[Peter Carpenter]

Just wondering what silicone to use to install a stainless steel undermount sink to a 30 mm marble top acid cure or neutral. Also there are some chips in the top what can they be filled with thanks.

[Andy Graves]

I think you are supposed to stay away from acid with marble. It will stain the marble.

Not sure about filling the chips.

[Un-Authorized]

Posted By Peter Carpenter on 20 Jul 2011 03:47 PM
Just wondering what silicone to use to install a stainless steel undermount sink to a 30 mm marble top acid cure or neutral. Also there are some chips in the top what can they be filled with thanks.

Peter:

You can use CA (cyanacrylate aka. super glue) for very small chips. I’ve heard it can be tinted, but I’ve never done that. I’ve had sucess with methelmethacrylate with color match. I’ve got an Invicon kit but they’re kinda pricy if this is the only repair you’re gonna do. Check out the light cure kit from Domain Industries, a fabnet sponsor, it’s only about forty bucks. I’m sure you could probably tint that too, but very carefully.

Marble is essentially hardened clay, so it sucks up adhesives that will stain. Check into applying a coat of clear epoxy  before using adhesives to seal the sink.

Good luck,

Joe 

[Jeff Handley]

Peter,

Do you know if it is calcite based, or dolomitic?

Beware of silicone on calcite based stones: from the Dimension Stone Design Manual 7.1 this is referring to sealants but the potential reaction is covered here.
Installation Chapter
7.2 Silicone Sealants. Some grades of
silicone sealants are not recommended by
their manufacturers for application on high
calcite content materials. Consult the Sealant
Manufacturer’s technical recommendation
before applying a given sealant to calcite
materials.

Andy is correct, avoid acid especially if it is calcite based.  It will etch rather than stain the surface.
Joe is also correct, ask the manufacturers.

If you want to provide some additional details, e-mail my colleague Mike at miainfo@marble-institute.com.

MIA just updated the countertop chapter for version 7.2

Good Luck,

Jeff

[Peter Carpenter]

Thankyou very much for getting back to me I opted for the natural cure silicone. I noticed that there was silicone holding the benchtop to the carcases so I think I am safe. I have told the owners to see the supplier about the chips, I believe the top was etched with acid to give a matt finish. The supplier told them that it would stain less but I thought it looked and felt very average, no shine what so ever.

[Cameron DeMille]

I use a ton of silicone on marble. I take the time to tape off all joints. This makes cleanup easy and will eliminate an issue with etching on the marble. you can use something like EZCLN from STT, or Dawn dish soap wixed with water to clean up. I gun the silicone in the joints after taping, the dip my finger in the solution and use my finger to tool the silicone. this keeps it from sticking to your finger.

Customs makes a 100% silicone in most of their caulking colors now, as does Laticrete (Latisil). great for wet areas.

I also have to point out the misinformation in Joe’s post. Slate, saltillo pavers and some other stones are essentially compressed clay. Marble is typically made of calcite, which is then transformed through a metamorphic process, making it extremely dense. In fact, most marbles, when polished, will not absorb anything. I have never had an issue with any glue, silicone or any adhesive staining any marble. Even with Travertine this is rare. Limestone is another story.

Dolomitic marbles and limestones, like Emperador, light or dark, will etch just like Carrara (marble), or Crema Marfil (compact limestone) which are primarily made of calcium. They typicaly wont result in as severe etching, but they will etch just the same.

also, with the way that CA is typically used; top filling and shaving it down with a razor, makes it an undesireable glue to use on marble. when scraping down the glue, you’ll most likely end up scartching the marble. A pre-tinted polyester resin for travertine works very well. You must tint to the right color, but the pre-tinted color provides a great base for easy color-matching. This can then be sanded or honed down with diamonds and finished like the marble, even polished, where the CA will typically become distorted from the friction/heat generated by the mchanical refinishing.

CA can be tinted easily. I usually dip the tip of a pencil in the color I want, the mix up a big glob of thick CA. This will allow you to keep the transparency of the CA to match surrounding quartz and other tranparent minerals. the more color, the less transparent.

[Un-Authorized]

Cam:

Thanks for the clairifications.

Joe

[Peter Carpenter]

Thanks very much Cameron for your very informative and detailed post.

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