Granite countertop edges

My granite counter top in the kitchen has about a 1/16" radius edge. Big mistake! now the edge has a number of little chips out of it. I wonder if there is a way to fix without removing it and sending it back to the company that made it. You can't notice the chips but you can feel them and it makes me sick. Maybe a diamond file or such to smooth them out?

Reply to
Tom Gardner
Loading thread data ...

They can be ground on site. You can hire somebody, but you probably have the necessary skill set to do it yourself. I would suggest striking it off to a small 45 deg chamfer as it is easier to do than freehanding a radius. Start with a couple of diamond sharpening stones up to 600 grit, then use diamond disks for an angle grinder to take it up to 3000 grit.

Paul K. Dickman

Reply to
Paul K. Dickman

Paul's right. The guys who install these use diamond cups on 4-1/2" angle grinders to touch up. I repaired one of the huge Italian CNC cutting and polishing machines in LoCal once. It was something like

22' long, 10' wide, and over 8' tall.

It takes hours to put a 3/8" radius or 45-degree 1/2" wide bevel on the edge of a countertop with a 12" cutter. I can't imagine doing that with a hand grinder, but someone who works on them daily would be able to tell you better. If you had two pieces joined in the kitchen, it likely won't be movable.

I don't know why people like stone counters. They viciously suck the warmth out of anything which rests on them (hands, elbows, hips, or butts.) They also stain, chip, and explode anything dropped on them, not to mention the ungodly cost of materials and installation. I've stuck with good, old, comfortable Formica. Set your hands down on that and it warms to you in seconds.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Thanks Paul, I'll try that. What do you think is the best counter top? I love the look of the granite, guests just love it too. but it must be kept impeccably clean, of course it's black.

Reply to
Tom Gardner

Reply to
Tom Gardner

So, it'll make a great backsplash, visible over the laminate work surface.

I've made the dark stone table mistake once, and my solution: cover it with books, if you can't see the surface you don't need to clean it again.

Reply to
whit3rd

Don't try for a big chamfer. Just enough to grind out the chips.

I do a lot of metalwork for architects and decorators, and most of them call me back in for punchlist day and pay me $75 an hour to solve all the little problems that crop up.

I've watched dozens of stone countertop installations, and in my opinion they're all a waste of money unless you're a candymaker who likes to make candycanes next to the sink.

In most of these jobs, I've watched them rip out the granite countertop the last owner put in and install a new one.

My counter tops are 1" vitreous tile with white grout. If anything gets chipped, I have another 10 sq feet of tile in the basement to fix it and the grout is easy to match.

Paul K. Dickman

Reply to
Paul K. Dickman

I have nerve damage in both hands which makes it hard for me to tell how tightly I am gripping things. So I tend to drop things. So I put maple countertops in my new house. They look great and are more forgiving to dropped stuff. I also have two pull out cutting boards and three more under the stove. Nevertheless when we had some guests over and some stuff needed to be chopped one woman almost started cutting directly on my countertop. I caught her just in time. She thought that the all my countertops were chopping blocks. Sheesh! Eric

Reply to
etpm

Yeah, granite can be gorgeous, but it's so damned nasty to live with. I fell in love with the Verde Ubatuba (deep emerald with veins of gold through it; simply magnificent) a couple decades ago, but the only granite I'd have in my house would be a -poster- of it. Just too cold. Pictures of the verde ubatuba they have today don't even come close to the beauty of the stone they were selling back then.

The patterns they have in Formica now photographically match any granite you might want. It's too bad you didn't pull that on her.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

The Amish company that made brush blocks for me made a Maple and Cherry

7'x3' work surface and a same counter top between the stove and the frige. I'm with you anmd like wood tops but you can get lost in that piece of granite.
Reply to
Tom Gardner

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.