We just had new coutertops put in out bathroom - it is that Fossil Brown type - chocolate brown with white fossils in it. I have a care question and a general question. General - we noticed a small crater/pit the top of one; about 3/4" round and 1/16"-1/8" inch deep. The installers filled it with a clear filler and it looks *OK* but of course I see it. Is that typical/acceptable for this type marble? It was a fairly expensive top - almost double the cost of the granites or travertines we were considering( but my wife really wanted it). Care - I want to get the right cleaning/sealing/care products from your site - which do you recommend for that type marble? the tops are 22"x44" each. Thank you for your help. Steve

 

Stephen:

Define, "typical" and "acceptable" for me, please... What's typical and acceptable for me, may not be the same for someone else. It is true, however, that a good craftsman could have made an "invisible mending" considering the type of stone; but it would have taken a bona-fide stone restoration professional, not an installer.

That being said, that stone does not need to be sealed. Better said, it can't be techincally sealed, for it does not absorb anything, and a sealer for stone must be absorbed by the stone to work. You'd better get the right intelligence about routine cleaning, which is vastly more important than the sealing thing. Even if it were possible to seal that stone, sealers for stone offer inherently very little "protection" - just a reduction of the absorbency rate of the stone it's applied to and nothing else. 

MB-5 and MB-13 are "your men" and all you will ever need to use. Just keep in mind that fossil stone is calcareous in nature; therefore is sensitive to acidic substsances. Try to avoid to spill anything acidic on it, such as contact lens cleaner, after shave, fragrances and perfunes, the wrong cleaning products (don't use any glass cleaner to clean that mirror over your vanity!!), etc.

Needless to say, there's no sealer in the entire galaxy that could do the first thing to prevent the surface damages generated by acidic substances, a.k.a. acid etchings. (They look like water spots or rings, etc.)

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli