Hoa Truong

repair: crack in granite counter top?

I went to Lowes, they told me there is no such thing as granite crack repair, only replace. I also called a handyman for such repair, he told me the same thing. I googled "granite repair kit" and some kits came up. Any advice?

This is the crack


These are the kits I found googling

Furd

I don't really know anything about granite counter tops but looking at that crack I would guess that nothing will fix it. It appears to be a stress crack and being so close to the edge it will only get worse as time goes by. If it is very well supported from below it might not fully crack off but I would always be worried that leaning on it could cause it to completely fracture, fall off, hit my foot and break my bones.

Just my opinion and I might be wrong.

Handyone

That is a 3cm granite counter and very expensive around here. If it is not that old (5 to 10 years) I would call the installer/fabricator first to see if it's under warranty. It should be.

You could also pay a pro to fill the crack with colored epoxy or you can do it yourself. No matter if a pro does it, the crack will still be visible.
This is beyond repair IMO and I think it might be due to installer error. The thin strip in front of the sink is fragile and requires support while transporting and installing. The installers I work with use a special clamp that is about 6' long to sandwich the front edge.

Ron53

You can fill it with one of those kits but the result will look poor, you will never repair it with any kit. Only good option is to replace it.

Marq1

It can be repaired with clear epoxy. Will it be invisible, probably not, will it come back, dont know, but I'd do the repair first before replacing.

I would also contact a good granite shop, they know all kinds of installation tricks, I doubt yours if the first that has ever occured.

Norm201

It can be repaired. Look up the GRANITE DOCTOR on Google. It's amazing what can be done. But you'll need to find an expert in your area. Cost? well that might be another story.

tonic

Wow! That is a terrible looking crack. And expensive to fix correctly. I've seen people use those granite repair patch thingies and it turned out looking like ****.

I wonder how these cracks get like this. How do these things usually happen?

Pilot Dane

Stone is a brittle material and relatively easy to crack. Some stones are much worse than others and many slabs have fiberglass bonded to the back side to help hold them together. A crack across the narrow area near a sink is common. A crack running lengthwise through that narrow strip I've never seen before. I would love to know how that happened. I wonder if someone was standing or sitting on that edge.

Norm201

I would love to know how that happened. I wonder if someone was standing or sitting on that edge.

One of the first cautions we we told by the installers was to never, ever put your knee or foot on the edge.

tonic

Is it possible that the sink could have caused the crack? If the sink is heavy enough, and water is constantly being filled, then isn't it possible that the weight of the sink + water can lead to a horizontal crack like this? And if so, wouldn't a wider sink also be a contributing factor since a wider sink is both heavier and can hold more water weight. Could a sink lead to a crack like this over time?

czizzi

I"m going to speculate as to how the sink was hung. Some installers use metal or wood mounting strips to hang the sink. Others epoxy threaded studs to the underside to attach anchors. I've also seen where the fabrication back cuts the underside of the stone such that the head of a bolt can be inserted and will hold fast to the stone intself and then bolt the sink down. If this last method was used, could have weakened the stone enough that pressure from leaning or standing on that area caused the crack. It certainly is in the correct location for this to be the case.

Before any repair of fill is tried, I would make sure that ALL potential movement is isolated so the repair does not have a chance to move anymore. This would most likely involve some sort of blocking under the counter attached to the cabinets that provides support.