Granite Worktops - Truth, Lies and misinformation

bluewater

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere in this thread and Alan M has pointed out several times that light coloured stones are more porous. But I thought I'd pass on our recent experience which might be helpful to others choosing.

We had settled on Milky White having also considered Kashmire White but on visiting our supplier's wholesalers to choose a piece we found a stone called Panna Fragola which we preferred. It looks terrific and interestingly the fitters commented that they found it noticeably heavier than other stones. But it absorbs water extremely rapidly. Any water left lying on the surface for more than a few minutes results in a noticeable darkening. A wet plate left after washing up for example leaves a circular stain. However, once the water is wiped away the stain disappears very quickly as if it was never there. We have lived with it for three weeks now and have got used to it but it certainly makes you more conscious of getting the surface wet and you tend to wipe down more often. If anything like red wine were left on the surface for any length of time I think it may well stain.

It was sealed after fitting and we have been left a care kit that includes more sealer but I don't think that more sealing will improve things.

cddc

bluewater wrote: »

I don't think that more sealing will improve things.

Que??? Hellooooo! What is sealer designed to do?

Of course more sealer will improve things:p'

Alan_M_2

cddc wrote: »

Que??? Hellooooo! What is sealer designed to do?

Of course more sealer will improve things:p'

If it's an impregnating sealer (which it should be) then anything beyond 3 coats actually does nothing. There is only so much an impregnator can do.

If that isn't enough then you'll need a topical sealant (for wood this would be a product like yacht varnish), which is not suitable or practical for a granite worktop.

I think Panna Fragola is a Chinese sourced granite more commonly known as G614. It's nature is it's quite open grained, throwing more sealer on it is not going to help at all. Just be a little careful in use.

If it does stain, there are chemical products that can draw the stain out of the stone.

hotcookie101

Alan M, having had my granite installed (and it is amazing-they did a fantastic job, it was all cut from one slab, so no joins bar a small one, despite all the corners, took 4 guys to bring in the worktops!!! ) they gave me a spray to use called rejuvenata that they recommend I use weekly, I can buy more from them for £14, apparently it seals it each time I use it? Also she told me to avoid using washing up liquid as the soapy scum will dull it? Does that sound right? So far I have used the spray a couple of times, but an ecloth and water seems to give a better finish...

I'm so pleased we went with the labrador-the slab was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen! The granite people our kitchen guy uses apparently only uses 600mm wide worktops, so not only would he have been more expensive we would have had about 8 joins!

maxito1

chick21 wrote: »

Any recommendations for places in SW London?

Hi there, gqlondon.com specialise in granite worktops and have a showroom in Fulham if that helps! Were the cheapest quote when I installed my kitchen and workmanship was top notch!

Jon_Tiffany

Absolutely great post Alan, thanks for writing such an informative guide and sharing it with us.

cyclonebri1

Fantastic 1st post maxito man, , ie join up the dots

Alan_M_2

hotcookie101 wrote: »

Alan M, having had my granite installed (and it is amazing-they did a fantastic job, it was all cut from one slab, so no joins bar a small one, despite all the corners, took 4 guys to bring in the worktops!!! ) they gave me a spray to use called rejuvenata that they recommend I use weekly, I can buy more from them for £14, apparently it seals it each time I use it? Also she told me to avoid using washing up liquid as the soapy scum will dull it? Does that sound right? So far I have used the spray a couple of times, but an ecloth and water seems to give a better finish...

I'm so pleased we went with the labrador-the slab was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen! The granite people our kitchen guy uses apparently only uses 600mm wide worktops, so not only would he have been more expensive we would have had about 8 joins!

Clean water and an ecloth will deal with daily maintainance.

I'm not completely sold on some of the products that people offer, this doesn't mean they are rubbish, but I find a bit of clean water often does just fine.

Anne3333

I am off to the granite wholesaler in the morning, so finding this thread was perfect timing. Does anybody know what to look for in granite to check the quality, other than ensuring the thickness is within the acceptable range of within 2mm for joining sections? Is there any way to check the porosity or any standardised grading of granite?

cyclonebri1

Anne3333 wrote: »

I am off to the granite wholesaler in the morning, so finding this thread was perfect timing. Does anybody know what to look for in granite to check the quality, other than ensuring the thickness is within the acceptable range of within 2mm for joining sections? Is there any way to check the porosity or any standardised grading of granite?

Proving the adjoining sections are cut from the same slab you shouldn't have an issue. The tolerance is from sheet to sheet rather than within the same sheet, (that's what I sas told by the supplier I used), although I'll stand to be corrected by Mr M