The Solid Surface Countertop Repair Blog: Odd dye lot repair

Friday, December 7, 2007

Odd dye lot repair

Having repair material on site that is the same dye lot as the countertop that is being repaired is the key to making the least detectable repairs possible. This material can be in the form of cutting boards or heat trivets that are made from your sink cutouts or stove cutouts. It may also be in the form of a piece of material that was left over from you original fabrication.

In the event that the homeowner doesn't have any dye lot matching material, a repair can still be made but it will have to be done out of a non dye lot match.

Often, the repair is still not very noticeable to a person that was unaware that the work had been performed. If however, someone did know the work had taken place they would be able to more easily detect the repair.

When doing a repair that is not a dye lot match it is important that the customer is informed ahead of time that the repair has a better chance of being detected than it otherwise would have.

If you are repairing a solid surface countertop that is acrylic, such as Corian or Wilsonart Gibraltar, as opposed to polyester, you tend to have a better color match with non dye lot repairs than you do with the polyester blends.

Often, a homeowner may have moved into a home that already had their tops installed and they do not know who the original fabricator was or what brand of material they have. It will be up to the experience of the repair technician to do some investigating in order to try and figure it out.

If the countertop has a color pattern it is easier to identify it. If it is a solid color such as bright white, off white, bone, or almond it can be a lot more difficult to determine exactly which brand it is.

Here are some examples of non dye lot repairs. The material pictured is polyester and not acrylic. Right now I do not have any photos of acrylic non dye lot photos.