Refinishing counter top - 420 DB

[Irie308]

Our new to us 420 has the dark (black Corian) counter tops. It has quite a bit of fine scratches and is pretty dull. Have been researching online and from what i can tell its similar to removing oxidation from the hull. Wondering if anyone has done this before and if so what were your steps. Not sure if i need to go as far as wet sand first to remove the deeper scratches then use a rubbing compound then polish.

 

[atrick]

You just need a 6" randon orbital sander that you can hook up to a shop vaccum with a filter and a bag, should make it 95% dust free that way. You cam buy the sandpaper on line. Depending how bad the scatches are they make the paper from 80 grit all the way up to 6000 grit for a mirror like gloss finish. With a random orbital sander they don't leave swirl marks and you don't need wet sanding, just makes a big mess. Once you get up to the 300 and 400 grit is when it starts to polish the top. If you get to the finer grit and u see scratches just go back a few grits. Around the back splashes or corners do ur hand sanding first with the grit ur using on sander first in a circular motion as the sander does a better job than ur hand. Usually When I have to go out and sand a existing kitchen top 220 grit take the scratches out. Also you don't need rubbing compound, just makes a bigger mess and that's why the sand paper comes in all the grits it does! Owned a cabinet shop for last 27 years do this all the time, just takes a little time and not hard at all. If you have any question feel free to ask or pm me be glad to help.

 

[Irie308]

Thanks for the info. Yes would like to avoid the mess as much as possible. Much appreciated

 

[RollerCoastr]

Owned a cabinet shop for last 27 years do this all the time, just takes a little time and not hard at all. If you have any question feel free to ask or pm me be glad to help.

We keep our corian table in the cockpit, so it's gotten beaten up by usage and sun etc. I've been able to sand/polish it several times with one exception.

When I lived aboard, I used that table as an ironing board. I put a thick towel over the table and it worked great, but at some point I set the iron down thinking it was cooler than it was. The steam from the iron went through the towel. Each steam port in the iron left a light spot in the surface that won't come out. Any ideas?

 

[atrick]

The color in corian ( which is a brand name like cleanex and the trade name is called solid surfacing ) is all the way thru the piece, if it is a flat table with no back splashes, that makes it easy) you need to get a course grit like maybe 100 or even 80 which will take it down faster, till you get to where the discoloration ends. Then work you way up thru the grits till you get the shine you want. The finer the grit the longer you have to work that grit to get the scratches out from the previous grit. There is no such thing as working a grit to long but if you don't work it enough you won't get all the scratches out. And remember use a random orbital and not a straight line sander as they will leave straight lines that will show up in the final stages of polishing. Corian is a mineral ( whose name I can't pronounce ) that is ground up and mixed with a binder and poured into a mold 30" X 120" X 1/2 ' thick. The steam wouldn't have discolored the mineral but did the binder so you just have to sand it down till you get to good color! I've sanded out cigarette burns before and they were really deep but they come out. Also they make glue which is used to glue corian together to get the different thickness and sizes they need that matches the color but you need to get it from a corian supplier and the tubes take a special gun which in a $100 so you can fix holes, if you mistakenly drill a hole into your table, you can fix them and not be able to seem them. That end this class on solid surface repair, just kidding hope this helps everyone, and like always if you have question feel free to ask, i"ll try my best to answer.

 

[WV 320 Dancer]

All I can say is thank God Sea Ray went with true Corian. The box stores were selling some lesser quality products and the scratches the builders would put on the counter during that phases of construction were a bear to get out. I worked for Georgia Pacific for 23 years and have been on tons of inspections for hardwood plywood issues amoung other things.

 

[atrick]

corian is one off the upper priced materials and about 8 to 10 years ago they were one of the softer materials because they used more plastic in their binder. Their glues would melt the materials where as most of the other companies their bonds were an adhesive bind where they needed the material to be rough for a proper bond. With that being the case the corian would scratch easier but was quicker to sand out. Thru the years they have been slowly changing their material and I think most if not all of it has been changed, but I only use it if a customer insists on it as its still one of if not one of the highest priced materials. I've used 6 or 7 different brands out there and think the best is wilson arts solid surface. Its a lot harder in my opinion than corian and use it 99% of the time. Some of your older boats out there probably have some of the softer material in your boats and that why it scratches easier. The big name companies corian, wilson arts and a few others made 1/8" thick material and glued it onto particle board to make it look like thru solid material and to lower the costs. Most of the time if you look under the table or what ever you'll see the board or wood material. I don't know how much of that went into boat manufacturing as I don't do anything much with that tru my shop but have seen a lot in the furniture end but assume some went into boats. A lot of the companies don't make the stuff any more as it wasn't lasting and it didn't lower the cost enough to justify it, so you don't see it much if at all now. Saw it in a lot of RV's tho! When I make counter or tops everything is rough sanded with 80 grit to get the shape we need the finish sanded from there up to the final grit which is 2000 grit. I polish it till you start seeing depth to the material which is when the specs look deep in the material and go one grit finer unless they want a mirror finish. The shinier the surface the more it will show wear and tear!!

 

[Irie308]

So I took a stab at it this weekend and so far pretty happy with the results. A couple before and after attached. Almost wish i left it as is since its going to wreak havoc on my OCD to watch it get scratched up again. Why did Sea Ray go with this finish for a well used surface....why. Also note I had to hit it with a rubbing compound to get it to really shine.

 

[NotHerDecision]

Man that sure turned out nice! What sander did you use? I have a da but no way to attach a vacuum.

 

[ZZ13]

Are you sure that's Corian? Looks to me like a Sea Ray factory made molded fiberglass counter/sink with gelcoat over it. Looks exactly like my counter/sink only a different color. Looks to me like you refinished the gelcoat (rather nicely).