Polishing Granite

[Mark Mandell]

Just had granite installed in new kitchen. The stone is "called" Orion Blue and is a 'double mica' stone making it hard to finish because of all the mica pits. Had to have the fabricator come back because of dull spots on all the epoxy repairs along the edges. Most of the quartz sections have a high gloss and "severe" depth (why she broke the budget to buy this stuff), but the 1-1/2" strip between the cooktop and edge looks dull in comparison.

I would like to bring that section up to a finish to match the rest of the material. Being a woodguy furniture maker, I'm used to rubbing out finishes by both hand and machine, and have both auto body and Menzerna compound sets as well as papers up to 2000 grit.

This stone was described as "soft" and too course-textured to put on the eased edge requested by SWMBO. Looking at the edge work, it's clear that the fabricator had a tough time with the material chipping.

TIA

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[Davestone]

I am not familiar with that particular stone, but if it was pitting yes it was hard to work with.It takes heat and friction to polish granite, both of course cause small particles to actually fly outta the stone,now you can use epoxy or miracle glue to fix them but unless you add some quartz particles to the repairs you may not get a high shine.Also,my guess is that small strip has the most work done on it,with the edging and pit repairs,and i doubt you would be able to polish it better than the guys that do it everyday,and i wouldn't be able to recommend the proper pads myself,sandpaper won't do it,maybe others can.Got any pics?

[GraniteGirl]

If it is the strip in front of the cooktop cut-out, my guess is that there is either a seam or a crack that they fixed and tried to polish level. Without seeing the actual top, this is only a guess.

Two things to take into consideration:
1. Not all minerals polish equally - you will have lines of distinction between the different minerals.
2. It is possible to duplicate the surface polish on any stone.

The fact that you are good at woodworking will not make you able to top polish, necessarily. It is different from sanding, even though the principal might be the same. Not even all stone fabricators have the ability to do it successfully.

Getting the equipment needed for a successful job would be somewhat cost prohibitive too. You would need some rigid pads like Alphas, a few higher grit resin pads and the appropriate buff pad as well as a variable speed angle grinder.

Give the stone company the opportunity to fix it. If they are having trouble or are unable to, it would be easier (and more cost effective) to hire a stone restoration guy to fix it. Maybe come to an agreement with the fabricator on payment for the resto guy.

My 0.02

[Mark Mandell]

I was kinda 'fraid this was what I was going to hear. S'pose I'll start looking for a restorer. I've had the original fabricator/installer here three times. Last time with all the defects marked with tape so they couldn't be missed. If they couldn't get it right with all of that, I don't see why I should give them more chances to mess something else up. :rolleyes:

I will post a pic or two later just so I can be sure I'm on the same page here.

[Davestone]

You might try NSRAWEB for a resto guy in your area.