granite stained

[tilelayer]

hey guys happy thanksgiving to everyone

i just got granite installed today on my countertops so trask this is a good one for you or any other fabricator, the one peice looked wet when the installers were putting it in and i said hey is that wet and he said yeah well 5 hours later and its still wet it looks stained to me, i tried to scrub it with soap and water i dont know much about granite all we do is granite tile so now i have a fan on it seeing what happens? ill call the slab place friday but i dont want to,any suggestions? some tilesetter i am, this is a first for me

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[gueuzeman]

Hey- you know we love pictures.......

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[tilelayer]

hi

[tilelayer]

1st one is the stain 2nd isnt

[tilelayer]

i just forked out 1600 bux in a bad economy for a stained granite slab that may not dry for months? im sorry i dont think so i just drove 1 hour to get my onyx for my backsplash to install this weekend and now im skeptical to do it

[GraniteGirl]

Hi Derrick

I am skeptical about them calling that a water stain. Did they use water when they installed?

The stone you have probably could do well with a sealer anyway, as it looks pretty porous. Is that Juparana Paradiso/Paradiso Bash? It normally does not take very long to dry out completely. (Stones like Giallo Antico could take a few weeks to dry, but not this one.) The only reason it might take longer to dry is if they sealed right over the wet spot or if the wetness (other cause of the mark?) comes up from below.

Is that the only spot with the wet mark?

Put a fan on the spot and see if the mark fades any. What did they use to glue the stone down? Is it 2cm or 3cm? Edit: I see in the picture you have a fan on there already!

Do not try to put solvents or anything - especially heat (as in a hair dryer/blow torch) on there if you are not 100% sure what the cause of the mark is. The wrong removal method could end up setting the stain and causing a bunch of other problems.

[tilelayer]

its thick paradisco bash thats it they used silicone i think i wasnt here i was working i came to see then silicone it in and put the sink its measures 1 1/4 when i got the sample it dried fast

[Davestone]

I think the only thing that would make that type mark would be something oil based,since the fan is doing nothing.Or maybe the silicone was spilled and wiped.Can you see the stain from underneath?If so i think it's oil based,if not maybe silicone.I've never worked with that stone but i would try a poultice for removing oil,a commercial type.But if one of the others knows this may spread the stain without removing it pipe up...http://stonerestorationsecrets.com/stonetech.htm or if it's silicone(which i think you could smell),this,but there is a possiblity it could spread the stain without completely removing it,this may be true of both materials.http://www.topoftheline.com/silicone-wax-remover.html

[tilelayer]

im going to make them come out and fix it no the stain is just on top

[GraniteGirl]

Try this to see if it is an oil stain: Put a piece of paper towel over the spot and weight it down with something flat & heavy (heavy book, ream of paper) and leave it a while. If it is oil, it should blot onto the paper towel a little.

Oil would come up with a poultice of acetone - fairly easy to DIY.

IMO: It does not look like a silicone stain. Those are normally big blobs on a regular interval, where the tops are glued to a sub top (2cm mostly) My guess is that one of the workers had a burger and fries for lunch and left the package on the counter. :jack:

You might want to do an absorption test regardless and/or find out what kind of sealer they used. If you are going to do an acetone poultice, you would need to reseal. That stone is quite thirsty and normally needs quite a bit of sealer.

[tilelayer]

Adriana

thanks i just tried that i just got home from being out last night, i dont know how long that will take it doesnt feel wet.

See I am a tile setter if someone has a complaint i will come out and fix it free of charge, so i feel like they need to make rgood on this. Just because i am in a similar trade,i feel i am not responsible to fix this. Theres a tile shop 10 minutes away that has a polstice for removing oils from stone it comes in a small plastic jar that silver polish would come in, but why should i pay for this unless this is going to be a problem with the rock, when i picked my slab i choose where i wanted my stone cut and there was no stains there when i picked these areas i wasnt born yesterday so im not going to buy into any bs that the installer tries to tell me that it was there already i have been doing marble and granite along with all the tile installs.


My main reason for this is i have a backsplash to install and before the plumber gets here i want to put it in so the faucets not in my way, will this stain removal be taken care of with the top in place?

[SevrinJ]

I would think it can be fixed in place with some cat litter or saw dust something to extract that stain out. On the other hand I think this is the responsiblility of the people who installed it and left it that way for you.

