color enhancer for tropical brown; presumed adhesive stain too

Maurizio - I wrote you the email below on the 18th but now have one additional note - in my message below i said 'since ... such porous stone'.. from what i have read on yoursite since hten, Tropical Brown is not supposed to be very porous - so now i am a little confused about that part too...... BELOW is email i still need help with.. THANK! -email sent 2/18---------------We recently had 3/4" Tropical Brown granite installed. (The edges are 2 3/4" pieces seamed together which actually look quite nice).. The 3/4" slabs that sit atop the counters are affixed to plywood. The installers used an adhesive that was dark in color and apparently not the right kind for such a porous piece of stone, as along the edges of the undermounted sink and in places along seams the color of the granite is darker, presumably from the glue. In fact, the night it was installed we had a small George Foreman grill and the spot that got warmer from the grill is also now darker - we presume the glue actually absorbed up through there as well as it was not completely dry from the installation job. Will those darker areas ever return to the more natural shade of the rest of the stone? To make matters more complicated, one of the slabs is lighter than the others it is up against - almost a bit 'greener' in color. The installers came back and torched that slab and mixed some product (a darker wax?) into it trying to darken it. It did seem to color it some but was not uniform nor dark enough overall - the difference is still easily noticeable.. Would your color-enhancer product work on this even though the granite has been sealed? After reading your comments about getting the 'right fabricator' we are indeed now a bit concerned after the sub-par installation job. The granite itself looks beautiful except for the flaws mentioned, caused by the installation job (and matching the one slab)... Are there other 'nightmares' that could await should we keep this granite, or should we insist the countertops be removed and get our money back (it would be quite a job given the way they were installed, i am sure - we would like to avoid that extreme trouble if we can) Thanks in advance, Debbie Garda Lewis Center, Ohio

 

Dear Debbie:

There's a reason why I did not answer your previous e-mail: there's nothing that can be done about it. When the glue starts wicking up from a solidly bonded substrate and reaches the surface of the stone, that's the end of it. And it is permanent.

All the rest: the difference in color of the two pieces of slabs, the sealing and the color enhancer things, are dwarfed by the main problem; and even if there was a solution – which usually there is not – it wouldn't make any sense pursuing it.

Yes, the entire countertop has to be replaced, and yes, the responsibility is exclusively on the fabricator.

May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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