On Mar 9, 8:05*am, " wrote:
Hi,

Just when our bathroom renovation was almost done.....

One of the workers was trying to get out these little marks in the new
sink (wish I hadn't made such a fuss about those now) *and he saw a
container of CLR in our basement and decided to use it to try and get
the marks out of the sink. *In doing this he put the container on the
marble vanity top.

So the next day I saw these marks that match the bottom of the clr
container on the vanity top. *They are deep enough that the clear coat
on the marble has been eaten away but not really very deep. *Doesn't
look good though and of course I want it fixed.

I had one guy out to look at it and he gave me a price of $450 to
refinish the entire top. *The top only cost $500 so that seems pretty
expensive to me. *That guy also told me the entire top had etching
marks on it which really isn't true so I don't feel comfortable using
him.

I was hoping to get it done for about $200.

Shouldn't it be possible to just have someone in to repair the spot
that has the marks on it? *It is only on one side of the vanity top.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Steve

Although his price seems a bit high, I'll bet that guy is right! *IF*
your counter top did NOT have etch marks all over it, the CLR would
not have gone through like it did. I believe he's right, the BEST
course of action is the whole counter top!

Note manufacturers are set up to finish surfaces, so their costs are a
LOT less than doing it in the field.

Now, shop around and have the whole surface redone, UNIFORMLY. I'll
bet you'll be happier with the results and the long lasting surface.


Comments are based a little on the experience of two items: oak floor
spot damage and grand piano top water mark, then acetone mark!

On the piano top fainted at the first estimate - do the whole thing!
so went with spotting to repair at much less money. needless to say
'spotting' was a good term I ended up going back to the first
(expensive) guy who knew what he was talking about and in an afternoon
the top was as perfect as day one, lasting years and years! Seems
professional results just cost more. but LESS when you divide the cost
by the total time of enjoyment.

The floor, never mind! We were originally warned to watch out for the
new finishes (I think it was varathane, or something like that) that
last 25 years maybe but went with that because easy and beautiful,
sure enough about 20 years later the finish started turning into
something else! Muck describes it well. And NOT possible to repair,
tried spot repair after spot repair. Finally bit the bullet and did a
Russian sanding then put on good old spar varnish (linseed oil based)
coats and NEVER had a problem again, plus was able to spot repair that
finish anytime anywhere invisibly.

Note: Russian sanding is the term I use to describe taking large block
of flat wood (no pad!) cover with sandpaper and have at it, manually.
Do NOT use tools with pads, nor small surfaces! You cannot believe how
FLAT the refinished floor comes out. Looks like the original flatness,
none of those telltale wobblies and divots left by the standard
refinishing people.

Again, the fact that your mind keeps going back to that guy's comment
to refinish the WHOLE surface, means you probably deep down believe
that is the only repair technique that will satisfy your standards of
excellence - you just keep trying to convince yourself otherwise. Give
up, do the whole thing and be happier with it.