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Sealing Honed Granite countertops |
Article Number: 699 | Rating: Unrated | Last Updated: Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM |
Hi Maurizio, What is the best way (or product to use) to seal our Absolute Black Honed Granite Countertops that will leave them with a little shine? The sealer that was used at the time of installation left our granite looking chalky and not very pretty. Nothing like the shiny, honed slab that arrived at our house. Can you recommend a good sealer and caulking that my handy husband and I can use or are we better off calling in a professional? Thank you, Lory
Dear Lory:
I'm afraid that by now you're going to have to call a professional stone restoration contractor.
While there are indeed different opinions on the issue of sealing black hone granite, but there is a unanimous consensus about the fact that it presents maintenance issues.
The problem with honed black granite is that it is not, well … black any more! Most black stones are but an optical illusion: they become black only when highly polished, or when wet. (See the back of your slab to see the real color of your stone!) As you take gloss off the stone surface (and honing does just that) you lose depth of color and the stone turns gray; but when you wet it ... here it is black again! As you spill oily liquids, or you simply touch the stone surface with your fingers (perspiration), you're going to have all sorts of dark surface stains that are a terrible eyesore. Please notice that I said, surface stains, not imbedded stains. In fact, you can clean those stains off (though with lots of labor), while if they were imbedded you would have to poultice them out. If you apply an impregnator/sealer to the stone you will not solve your problem one bit: in fact the sealer will only prevent liquids from being absorbed by the stone (which in the case of black honed granite is an unlikely event to begin with), not the staining of its surface.
Any solution?
Well, yes: you have to give up the gray!
If you apply a good-quality stone color enhancer to your countertop instead of an impregnating sealer (a good-quality stone color-enhancer like MB-6 is also an impregnator/sealer) it will turn it permanently black, while preserving the hone finish. In that way, the surface-staining problem would be minimi
Let's just hope that your fabricator, in their “infinite wisdom,” did not apply an impregnator/sealer to your stone: this would have to be stripped (not an easy feat!), or else the color/enhancer wouldn't stand a chance to work properly.
And don't you forget that in order to upkeep your stone and the color enhancer, your best bet is to use good-quality specialty products for stone. (
http://www.mbstonecare.com)
Will you now please read and sign our Statement of Purpose by logging on at:
http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm? By spreading the word about this valuable site among your friend & family and the stone trades' people you've been dealing you will be rendering everybody a valuable service!
Moreover, do take advantage of the plethora of FREE Helpful Hints available at:
http://www.marblecleaning.org/helpful-hints.htm. They're on the house!
Thank you.
Ciao and good luck,
Mauri
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