Is That Really Stone?

Sure, there are plenty of folks out there who say they can grind and polish ceramic with diamonds. However:

• in theory, that only works on full-bodied ceramics and porcelains consistent in color throughout the material; and

• there are an increasing amount of porcelains and ceramics trying to imitate stone via digital image placed on the top and glazed over, so your goose is cooked if diamonds cut through that photograph.

I have yet to witness anyone who can truly restore ceramic (and/or porcelain) and make it look as good as new (which is done at the factory by baking on a glaze in super-heated ovens). And – let’s remember something more important than all the technical hoopla – at an average cost of $2 to $5 per square foot, I would like to see a ceramic/porcelain floor that’s worth restoring, given the amount of work and headache involved.

This now brings me to quartz surfaces the remplacer de jour (so it’s in French – hey, I’m Canadian, remember?) for natural stone. The claims are that it looks like the real deal (and occasionally sports a crafty name, although it’s a giveaway if it’s too crafty) and that it performs even better than something from the quarry, with resistance to all types of damage.

However, despite everything that’s said in the marketplace about the material’s perfection, quartz surfaces can scratch and wear — and it’s not as perfect to repair. I’ve been to classes all over (with some even claiming to be able to repair quartz and glue/binder-enhanced slabs) but none yet have been able to reproduce the factory top polish. And, If you look at the fabricated end product, you may notice that edges rarely match that factory surface for consistency and gloss.

From my perspective, I’m looking at a combination of quartz (a beefy 7 on the Mohs hardness scale) and the binders of polyesters and/or epoxies (which, independently, can be scratched with a #4 Mohs hardness pencil). The quartz’s hardness dictates more PSI, heat and abrasion to polish; the binder needs less.

When the combination needed for the quartz is applied to the plastics, the heat expands the plastic and the abrasion shaves it off, leaving it below the surface of the harder quartz when it cools. Also, if colored dyes are present in the binding materials, the heat may cause smearing, making the polished area look hazy.

Apply less PSI, abrasion and heat, and the binding materials will shine … but the quartz will look lackluster at best. The surface feels smooth, but the gloss pattern is uneven in a random pattern of shiny and dull spots.

Let me be clear on this point: I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with a porcelain/ceramic or quartz surface that looks like stone. If that’s what a customer wants, it’s what the customers should get. I don’t have a problem with that.