Granite has blotchy appearance
by Lu
blotchy white granite
QUESTION:I hope somebody can give me some advice! We just had new granite countertops installed in our kitchen -- White Spring? It is absolutely gorgeous with lots of colors – white, cream, reds, black, greys, even gold! However, the surface is blotchy and looks dirty, scratched, and old.It feels smooth to the touch (not perfectly smooth…but smooth!) and it looks fairly glossy…but underneath all that, it looks as if the surface has been beat up! It’s hard to explain, you can see what look like “etchings” all over the counter, especially when the sun is shining, and from many different angles. We’ve been told from the installers that because there are so many colors in this granite, what we are seeing is the “veins” of different colors at the surface. But we just stopped in at a high-end kitchen place, and they had a similar white-ish granite where you could see these etchings if you really really REALLY looked for them at weird angles. Ours doesn't have as "deep" a gloss as the one we saw, and I feel compelled to tell every visitor, “Don’t worry – the counter’s clean. It just LOOKS dirty!” Is this NORMAL? It doesn't seem right to me! THANKS so much!! Hard to see in a photo, but I tried. Lu ANSWER:Lu, the short answer is.... Yes, it's normal. And I agree with your installer. Granite has many different minerals with different colors and properties, so when viewed at an angle they will reflect light differently and you can see what appears to be a "blotchy" surface.But as you note, the granite is smooth as it should be and I'll bet when you look down on the granite (or at any angle except sideways)the surface looks uniformly shiny, you can see your reflection and it isn't blotchy. You just aren't used to looking at granite and your guests will not think they are dirty or notice a thing unless they decide to inspect the granite countertop at all angles. Regarding the "other" granite... well there are 2500+ granites, so just a bit of variety! No two will look exactly the same, some with tighter patterns won't appear as blotchy or at least it will seam more uniform and some colors take a shine better than others. Also, granite countertops can have a number of different "finishes". A shiny "polished" finish is the most common type. However, the degree of polish or shine is not the same from stone to stone. Some granite slabs will polish to a higher shine than others. But in general, all granite countertop slabs come from the stone warehouse already polished to it's full shine. (Or finished to some other finish like a honed surface.) In fact, it comes to the stone warehouse already polished. Granite is quarried in big blocks, cut into slabs and then finished at the factory on big machines that use intense friction to smooth the raw granite surface into a mirror-like finish. Finished slabs are then purchase by and shipped to stone warehouses. Granite is very hard, so this finish is difficult (but not impossible) to damage. It's true that fabricators typically just cut and polish edges, but do not do anything to the top finished surface except clean it and seal it if necessary and requested. As noted, some stones do take a polish better than other stones and sometimes you can get a poor grade or "bad" slab. A few varieties like Santa Cecilia or New Venetian Gold can have such crappy composition (but not every slab) that they hardly polish at all and can have a gritty appearance. Fabricators should clean the granite prior to sealing, but granite sealers penetrate into the stone and do not form a "film" or "coat" so even if there was debris left on the surface it could be cleaned off after sealing and wouldn't be the cause of what you are seeing. Unfortunately, if you have such a dog stone, there isn't much you can do about it especially if you picked it out. So, sometimes there is good reason to complain about the look or finish on a slab, but it's pretty rare and usually involves a bad slab. In your case I think you're just driving yourself a bit crazy trying to find something wrong with your lovely new granite countertops. What you see is just how granite looks.  Good Luck,Ryan P.S. Get all the facts and simple step-by-step solutions to any problem with our Granite & Marble Maintenance Manuals.
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