Help with granite seam!

[JG1inNJ]

Originally Posted by Stoneseller

Last comment / question. What does the sample in the showroom where you bought the counters look like in comparison to what you have? Black granites are one of the stones where I find keeping your samples current is critical.

The sample in his showroom looks like my granite, however it doesn't have the blotchy areas. He only has maybe a 4"x4" sample of it on display.

Should acid do anything to the stone? I can stick a lemon on it if it'll help my case any.

[JG1inNJ]

I was ready to have Jo come down and polish this seam and call it a day, but now I can't even get it polished because the granite has been altered.

He said were he polishes it, it'll look the same color as the blotchy areas.

[JG1inNJ]

Should I make the fabricator come out and take a look at the blotchy areas? Or go to a diff shop and get an estimate to replace the AB and let my fabricator know what the estimate is and threaten to take him to court?

About the seam...ok, I understand that this seam is within standards, and black granite looks aweful w/ seams. He told me there was going to be a seam there, although I feel he had a responsibility to tell me the way black looks w/ seams. I knew nothing about granite prior. I didn't know black looks terrible w/ a seam, and then compund that w/ chips along the seam. The seam I have in my countertop doesn't bother me at all because of the light granite. I originaly wanted Santa Cecilia for the island as well but he was the one who pushed the black saying thats whats used for breakfast bars and how good it would look paired up against the St cecilia...which I agreed with.

I can see how his offer to replace the top at his cost would be fair based on this. But now we have a another issue w/ this top being potentialy dyed. I mean it has to be altered in some way as granite should not lose color.

Now, if I do threaten to take him to court, how the heck am I going to prove that the granite has been dyed? I'd need to pay an expert to come w/ me. And I'm not sure if showing him the granite and then threating to take him to courth will be enough for him to replace. He may call my bluff thinking I won't take him to court, which I really don't feel like doing anyway. I just don't have time for this headache. I have a stressful job, new house (new Mtg payment), a baby on the way...this granite BS is what I don't need right now.


Sorry for the rant, just nothing has been going right lately....

[JG1inNJ]

Update.

I called the fabricator Friday telling him he needs to take a ride over to see the blotchiness in this granite. He then said Oh I know exactly what your talking about, that the granite absorbed some of the sealer and it will dissapear within 14 days or so. This was 7 days after the sealing.

Me not knowing too much about this stuff, said ok, and you can bet if this doesn't start to fade away at least a little by next friday he's gonna get another call w/ me calling him out on it.

It looks like it getting worse by the day.


The only thing I'm using to clean the top is granite wipes, in the pre-moistened towel form.

	sealer Impregnation: This is commonly known as sealers. This is the first stage in preserving and maintaining your investment. This stage should occur ever six to eight months. There are three types of impregnation (solvent, water, silicone based), regardless to brand. This will stop most water base stains from occurring. It also will stop the stone from been damage beyond repair.

Originally Posted by JG1inNJ

Update.

I called the fabricator Friday telling him he needs to take a ride over to see the blotchiness in this granite. He then said Oh I know exactly what your talking about, that the granite absorbed some of the sealer and it will dissapear within 14 days or so. This was 7 days after the sealing.

Me not knowing too much about this stuff, said ok, and you can bet if this doesn't start to fade away at least a little by next friday he's gonna get another call w/ me calling him out on it.

It looks like it getting worse by the day.


The only thing I'm using to clean the top is granite wipes, in the pre-moistened towel form.

Why would he even seal AB granite? What a waste in my opinion. As you already know, your fabricator does not know his stone very well. The blotchiness is most likely caused from the sealer.

	sealer Impregnation: This is commonly known as sealers. This is the first stage in preserving and maintaining your investment. This stage should occur ever six to eight months. There are three types of impregnation (solvent, water, silicone based), regardless to brand. This will stop most water base stains from occurring. It also will stop the stone from been damage beyond repair.

[JG1inNJ]

Originally Posted by james stephens

The blotchiness is most likely caused from the sealer.

The blotchiness will be permanent or will dissapear like he said?

	sealer Impregnation: This is commonly known as sealers. This is the first stage in preserving and maintaining your investment. This stage should occur ever six to eight months. There are three types of impregnation (solvent, water, silicone based), regardless to brand. This will stop most water base stains from occurring. It also will stop the stone from been damage beyond repair.

Originally Posted by JG1inNJ

The blotchiness will be permanent or will dissapear like he said?

Its not going to disappear if the stone will not absorb the sealer. A rule of thumb and you will find it on other sites. I read this awhile back from Brian Briggs who is a fabricator in Florida. Reagarding the sealing of granite, a quick test he tells consumers is to drop water on the granite, leave it there for 30 seconds and wipe it off, if the stone darkens in that area, it needs sealing. If it does nothing, it does not need sealing. You could do the same with lemon juice and olive oil. Because AB is so dark, neither of the above tests will apply, therefore it does not need sealing. I would be willing to bet with 90% certainty if not more that your problem is either a doctored stone or the sealer. E-mail me with with additional questions. Acetone may not work for your doctored test but MEK definately will (if can be found at kelly moore paints or home depot, its nasty stuff)

	sealer Impregnation: This is commonly known as sealers. This is the first stage in preserving and maintaining your investment. This stage should occur ever six to eight months. There are three types of impregnation (solvent, water, silicone based), regardless to brand. This will stop most water base stains from occurring. It also will stop the stone from been damage beyond repair.

[JG1inNJ]

James, thank you.


