Maurizio, we are planing on purchasing a Stonemark countertop from Home Depot, the style name is Mohave Cream. This is for an outdoor location where some exposure to water is going to happen once in a while. STONEMARK says their 15 year no stain warranty does not apply to outdoor locations, should I seal this product from time to time and if so what do you recommend. Thanks for your help.

 

Dear Leonard:

In my humble opinion the Stonemark “sealing system” is pretty much a marketing scam – especially in relation to marble. But what do I know?… L  

At any rate, this is not a problem anymore, because they will not extend what I consider their Swiss cheese warranty to outdoor installations. Thank goodness to that! J

I'm not really familiar with this (probably) “proprietary” Mohave Cream style thing; but if it is polished marble you don't need to seal it at all. Of course, if indeed it is polished marble, it will get etched like crazy (“ware stains”), but even indoor the wondrous sealing of Stonemark could not do the first thing to prevent those surface damages. No sealer on planet Earth could possibly do that.

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 – as 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 routine care from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at:  http://www.mbstone.com/HH_promo/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.mbstone.com/literature/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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Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli

 

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