marble countertop etching

I have had my new kitchen countertops for only about 3 months and already I have a lot of water spots/etching. I am very careful and am wondering if it is possible that it wasn't sealed. I didn't ask when they installed (home depot contractor). Anyway, should I try the marble polish then seal again (or seal for the first time??)? Thanks for your help. Becky

 

Dear Becky:

I really don't know how to break the bad news to you, but it is over a century and a half that humankind tried to solve   - without succeeding, of course – the problem of the etching of calcareous rocks. The only solution would be alchemy…

Bottom line: the wrong stone in the wrong place, and no sealer for stone on planet Earth will ever do the first thing to prevent those surface damages from occurring.

Second, stone is polished mechanically by abrasion and friction, like gemstone, not by applying a sealer to it. Only a proficient stone restoration contractor could repair your countertop by slightly grining it (honing) with the appropriate abrasive means and then re-polishing it to factory specifications with the appropriate polishing powder, that could be different for every marble.

But then, why fix it? It is going to happen again and again and again…

 

Any solution?

 

Not really. If there were a solution it wouldn't be the wrong stone in the wrong place.

 

However, you could wisely decide to give up the shine and turn your countertop into a low-hone-finished surface. You could have it done professionally, or, if you have some handy-person in your household, it could be done relatively easily with an orbital sander (NOT a belt sander) and metal-grade 60 grit sandpaper. I would then follow up with 120 girt and then stop right there. I would finally apply a good quality stone impregnating sealer like MB-4, and then routine care for my countertop with a good quality stone spray cleaner like MB-5.

 

Other than that…

 

But I'm surprised that where you bought your stone from did not wanr oyu of that particular unsolvable problem. (Or maybe I'm not surprised at all… L )

 

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 zio Bertoli

 

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