Q.Ok. I had my counter guy sent over to look at the rings on my black impala counter. I had mentioned a contractor who does high end kitchens looked at it and said its not right. It also sound hollow/glassy. So the guy looked at it and wanted to put a sealer on it, they already tried that. He also wants me to have the contractor fax him a letter stating he is a member of BBB and what he thinks is wrong. Then he will come and look at it. I feel he just has no clue.

A.Hi-Hey I am a little confused about the details who looked at what.He said and she said and the guy looked at it and wants to put sealer on it but first needs a letter from the contractor who must be a member of BBB and what he thinks is wrong. Sounds like the twilight zone has just come home to your house.

Heres the scoop.

Impala black "granite" is a norite(geological classification) which is a perfect stone for the kitchen.It is a very dense stone which doesnt require sealing and is acid resistant.

It could very well be the sealer causing these problems because the sealer will sit on the surface and etch.(Those rings)The stone is too dense to accept the sealer.

The other issue is your stone could be doctored.

What I mean by that is a few selections of black granite are not really black just a dark grey when highly polished.

Since nobody wants grey granite the manufacturers of the slabs doctor them by applying some sort of shoe shine or resin and sell them as black stones.

Typically the doctoring is sensitive to acidic agents and gets destroyed by it showing the true color of the stone.

So the case of sealing anyway is just plain stone ignorance

but it can be rectified by removing the sealer.

My advice would be to hire a bona fide stone restoration pro(with references) who can tell you what is going on.

Find one at www.stoneandtilepros.com

Stu Rosen