sealing granite counters

Hi Maurizio, Approximately 5 1/2 years ago we installed Santa Cecilia granite counters from Great Indoors (Sears.) When we first started to use the new counters we noticed that it got dark when wet and called the fabricator, who told us it had not been sealed properly and resealed it. It no longer gets dark when wet. But we did get a stain when some strawberry juice sat overnight. I got most of the stain off but cold not get a litle bit of pink out of the granite. Also there is one small section where the granite seems to have pitted. The fabricator cannot tell me what sealer they may have used 5 years ago and stated that I don't need to seal again but could if I wanted to, and that any sealer from home depot would do. I have read your comments that one should never change sealers. I am afraid that in trying to protect my granite i will actually cause some harm. My wife bought something called "Tile Lab "SurfaceGuard Penetrating Sealer" from our local hardware store. It says it uses Teflon, is good for 20 years and lists water, CAS # 7732-18-15; Copolymer, CAS# NA as its ingredients. I have no scraps or inconspicuous locations where I can test. How can I determine whether it needs to be sealed again? And whther using the product I described is OK. One other question. My wife often cleans the counter using Windex and has been doing this for years without any obvious bad effect. Is this a problem and might that be the source of the pitting? Thank you Mike Blumer

 

Dear Mike:

 

“ But we did get a stain when some strawberry juice sat overnight. ”

 

You could have used the best super-duper impregnator in the entire galaxy and have it applied in the best possible way, and you still can take it to the bank that if you leave some staining agent on your countertop overnight it will get stained.

There's no Teflon on that product. There's no Teflon in any impregnating sealer on the market. There use to be a version of it several years ago but it was banned by either the EPA or the OSHA (I don't remember which). Even I back then had to change the formula because we were using a variation of Teflon in our own impregnator.

That duly said for the record and keeping in mind that the “perfect” sealer does not exist, you probably don't even need to seal your stone again. To find out do this: Spill some water in a couple of spots of your stone, let it dwell for 5 minutes or so, wipe it dry and observe if the areas under which the water has been sitting have become (temporarily) any darker than the rest. If so, then you will apply a good-quality impregnating sealer. If not, you won't. And, BTW, yes, I confirm that using the same make of impregnator is always the best bet.

 

“ Is this a problem and might that be the source of the pitting? ”

 

Nobody can tell for sure, but it is indeed a distinct possibility. It is taking chances anyway. Do read the free article about cleaning stone surfaces with dish soap and glass cleaners that you can find at:   http://www.mbstone.com/HH_promo/helpful_hints.htm.

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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