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Hazy Dakota Mahogany

Article Number: 616 | Rating: Unrated | Last Updated: Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 12:00 AM

I enjoyed finding your website. Very informative. I just had Dakota Mahogany kitchen countertops installed using a single slab. Most of the stone is quite beautiful with depth and good color definition. The problem is on a long section the appearance becomes shallow looking and hazy the last 1/4 of the counter. I told the fabricator/installer and mentioned that there is a ceiling light that shines directly down on this section, he said the lighting should not be an issue. They sent a guy out to look at it, He buffed the section with a diamond pad which improved the look about 30 to 40% then resealed the area with Stonetech impregnator pro. This rather large area although improved still looks horrible compared to the rest of the granite. What can be done to improve the look of the stone? Also, is Dakota Mahogany granite or other stone? Thank you Patrick West P.S. any care or product recommendations would be appreaciated.

Dear Patrick:

Dakota Mahogany is true granite and with an absorbency rate of 0.15% to 0.2% should not have been sealed. Actually, even if they applied an impregntor (a.k.a. sealer) to it, they did not actually sealed it: they only helped the maker of the product to pay for his next exotic vacation!.

That said, if after the "improvement" it still looks terrible, tell the fabricator to send you a real professional or to replace the countertop for you.

Now remember, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is – like it should be intuitive – vastly more important than its sealing (if and when possible and/or advisable) and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about it from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/helpful-hints.htm , you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay- per-download format in our Educational Literature section at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/literature.htm .

And remember, every single penny of the cost of the literature will be used to support this site and its cause: your cause.

While you are in the “Helpful Hints” section, do spend some time reading all of the interesting FREE articles you'll find in there!

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By spreading the word about this valuable site among your friend & family and the stone trades' people you've been dealing with, you will be rendering everybody a valuable service!

Thank you

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli

www.marblecleaning.org – The only Consumers' Portal to the Stone Industry Establishment!