Onyx is not cheap so I would be damn sure you have a plan together before I tiled it in. :)

[tilelayer]

especially the onyx chairail pieces i have planned for the picture frame by the sink, figures this stuff happens in your house, wait....did i mention there's matte glass 1x1s too?

[Jhereg]

I'd make them take care of it, and don't mention that you've done anything to it, they can say you've made it worse or you caused it and they aren't responsible anymore. I've been on the other side of this kind of situation 9haven't we all) and we're expected to fix it before we get paid.

[tilelayer]

i was going to cancel the check i mean if i do its got to be tonight that i do it i didnt do anything to it i put a towel on it and thats it soap and water big deal

[doitright]

Hi Derrick :)

Don't use soap and water. Soap can actually create stains on porous materials. This stain can be removed in place. Start with Adriana's advice of paper towel and acetone first. Most fabricators aren't capable of proper stain removal. The last one I was involved with first tried covering the stain with a rag. :eek: Then they tried grinding it out! :eek: :eek: Then they replaced the top and chipped the seam! :eek: :eek: :eek:

While I strongly agree that this is their responsibility, I suggest you start with a possible simple remedy (yes, at your expense). It'll be worth it in the long run. ;)

[tilelayer]

im not doing anything, i emailed the company pictures of the stain we'll see what happens, my uncle said they are very good they didnt center something by 1 inch for a sink faucet on a slab and they ended up replacing the whole slab for free on another job he had a couple years ago

[ob1kanobee]

It is quite possible that it just may be an inherent part of the stone. Some call this an imperfection but how can you have an imperfection in something formed by nature hmm? I have seen a row of slabs with similar markings or spots on them on an a frame back to back one after the other. Usually these slabs are ones that people pick over for obvious reasons. I mean the entire slab can be what we call "clean" and have a natural blemish right smack in the middle (kind of like Cindy Crawford's mole on her face).
Did you look at or approve the slabs as part of the buying process or did you just choose from a sample piece? A good fabricator will allow you to go to the yard with them and see your slabs or allow you to be a part of the selection process. Once slabs are chosen they are tagged for you. I have seen people travel (customers) up to 200 miles to select their slabs.
One thing you might try is to take a damp sponge and wipe the bottom of the slab or back of the slab where the blemmish is and around the whole area to see if there is a similar resemblence on the underside. Lite the area well when your under the cabinets so you can actually see. If it is there, it could very well be part of the slab.

[tilelayer]

i am a tile setter we install granite and marble alot, i know a stain when i see one. the installers told me it was wet when i mentioned it to them and told me it would dry in an hour, i am not too familiar with granite slabs though. I picked this area of the slab myself about 2 weeks ago and thoroughly inspected it for fissions and stain and there was no stain there when i choose it, i would have seen it right away, the shop thinks its an acetone stain and they are going to come out and apply a poultice to it because i emailed them some pictures. I know its a stain because it was gotten slightly lighter since Wednesday but not much lighter.

[ob1kanobee]

Good to here that they are coming out to fix it. Never heard of an acetone stain but hey.......... Anyways most stains represented by the one in your picture are oiliophobic in nature (FYI acetone is not oiliophobic). They must not be sealed very well either then. I would recomend purchasing a product called "STAIN PROOF" out of Austrailia that you can find at some distributors in the states. The best way to apply it is by actually messaging it into the Granite by wearing appropriate gloves by hand.
Most sealers have no effect on granite, this one actually does. It also works very well on pourous stone. I'm in Orlando and one of the higher end Stone companies here (Shiply Marble) just sealed approximately 19,000 square feet of Limestone on the exterior of a house in Tiger Wood's neighborhood of Bayhill. Great product but expensive.

http://www.infolink.com.au/c/Dry-Treat/Dry-Treat-s-Stain-Proof-sealer-at-Anden-station-n806871

[tilelayer]

they did seal it because they forgot to seal the strip behind my slide in range i was tiling the side where the stove is a seperate slab and i was sponging some thinset up and it absorbed the water immediately. Im shocked with the way this has been installed this company is supposed to be one of the best ones and thats the 3rd mistake they made im letting one of the mistakes slide i wont even mention what else they did or should i say didnt do.


I threw this on about 10 minutes ago ill peel it later tonight i think, its acetone and a stack of bounty paper towels.