Update. Ike came over today and looked at the granite which is getting worse by the day. He's trying to BS me telling me he thinks the spots are caused from the silicone underneath the granite seaping up threw the top. Or he's says the spots are naturaly occuring within the granite and I signed the contract stating that granite can have variations of markings.

I told him in no way are these markings naturaly occuring and told him about the forum and how everyone has been telling me the stone has either been dyed or altered somehow, perhaps w/ a color enhancing sealer. He says thats rediculous and if it's been dyed it would come off w/ the acetone. He acted like he's never heard of black granite being dyed before asking me why would they dye it.

Everyday it gets worse and worse. He refuses to take any responsibility and says he could easily walk away from this situation, but instead he's offering to give me a new seamless black slab for $1800.

The granite looks horrible at this point, the whole top is becoming blotchy, and I have a fabricator that is telling me it's either the silicone underneath that seaped up threw the top, or the spots are naturaly occuring in the granite which he's not responsible for. He wants me to put poultice on the spots and says if it's a stain it will draw it out, but as we all know these marks are not stains.


Guys, how do I PROVE to him that this stone has been altered and he's responsible for it? I told him to come to the forum and to participate in this thread as there are a lot of granite experts here, but I'm positive he will not.

	sealer Impregnation: This is commonly known as sealers. This is the first stage in preserving and maintaining your investment. This stage should occur ever six to eight months. There are three types of impregnation (solvent, water, silicone based), regardless to brand. This will stop most water base stains from occurring. It also will stop the stone from been damage beyond repair.

	Poultice This operation takes a minimum of twenty-four hours to extract foreign materials (stains) from most natural stones.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Eric W

Next time the contractors name and information should be sent via PM.

Why do u do this to us? B)

[JG1inNJ]

I was reading here http://www.findstone.com/staingran.htm that sealer can etch black granite possibly causing the marks I'm seeing. What do you guys think?

" 1796: Stain: I was asked to look at a Black Absolute Granite Island and countertops installed by another contractor. The customers complaint is that almost anything (soda, milk, tomato etc.) leaves a light permanent stain if allowed to sit on counter for more than 3 minutes. The contractor applied a sealant out of a can marked impregnator. Then he left instructions for customer to remove residue, with soap and water, after 24 hours. The customer said there was such a heavy residue you could not see the stone. This does not sound like any impregnating sealer I've used. I wiped out of the way corner with acetone No black residue was visible on my white towel. However when I applied Black Pamir it masked the light area. Is there any sealant the customer can apply to prevent this reverse staining? Thanks, George, May 14. Reply

R2: Yes stop putting waxes and impregnators on it. Acetone everything off the island. Realize that it is the waxes and impregnators that were etching. Now, leave it alone. Gabbros don't need impregnators or waxes. Regards, Steven, USA "





" 1796: Stain: I was asked to look at a Black Absolute Granite Island and countertops installed by another contractor. The customers complaint is that almost anything (soda, milk, tomato etc.) leaves a light permanent stain if allowed to sit on counter for more than 3 minutes. The contractor applied a sealant out of a can marked impregnator. Then he left instructions for customer to remove residue, with soap and water, after 24 hours. The customer said there was such a heavy residue you could not see the stone. This does not sound like any impregnating sealer I've used. I wiped out of the way corner with acetone No black residue was visible on my white towel. However when I applied Black Pamir it masked the light area. Is there any sealant the customer can apply to prevent this reverse staining? Thanks, George, May 14. Reply

R2: Yes stop putting waxes and impregnators on it. Acetone everything off the island. Realize that it is the waxes and impregnators that were etching. Now, leave it alone. Gabbros don't need impregnators or waxes. Regards, Steven, USA

R1: Dear George: Why don't you take a gun and shoot yourself, after shooting dead the
contractor who applied the impregnator?! You'd be rendering a priceless service to society.
Time and again I've been preaching and reporting real-life episode of the "damages" that an impregnator does to stones - like black "granite" (no such an animal like black granite) - that don't need to be sealed, but, apparently, the salesmen got onto you and that contractor real good, to the point that they sealed with an impregnator your brains, too, just in case -
the Gods forbid it - some intelligence had a chance to sink in!!
The light stains reported to you by your customer are etchings on the first impregnator that had been applied on the stone. Now, to "eliminate" the problem, all you guys can do is to apply more impregnator. In other words, you have a problem before you, but have no clue whatsoever about its nature, yet you go about it by trying some pathetic solutions.
Get hold of a strong paint-stripper based on Mythelene Chloride (anything else will not do) and flood that poor stone with it. Let it sit several minutes feeding it when necessary, then remove all the stupid impregnator that had no business being there in the first place, by rubbing the surface of the stone with a rough rag. Discard frequently. Wear rubber gloves and keep the place ventilated. Follow all cautionary direction on the can of the stripper. Once you're done, spill a few drops of lemon juice on the countertop, let them sit for a few minutes, then wipe them dry. If you still notice a slight discoloration, that means that the stupid sealer wasn't removed completely, therefore you have to repeat the procedure until the lemon juice will tell you that the job is done. After that, let your customer enjoy their stone the way Mother Nature intended. All you have to do is giving them some precise guidelines on proper maintenance and indicate them the right products to use. But, let me guess, you don't much (and so does the other contractor) about that, do you! Ciao and good luck, Maurizio, USA
"

	sealer Impregnation: This is commonly known as sealers. This is the first stage in preserving and maintaining your investment. This stage should occur ever six to eight months. There are three types of impregnation (solvent, water, silicone based), regardless to brand. This will stop most water base stains from occurring. It also will stop the stone from been damage beyond repair.