Hiding Repair Lines Looks Much Worse Before it Looks Seamless and Invisible
Many customers believe that if the broken item has a "clean break" and that there are no missing pieces, the repair lines will not be visible with just cementing the broken pieces together. In fact, once the pieces are cemented, the repair lines will be wider because the adhesive takes some space increasing the gap and therefore the repair lines will appear darker. Additionally, as the cemented areas are worked on with a filler, grinding, sanding, and polishing to create a perfect and continuous surface, colors or painted details in the break lines' immediate areas are damaged and some detailed are erased.
The key for proper repair is illustrated below in two examples.
A) Break lines do not go through too much surface decoration details and
B) Break lines go through intricate painted details.
As you will learn from the second example below, the amount of details we have to restore and the involved process required for a good repair will have direct impact on repair duration and, therefore, cost.
Repair Example - Complete Process Including Painting and Glazing