swirl marks

i hae new Ubatuba kitchen counter. Two pieces of granite were used. The island an sink piece(tha I think were rom the same piece) have swirls marks and a ull appearance in certain light. Overall Ifyou step back the counter does have a gloss, but the island in particular looks dull. I did apply a water based sealer to the counter bu this didn't make a difference. I also noticed that small areas are rough were chips of stone seem to have come out or somthing hit tose areas. Is this stone that soft?

 

Dear Nancy:

 

“ I did apply a water based sealer to the counter but this didn't make a difference. ”

 

Of course it didn't! Didn't you read the directions on the back of the bottle? Sealers for stones – that should only be called impregnators – are exclusively below-the-surface (of the stone) products and the most important phase of the application of an impregnator is to make sure that every residue of the product is thoroughly removed from the surface of the stone, before it has a chance to dry. In other words, at the end of the sealing job the stone surface must be as bare as it were before the beginning of the sealing procedure; which automatically implies that it will do absolutely nothing to alter the current finish of the stone surface, which was produced mechanically, by abrasion and friction by the factory. On top of that, considering that Ubatuba can't be technically impregnated (it's too dense a stone to take any sealer in), all you did was helping the bottom line of the manufacturer of the product.

All that duly said, going by your description it appears to me that you've got a dog!

Charnockite (that's what Ubatuba is) is a very hard stone and it should not do what you're reporting. It also should be nice and polished in a uniform way, not swirly and dull.

Demand you fabricator to replace your countertop, because there's nothing that you could possibly buy or do to improve on the appearance of your countertop. The only possible other option would be to find a stone restoration contractor who's able to tackle a job like that. There are probably no more than a dozen contractors qualified enough at that level of difficulty in the entire country.

 

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