=2 hours. More or less.
All are different, but I hope that helps. Andy the thing with Stone is you just dont always know what you might be getting into, so it may go well or it may not. Solid Surface and Quartz are more consistent products so you pretty much KNOW how the job will end up before you start. |
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