Granite water spots
 

We just moved into Fernandina and have granite counter tops. Certain places appear to darken when water gets on them. I would guess the granite is absorbing water. When it dries the spots go away. I have never had granite do this in other houses. Any thoughts?

Not sure about the granite but welcome to Fernandina!
Where in Fernandina are you? We are moving down in July to Abana Path. :2excited:

Has your granite been sealed?

That brings up a question I didn't think of before. Is the granite sealed if you have it put in at the build?

My granite does the exact same thing. I bought the granite from the Villages and in hind site wish I had purchased after market granite in order to get a better quality granite like I had up north. Not happy with my granite at all. It is going on two years now and it has tiny pits in it from I think the "sparkles" of the stone slowly falling out. Oh and it is sealed, and I am very careful with my granite. Low grade granite for a high price. Other than that I am very happy with my house.

We had granite installed in our home about 1 year ago.

In my research I found the lighter color granites are more porous than the darker ones. EVEN IF SEALED. We have Kashmir white.

We had the 15 year sealer applied to ours. We also get water spots that darken IF LEFT UNATTENDED FOR SEVERAL MINUTES but do go away.

Nontheless it would be important to find out if yous has been sealed. If you can't determine, I'd seal it just to be sure.

There's LOTS N LOTS of info online. Google granite sealers and plow threw.

If you want to see granite that has been properly sealed, go to Garvino's and sit at the bar. That granite is very light in color, has wine and water spilled on it all the time, and no issues because of how it was sealed.

Had lighter colored granite back home. Even though it was sealed twice, it did get the water spots. However, be very careful about leaving something oily like an olive oil bottle that may have dripped oil on the counter very long as it WILL leave a mark that is extremely hard to get off if ever. I learned that lesson the hard way! We had very high grade granite and also had small pits. I think the pitting is the nature of the beast depending on all the characteristics of each color and amount of veining. Didn't choose granite for our new home here in Sanibel because of the upkeep. Chose Zodiac stone instead. Very happy with this choice. Good Luck in your new home and Welcome.

Should be sealed...Also, As granite is not man made, water marks and most stains will eventually disappear...

Call warrenty. They can fix anything but a bad marriage.:MOJE_whot:

Stains
 

Ours did the same thing. I was told that the granite is sealed upon installation. On mine, where the soap dispenser is in the kitchen, it got a fairly large dark ring around it. We called home Warrenty and they came and the guy put a blow torch on it to heat up the granite and I assume dry it out. It seem to take care of the problem......momentarily. It continues to stain occasionally. I try to keep,that area around the soap dispenser dry but its kind of hard since when my hands are wet that's when I need the soap! I just resealed all of my granite today because I was told that it should be sealed every year. They leave you a kit for sealing it yourself. I have a feeling we are going to,have to live with the water stains. Please post if you find something that works permanently.

Will they tell you what they did to seal it and how they keep it looking good?

The quality of granite does make a difference, even (or especially) in the amount of radon it gives off. Avoid granite from third-world countries. Be sure you know exactly where your granite is coming from.

If the sale of our condo goes through (knock on wood), our first project as frogs will be installing granite countertops in our TV home. I will be looking for recommendations for both material and installation.

We have Italian granite up here in MI and have never, ever had a problem with water stains, or any other kind of stains. Get water on it all the time, and DH especially is loathe to wipe it up. I sealed it once in 2007, and it's a piece of cake to maintain.

And yes, the tiny pits are characteristic of granite.

I guess I have been lucky hubby liked dark colors we have in our houses, either had black galaxy or blue pearl both from china by the way and well sealed and never had a problem. The last guy did what he called a soak seal apparently totally immersion of the pieces before install. First time I ever saw granite that looked almost as dark on the unpolished side as the polished. Travertine is what drives me nuts.

One word. Corian.

Thanks for the soak seal info. I had never heard of that but will look for it.

Here are some steps to take to determine the quality of the granite you are looking at. How to Determine the Quality of Granite Countertops | eHow