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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.
Chris, Gordon and Karl,
What kinda time are we talking about to remove a scratch? Also, what time to flat polish a seam?
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
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.
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.
i wouls say that with solid surface but not with engineered stone. i have had quit a bit of onexpected things happen with engineered stone. every thing from cracks and pop outs to discoloration and stains i have had my share of unexpected events with solid surface as well.
as far as the time to polish my times are correct but i have been doing it for 6 years i just top polished 2 scratches out of uba tuba today it took 25 min start to finish and i polished aproxamitly 1 sq ft
Posted By Andy on 01 Oct 2008 01:00 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?
here is a video of black absolute been polish. It just so happen to also be of a seam been polish. please note that this was one of the first videos that I have made and it is very old so forgive me.
Polishing Granite is not hard but it does take a little skill.
The time frame to polish a scratch is 20 minutes and it takes one hour or less to polish a seam once the adhesive is cure.
JOH, is it feasible to top polish 50 sq. ft. of Absolute Black granite, or would it not be cost effective for a customer?
NOrm,
In my relative newbie to the stone world opinion. That would be an awful lot to polish in a home. Maybe in a shop with a machine. BUT, I think there are procedures for honing that much area in a house that might be feasible. Dunno. Just my thoughts.
Polishing granite is not easy. Until you know how to do it. Kinda like calculus or trig or string theory or anything. I am only comfortable wipping out the grinder and polishing a seam on two or three relativly easy to polish colors at this point. I haven’t had occasion to practice on others and would say it took a lot of “oh poop, that didn’t work” trials to get even mediocre at it (which is about where I would rate myself now.)
Norm, that is a trick question so let me give you a trick answer.
YES.Chris, if you are successfully polishing seams, you have done the hardest part of polishing stone.
The only question Norm should be consider about is ho to cash his check.
If you want to get more into the topic of polishing full slabs you all should start a new post on the topic.If you looked at the video above you will see that I polish that seam and did not even have up any type of protection. not only can you do this much stone but you can do it without a mess, and it can be done in less than 3 hours for ant where between edit.
Moderator: According to the forum rules discussing pricing is not allowed.
JOH, another question, same top. This top is absolute black, it isn’t scratched up, just dull. It could be from many applications of big box sealers or the like, what would you use to clean an area to see if it is just a build-up of sealers and/or polishes.
We cleaned a bunch of wax buildup off of a black galaxy floor w/ denatured and a worn out maroon scotch bright pad. Worked better than I expected.
Norm, I am big on pictures.
If has been seal for a while and looks dull, just pull out the black buff and the tin and re-polish the surface. The tin will remove the film from the surface as well as polish the stone with the black buff pad.Chris, what you are doing is an accident waiting to happen.
JOH, the information you gave sounds great, could you put it in solid surface fabricator terms though, because I am not familiar with the products you mentioned.
Sorry for that.
Tin Oxide a fine abrasive powder used in stone polishing compounds. You can pick this up almost any where.
Black Buff Pad is the final buff pad that comes white or black. This is not a must have, but it cuts your time dome and in most cases it will help you pop a shine better than factory. If you all up for another video, I could show you some testing we did.I hope you all enjoy.
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