Enhancer on Madura Gold Granite Kitchen Countertops.
QUESTION:I recently had Madura Gold granite countertops installed in my kitchen. As they were being installed I noticed large dark rectangular areas in the stone (not a natural variation). The granite was fabricated from the same slab. The installer said that it was wet and the areas would disappear in 24 hours. It's been 3 weeks and the areas remain the same despite shining a 500 watt light (which the company recommended) for 1 week. They now want to apply an enhancer. Should this correct the problem? Will the enhancer have to be reapplied? It looks like the granite is defective. Would appreciate your comments.ANSWER:Color enhancing granite sealers are made for honed stone. They will not do a thing (or very little) for a polished stone unless the stone in somewhat absorbent, which madura gold can be.So, if the granite is honed, then yes it would darken and most likely even out the color so the stain is not evident. If your granite is polished and gets darker when water is allowed to absorb into the surface, then an enhancer sealer may act similarly darkening the stone potentially hiding the stain. But as you have discovered the rectangular spots aren't just wet. If they were, the water would evaporate in a day or two. No, the problem probably has to do with the adhesive absorbing through the granite. This is usually the case when weird geometrical stains appear upon installation. So, it's an installation issue. You may be able to remove the staining using the procedure outlined in the Removing Stains Manual, but most often it's a terminal problem since the stain is coming from underneath and saturating the granite before it finally bleeds through to the topside surface. An enhancer sealer changes the reflectivity of the surface (like water does) making it darker and appear wet. Don't ask me to explain the physics, but polishing a granite countertop has much the same effect. It changes the way light is reflected off the surface. The color becomes richer, more saturated and shiny. You get essentially the same effect when you apply an enhancer. The effect is dramatic on honed stone. Much less so on polished stone and only if the stone can properly absorb the enhancer. Once more polishing will bring out the color of the stone so it is about as vibrant as it possibly can be. When the stone becomes wet, you'll notice it typically doesn't improve the color... it just makes the surface darker. This is the effect you'd likely have if you applied an enhancer to polished stone. If you like the look, fine. But you may not. Since you are not paying any extra for their mistake and any attempts to fix it, you may want to give it a go. Do a test area first. Or better yet, have the installers test apply the enhancer to a left over piece of your exact slab for your inspection. I'd try this experiment with the understanding that if you don't like the results they will tear out and replace the existing granite that was stained upon installation. Good Luck, Ryan P.S. Get all the facts, answers, explanations and simple solutions with step-by-step instructions for any issue, problem or question with our Granite & Marble Maintenance Manuals.
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