STONE AND COUNTERTOPS:
AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. GRANITE AND MARBLE

 

Whether you have a new appliance that doesn’t quite fit, or have chip/cracks in your stone – Dr. Granite and Marble is the service that you need, and may never knew existed!

 

To help us learn more about how we can save money by repair/altering existing counters, we got in touch with Chris – Owner of Dr. Granite and Marble to discuss.

A. I’ve been working in the stone industry for over ten years, since I was 18 years old. I claimed the name as the Doctor of Marble after my peers and customers alike would continuously say I can “heal any wound ” when it comes to stone. Initially, I began my career in a granite and marble shop working standard nine hour days and had no intention of pursuing this as a life long path. However, I soon fell in love with what I now see as the art of stonework and what I could accomplish on that amazing material with my hands. I attribute much of this to the fact that I never had the luxury of using any fancy or high-tech machinery; we simply had a large saw to cut the initial slabs into smaller pieces, and the rest was done by hand. At the time, I absolutely hated this. I consistently heard of C&C machines, water jets, etc., that were capable of doing virtually anything and everything to a degree unattainable by human hands, in a fraction of the time. However, what I once saw as a burden was in fact the very thing that lead to my success and love for this profession. With the lack of these machines I was forced to learn how to do everything by hand, from fixing small chips to cutting and repairing the most complex of tasks. As I began developing these desired skill sets I also realized that almost no one else could do this, as they had all been using the very machines that I lacked to accomplish the majority of their work. This is when I began doing repair work after hours and realized this was what I was meant to do in life. I fell in love with the art of stonework and quickly created a reputation for myself as one of the best in the industry, and this is when my story began.

 

 

A. That’s an excellent question to start off on. In addition to any and all types of stone countertops, I can also fix quartz and porcelain countertops. Certain types of quartz countertops, most notably the darker shades of quartz, may present challenges that are unique and difficult to work with. When compared to the qualities that a natural stone such as granite tends to exhibit, quartz countertops react differently and can be nearly impossible to fix if you don’t understand how that particular material behaves. Porcelain also fits in this category, albeit in an even different way as there is a limit to what can and can’t be fixed regardless of experience or skill level. Through my years of hard work and study of countertops I’ve gained both the experience and skill level necessary to accomplish all of these feats.

 

 

A. The time required to complete a repair is entirely dependent on the job and specific features of the material in question. For example, you can have an identical form of damage on two different materials and the time of repair can either vary greatly, or not at all. Typically, however, for smaller issues such as cracks or chips the time to complete the repair is between thirty minutes to one hour. For larger jobs such as entire corners of a countertop missing or several joints that require both levelling and repairing, the duration of the work can vary from an hour and a half to three hours.

 

 

A. Of course; this particular job is one of my most requested! Due to my years of hands-on experience with an absence of any high-tech machinery I can easily replace any under-mounted sinks. In addition to this, I can even change existing top-mount sinks to under-mount sinks, or resize existing under-mount sinks to larger ones.

 

 

A. Definitely. Kitchen countertops as well as vanities tend to go through the most wear and tear as those are the locations that always see more traffic and general use. As such, they inevitably develop etch marks, stains, water marks, and the list goes on. As this is one of my most requested jobs I’ve perfected the art of returning your countertops to match their factory finish. Of course, there are certain spots that can never come out as they run through the entirety of the material; however, I make sure that whatever can come out will come out, and will then be finished to a brand new degree. In addition to this, I can also bring the material to whichever finish is requested by the customer, regardless of their current finish: a polished finish, a honed finish, or a leathered finish. Furthermore, during my years of hard work I’ve gained the knowledge and understanding of quartz to a point where I can refinish the material; a task thought to be impossible by many in the stone industry.

 

 

A. The steel rod repair is one as unfortunate as it is common. Many fabricators place a steel rod into the part of the countertop that is located underneath the sink cutout, as it is the thinnest and thus most susceptible part of the material to break during transportation and installation. However, over time the steel begins to rust and compromise the stability of the stone causing it to crack throughout the entirety of the steel rods length. To fix this issue you have to first determine the length of the rod to figure out the size of the cut that is required. Once the size is confirmed, you cut out the desired portion of the stone and take it out. Following this, you must retract the rod and fill the now apparent hole, and finally reinstall the piece and match the new cuts into a seamless transition of solid stone.

 

 

A. Yes; this is actually one of my favourite repairs to do! I treat this profession as a painter would a canvas, and I love creating a seamless countertop from what was previously seen as one beyond repair. In situations where, for example, the corner of a countertop breaks off completely I can either use the broken piece, or am able find and match the material consistently to make it look as if the counter had never broken in the first place!