honed marble counter

Hi Maurizio, We recently built a home an installed honed marble in or kitchen....what a disaster!!!the builder said it was sealed although water would penentrate right through.. then he had another "expert" come in an strip everything off and re-seal it..the water marks are still there along with glass marks and spots.. is there anything I can do? it really looks bad... Jayne

 

Dear Jayne:

I really don't think that you have any stain.

Answer this for me: don't the “stains” look just duller than the rest of the surface? Or do they look darker?

What I believe the problem is that the hone finish of your stone is on the high side and the acidic substances that become in contact with your stone leave marks of corrosion behind (etch-marks). Of course, no sealer for stone could ever to the first thing to prevent those “stains”, which are actual surface damages. Nothing can prevent them.

But they can easily be fixed with some good old sand-paper.

And now read this:

 

ABOUT MARBLE IN A KITCHEN

 

The stone itself has nothing to do with it. It's rather a collective culture issue.

All throughout the Mediterranean basin marble is a very popular stone as a kitchen countertop and everybody enjoys it. (Limestone is not so popular, but certain types of limestone could be acceptable in relation of what follows.) In Northern Europe and all throughout North America , many like the way it looks, but nobody enjoys it!

How's that?

For the simple reason that In Southern Europe they never install a polished marble countertop (or a polished marble floor, for that matter). They start from a hone-finished surface and then they start using and abusing it and only care for it with a good-quality stone cleaner (like MB-5). The “worse” it gets, the better they like it! It's considered “aging.” It's like a pair of old blue jeans, if you know what I mean: a highly sought “lived-in” look.

While the looks of an old pair of jeans is very much appreciated in Northern Europe or in North America , too, the same principle does not seem to apply to stone. Most people over here expect their stone to look like brand-new all the time, and any “change” is not considered “aging”, but a damage that needs to be rectified.

Hence the problem.

The question now is: regardless of your geographical location, which one of the two groups do you belong to? J We already know the answer to that, don't we?...

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