Do It Yourself Corian Countertop Repair

A reader is looking to repair or at least disguise this big crack in a Corian countertop. (Reader photograph)

Q: Our Corian countertop developed a crack, I believe, after the stove that abuts it was moved. Nosotros take a very large countertop and it is really out of the question to supercede it, because it is in practiced condition otherwise. Is there any way to repair or at least disguise the cleft — which is, at its widest, well-nigh a sixteenth of an inch across?

College Park

A: A croaky countertop made of solid-surface material such as Corian can be repaired to look nigh as good as new past cutting a matching scrap piece into narrow strips and gluing them into a smooth aqueduct that straddles the crack.

Winkhel Sahagun, owner of the Countertop Guru in Sterling, Va. (703-430-0007; gurutops. com), said that finding matching fabric for the patch isn't equally difficult as it might seem. Installers often give homeowners cutting-board-size pieces made from sections that were cut out for a sink or stove top. When a homeowner doesn't take that, Sahagun said, he frequently finds something that works stashed in his shop or the shops of several friends who install countertops. "We share when nosotros demand a slice," he said. Or if the way is still current, he orders samples or larger pieces as needed. As a last resort, he sometimes scavenges a section of backsplash from a side wall and the homeowner simply paints there instead.

Sahagun uses a router to cutting a shine channel along the crack, making it about half an inch wide and an eighth to a quarter of an inch deep. If he has admission to the back of the counter, he glues reinforcing pieces underneath. So he cuts strips of the fleck textile to fit in the channel and stuffs them into the gap along with a special glue made by DuPont, the maker of Corian. If the room temperature is about 70 degrees, the glue dries in about an hr. Then he levels the surface with 80-grit sandpaper and goes through 6 progressively finer grits — 100, 150, 180, 220, 280 and, finally, 320 — to create a smooth matte stop that usually matches the surrounding countertop. If the countertop is shinier, he continues sanding with iv even finer levels of a different abrasive, winding up with 1,000-grit. "When I'thou done, it volition look like the original piece," Sahagun said.

He estimated that repairing a curved crevice like the ane in the photograph you lot sent would price $300 to $400 and take about three hours or less.

Tom Jones, a technician who works at FixIt Countertop in Hanover, Md. (800-349-4877; fixitcountertop.com), also said that repairing a crevice in Corian requires cut out a smoothen groove and gluing in matching material, then sanding it smooth. He estimated the cost at $450 to $600.

Some handy homeowners tackle these repairs themselves. Besides using a router to cutting the groove, information technology'south also possible to utilise a minor rotary cutter, such as the ones made by Dremel. This cuts a narrower aqueduct, which you could stuff with slivers of matching countertop cloth and suitable glue. The website solidsurface.com sells adhesives matched to many Corian colors, as well as in a clear formula, for $42 to $48 a tube.

If you lot don't take matching countertop material but do have a current style, you can get upwardly to six free sample pieces by visiting the DuPont website.

Q: I had a roof leak, which I fixed past having a new roof put on. Even though the ceiling below the leak didn't suffer a lot of damage, a shadow shows up on it. Information technology seems to look wet, merely the paint is not peeling. The shadow seems to come and become. What is it and how exercise I go rid of information technology?

Herndon

A: If you're not sure whether the ceiling is damp, it's possible that information technology's simply stained in a way that's more noticeable when the lite hits in a certain way. Examination with a wet meter. Lowe's, for example, sells General Tools & Instruments' Digital Moisture Meter for $30. When the ceiling looks wet, compare the reading you get there with ane from a ceiling y'all know to be dry. Or printing a sheet of newspaper to the troubled surface area and bank check whether the paper darkens, a sign of wet.

If there is moisture, ask the roofer to come back and check the flashing on all frazzle pipes, skylights, chimneys or other things that extend through the roof. If the roofer refuses and you're not up to itch around in the attic, call a home inspector. (And then, insist that the roofer come back if a leak is found; if necessary, yous can check the roofer's license and file a complaint through the Virginia Department of Professional person and Occupational Regulation.) Be enlightened that water leaking at a flashing doesn't always drip directly down. It can travel along a rafter or the underside of the roof for some distance starting time.

The attic inspection should also include checking the insulation over the stained area of the ceiling. If the insulation is waterlogged, it plainly needs to be replaced. If it's black, whether dry out or moist at the time, that's a sign that an air gap in the ceiling, perhaps around a calorie-free fixture or over cabinets where the space above wasn't boxed in, is letting warm indoor air leak into the cold attic. Or there could be a vapor barrier improperly installed. Warm air holds more moisture than common cold air, and so equally this air cools in the attic, wet condenses and allows mildew to grow, making the insulation blackness. Plenty moisture could even be condensing to cause the ceiling to become damp, especially when the indoor air is especially humid. The moisture could besides be activating stains that are water-soluble.

If there are air gaps, plug them with caulk or other materials, depending on how big they are, then see if the dampness returns.

Once yous are sure y'all have solved any moisture issues, printing on the drywall or plaster to make sure it still feels solid and tightly fastened to the ceiling joists. If it's spongy, you volition need to cut out the damaged surface area and patch. (Cutting along the middle of the ceiling joists then you lot can spike the patch to solid wood above.)

If the ceiling is still okay, paint information technology with a stain-blocking primer. Oil-based primers used to be the merely reliable way of blocking water-soluble stains, but today there are h2o-based primers that practice the job, such as Kilz Max, $34 a gallon at Home Depot. (Regular primer won't exercise, because water-soluble stains can seep through.) When the primer dries, repaint the ceiling.

Do It Yourself Corian Countertop Repair,

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/how-to-repair-a-crack-in-a-corian-countertop/2017/02/03/e796f8f2-e4b4-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html

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