Repairing Cracked Granite Kitchen Work Surface

[malcolm]

I bought a used kitchen on eBay as a way of getting a really posh kitchen without spending money. It is very posh with solid oak cupboard doors and a granite style work surface that the girlfriend likes and would fit my kitchen reasonably well. It's about 8 years old and my guess is it cost towards £20k when new. Here is the ebay ad

The seller removed it today and has broken it - the work surface has broken in two at the sink and there is a chip off one of the joins. I've attached photos.

Does anyone have any experience of repairing these things - is it fixable with some epoxy? How expensive to fix for someone who knows what they are doing? Otherwise I'm unlikely to get a new piece to match the adjoining surfaces and a whole bunch of new granite would worry my budget so I'd have to walk away or go less posh.

Any advice or suggestions much appreciated. The seller is prepared to reduce the price and I need a plan before collection on Thursday. Never done this sort of thing before.

 

[Windy Miller]

Can't offer any useful repair advice, but what a total bummer

 

[slimjim]

there will be someone who repairs them in the local area, I think it's not as simple as glueing with epoxy, I am sure it will need the area strengthening

http://www.4graniteworktops.co.uk/Repairing_Granite_Worktops

 

[brightspark]

u can repair them with epoxy or araldite pulled together with straps while drying .a thin stainless steel plate underneath across the crack will help suport it glued on. as for the colour u can get diffrent dyes or get some crushed granite powder the same colour and mix with the resin fill and rub back ive seen a few done and its not bad heres a bit of patter on them http://www.worktopfactory.co.uk/YourQuestions/GraniteFAQ/tabid/1431/Default.aspx

 

[zzr1200]

Give these a ring for quote or maybe some advice, possibly...


http://www.marble-granite-repair.co.uk/repair_cracked_tables.html

 

[malcolm]

Thanks. Looks like it might be repairable then. I've asked the seller to save any little bits that have fallen off. Will try to get a price tomorrow and will knock that off the sale price.

 

[stuvy]

My mate had a new kitchen last summer with a crushed granite sink massively cheaper than a proper version so i guess it can be done

http://www.qstoneworks.co.uk/faqs.html
these are local to beds hope you get a descent price off it, what would the granite piece on its own be worth?

 

[madkayaker]

I used to make slate work tops. We used a grey two part mastic to glue then diamond ground wet to smooth the joint and they were hardly visible. Chips could also be filled that way

 

[Shedendman]

Gorilla glue
http://uk.gorillaglue.com/eng/glues/glue-list/1/

back in my kitchen fitting days dropped a small breaker on the edge of a granite worktop(dont ask) and broke a corner clean off,panic set in so i try this left it clamped/held in for a few days,solid as if nothing happened

 

[bigegg]

I'd grind it back, brace it underneath, then fill the gap with a contrasting epoxy filler, and make it a "feature".
It's probably going to show any way, so may as well make it look as tho it was planned.

Either way, a decent epoxy will hold it together.

 

[KemppiFrog]

++several for epoxy. I had to supply a big dining table in granite. 600kg with the legs. The top was in two pieces, so I joined it with epoxy and some clamps. 5 yrs on, no probs.
KF

Apart from anything else, the join is just a small part in a large project. And will be not noticed after a couple of days. (if at all) and not a deal breaker.

In the same house that I supplied the table, they had a Smallbones kitchen. Cost 50K installed. The new owner's wife (think big electronics and white goods retailer) didn't like it. So It was given to the arquitect in exchange for a small redesign. The new one was all black granite and white units, sort of Big city chic. Not at all what the house needed, still, the arquitect has the old kitchen in her garage and was amazed when I told her how much it cost.
Is this relevent? prob not, just venting at waste.

Estate people say: forget the bath rooms an kitchen. The new wife will demand fresh ones. Seen it several times.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Have seen it done a couple of years ago and it was clever how they hid the glueline.

They laid out a line of adhesive and then sprinkled different colours of what looked like ground granite powder along the line of adhesive.. mixed it without fully mixing the colours into one but blending each colour slightly into the next and then applied it.

it was left slightly proud and then a scarsen scraper?... I think thats what it was called was used, then a grit impregnated sponge type sanding block and they finally polished the whole top.

I could just and so tell it was there if I got close, anyone else would never have noticed.

We should have a guess of what it's going to cost... I would go for £120

 

[mike os]

for a diy repir grind the back of a piece to give you some dust to mix with the top 3-6mm of epoxy ( dont need a lot) & glue it up

i would cut off the excess with a new stanley blade once it has gelled up... run it over teh surface at a slight angle with a little soapy water

or alternatively use some black epoxy & make it a feature

for the chips if they fit really well then a thin layer of warmed epoxy & press/clamp tight will result in an almost invisible repair anyway

 

[chunkolini]

If in doubt make a feature of it, a bodged repair is usually a massive eyesore to the person responsible (me!) nobody else will notice but it hurts to be stared in the face.

 

[Drains]

Obviously, you should repair it the Japanese way, with gold...

 

[bigegg]

Funnily enough.
I've got an idea for a source of gold(coloured) filler for epoxy that should run at about
40-50 quid a kilo. (+ epoxy)
I'm getting a sample sometime this week, and I was just thinking that it would be ideal for this application.

 

[candor]

Something like tec 7 should put it back together.

 

[malcolm]

Thanks for all the replies. They helped me. Ended up finding a local repairer on eBay who reckons epoxy mixed with pigment then polishing will do the job so long as the sink is supported properly - won't be perfect he says but won't be noticeable to most. Seems to know what he is doing and he has the hydraulic gadget for pulling the surfaces together so will likely get him over.

Collected most of the kitchen today. Misjudged the van size needed so will collect the rest tomorrow. Oops as it is a 300 mile round trip. Fancy posh granite is really heavy.

 

[Pete.]

Granite is REALLY heavy

I have glued stone and granite but not to worktop quality - more cladding repair. no-one's noticed yet. No prep at all just some 2-part epoxy and a good clamp. Always fits perfect because stone doesn't bend.

Is your advisor going to grind it for you? If not I have a couple of small very fine diamond grit cupwheels I bought cheap off ebay on a whim which were advertised for just that job - polishing worktops. If you'd like to try them out you can borrow them Malcolm.

 

[malcolm]

Thanks Pete, I'll get the guy in to fix the crack and fit a couple more joints while he's over. He'll fill the crack with colour matched epoxy and polish out, and has the gear. Should work out cheaper than figuring it how to do it myself.