[tilelayer]

here it is after i hit it was the acetone i figured its good enough so i tiled the splash i may acetone it again tonight

[doitright]

Hi Derrick :)

I'm glad that you took the time to give the acetone a try! ;)

For a first application, it looks like you're well on your way to full removal of the stain. :yipee:

Good thing it wasn't an acetone stain! :D

[tilelayer]

i sealed the whole top today and it brought that stain back out but im letting it dry now hopefully is disappears.

[doitright]

Hi Derrick :)

Did you do another acetone poultice application? Was the stain entirely gone before sealing?

If you answered yes to both questions, you should have nothing to worry about. The new darkening is strictly because this is a porous stone and the sealer is penetrating doing its thing. That's why it didn't darken the rest of your top.

Didn't the sealer darken the strip behind your stove that you did? :shades:

Keep us posted.

[tilelayer]

the sealer darkened alot of the top it took 5 minutes but the top got dark i went heavy with the 511 cause i sealed the onyx at the same time, the strip behind the stove got very dark and everything lightened up and that stain spots dark but it seems like its drying as we speak but its alot darker then it was last night.

I did another acetone poultice and the stain looked like it was 98% gone and i was happy with the results. So i proceeded to grout and seal today.

This granite is very odd, all the back splashes we usually install are done on granite most of the time. When i am grouting now and i wipe some grout up off the top normally they are indestructible and this top get dark like a wet look very quickly and we never see that on the granite we usually are tiling on.

[doitright]

Hi Derrick :)

Since the whole top darkened when you reapplied the sealer is further proof of it's porosity. This is a perfect candidate for a higher solids content sealer than the one your currently using (or just multiple applications). Your method of saturating the stone is always best.

[tilelayer]

the spot lightened up alot and its almost indetectable. I got yelled at by my uncle/contractor for doing this to the top today because now he thinks i potentially screwed it up, but i instisted that you fellas knew what you were doing. So now hes angry with me. Lol

[doitright]

Hi Derrick :)

Potentially? :D

I will say that you jumped the gun by moving forward sealing without the stain being 100% gone. I also like to wipe down the entire top with acetone prior to resealing.

Basically, it sounds like you used good judgement! :tup2:

How about some photos of that infamous backsplash? :shades:

[tilelayer]

haha http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=731354&postcount=2048


the stain looks like it pretty much gone i can take a picture for you if you want im satisfied with it and what remains looks like it could be the natural stone itself

[gabec55]

If you installed a matching tile splash you would find that it too would darken from moisture from the thinset. Then after a couple of days would return to its natural color. I have installed countertops with adhesive caulk (like polyseamseal), on porous materials after an hour or so the moisture will begin to migrate to the top and darken the stone. These spots may take several days to go away(dry out).

Maybe its possible there was moisture ontop of the cabinet in this one spot?

I use Miracle 511 to seal most polished granite tops I install. One or two applications is generaly enough, but if the material darkens with application I will continue until it does not( each application will show less of a color change). I tell my customers that sealers are not fool proof, they give you time to clean up. Porous unsealed materials will absorb a red wine stain immedetaly, with sealer you have plenty of time to clean up the wine. But a wine spill left over night may stain.

Gary

[tilelayer]

there was no glue under it i checked it was in the center of a base cabinet not near an edge where glue would be. the stains pretty much gone now im satisfies with the job

[ob1kanobee]

Miracle 511 is a great product. It does not hold a candle to Stain Proof out of Austrlia though.

[gabec55]

Stain Proof is a great product, I have used it before. But once opened the contents of that container need to be used with in 7 days according to the label. For comercial uses its probably the best. for a residence use your best judgement.

Gary

[doitright]

Hi Rick :)

Thanks for the link! Beautiful material. I'd much rather see it on a backsplash as you've done, vs. some of the floors & baths I've seen it installed in.

I know what you mean about the final outcome of the stain (thinking it may actually be part of the stone). I do stain removal frequently, and since I never get to see the stone beforehand, it's very difficult to discern in the end whether or not the stain is totally removed, or just a part of the structure of the stone. :shrug:

Hi Ben :)

While Stain Proof is some powerful stuff, the smell is enough to knock your socks off. Surface Treatment Technologies SB & FE is a system that can't be beat. The SB has virtually no odor at all, and followed with the FE, offers lifetime stain protection.

[tilelayer]

i wasnt here but the granite company sent someone out they pulled the stain more and sealed the top again they also said this type of granite will get darker over the years and its just the type of granite.

[Steven Hauser]

It doesn't have to.

;)