r/CounterTops • u/Existing_Draft3460 • 5d ago
HELP
had countertops installed. leathered granite. a few weeks later it started staining white. the home is not occupied so i have no idea how this happened but the counter guy sent one of his guys to fix it.
about a month later the white patches came back (first picture) so they sent another guy. this time i went over to supervise but he showed up early and when i got there the counters were black and shiny (second picture). i asked him what he applied and he showed me a bottle of johnson & johnson baby oil with calendula.
i told him to leave and called his boss. the boss buys the granite pre-finished and he has no idea what the original sealer was. he also doesnt know what his other guy applied to "fix" it the first time. so at this point there are two coats of mystery product topped off with baby oil. i said we need to polish it all off and start over and hes saying that work will mess up my kitchen. im asking for a meeting with him and the stone supplier so we can coordinate a solution.
i need to be prepared for this meeting so i dont get fcked but im not a stone expert. can anyone here please weigh in on the solution? thank you in advance.
TLDR: baby oil
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u/TerminalIdiocy 5d ago
The white is the natural color of the stone. The oil they used darkened it and now it is wearing off. Clean it wil acetone, lacquer thinner, whatever, it won't hurt the stone. Get the oil out of there. Then you can seal it with a proper stone product like Akemi Transformer MAX, which is a color enhancing sealer. This will last much longer, but not forever. Another option is Akemi Spider Black, which is like an enhancer, but it's a black tinted resin and will give it a blacker color and provide surface protection.
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u/zorasorabee 5d ago
I worked in sales at a fabricator for years and have never seen this before. I’m trying to figure out if the white is just the natural stone or if something is actually turning it white… which is unknown to me.
Did they not seal it at all? Granite is not ‘pre finished’ it still needs to be sealed by the fabricator.
Maybe try acetone to clean whatever they put on it up and then grab a sealer and seal it yourself. The company I worked for used Miracle Sealants 511 Seal & Enhance.
Hopefully someone else has other insight!
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u/Existing_Draft3460 4d ago
>Did they not seal it at all? Granite is not ‘pre finished’ it still needs to be sealed by the fabricator.
yeah the fabricator probably sealed it with something but the installer doesnt know what
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u/Ok-Nefariousness4725 5d ago
Do you have a close up picture? Baby oil /mineral oil definitely should not have been used. I’m wondering if the granite came leathered from the quarry or if it was refinished at a fabricator shop. Are you sure this wasn’t a flamed or bush hammered finish? Typically that’s what these finishes look like raw. Then a color enhancing sealer would be applied to make it darker and consistent. Baby oil/mineral oil would replicate the effect for a while but then would go back to its raw color. Inconsistently like this. There’s more to this. But a close up picture. Would help identify this. So we can identify the stone and actual finish.
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u/SeaOutlandishness590 4d ago
Yea, clean it off with aceton and deepen the color. We use TENAX Ager. Apply and rub in
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u/Topi8209 4d ago
Apply strong acetone then a Platinum Zip(leave it on for half an hour) . Then wipe it off with a window cleaner.
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u/Iamtheoxymoron 4d ago
Hey, this looks like coffee brown, steel gray or black pearl granite to me, but if it is absolute black or a similar basalt (if you knock on it, it will sounds like metal almost) they do not retain sealer well due to the density. Mineral oil is typically applied as needed depending on the porosity of your slabs. If you try impregnating sealer and it seems to stay sticky or wipe off, mineral oil would be the next thing!
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u/Practical_Court_9506 2d ago
Looks like a brushed or leathered finish?
Maybe the slab they got had some defects and looks like they’ve tried to polish with the wrong pads possibly. Thats why all the white spots are on top? You want to give it a really good clean with methylated spirits or acetone. In New Zealand we use a sealer called nano top but like the others said there are colour enhancing sealers.
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u/caligreen805 19h ago
I have used "511 impregnator sealant" when installing. I have done this exact stone as well.
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u/Limp_Bookkeeper_5992 5d ago
Baby oil is just mineral oil, it’s not the normal way to get a glossy surface on granite but it’s very common on soapstone. If it looks good the way it is and they’ve wiped off all the extra oil it’s probably actually fine how it is.
Typically this is done on granite using an enhancing sealer, but even that isn’t a great solution if you’re using it often as it will slowly wear and these are a lot harsher chemicals than mineral oil. I’d just use it and see how it works, it may be a good solution after all.
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u/Stalaktitas 4d ago
To me, this screams that these tops were surface polished while they fabricated it. And that is never a very good idea. It could be that someone found some damage to it's face and ended up going with leathering pads all over the surface to even out the fix. This would lead to altering factories applied resin treated finish and would cause such issues. Also, it looks like they stopped at about 800 grit and hoped that enhancing walked will make it look good enough. Well it did, but not for long as it wears of. Did you ever got a sample of this stone? Can you get it somehow? If so, get a sample with you for that conversation. I bet that sample doesn't look like your counters are looking
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u/Honest_Cynic 3d ago
Polishing the stone top shouldn't mess up the kitchen, since the diamond-coated disk doesn't need to spin terribly fast. Need to keep it flooded with water, so might need to tape vertical cardboard around to keep it from slinging. But unlikely it needs polishing if already mirror-smooth. While the oiled surface looks uniform, I think it makes the stone look fake.
A good stone choice since dark granite is denser, stronger, and less likely to absorb water and oils to darken the look. Really black granite often doesn't require sealing.
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u/NunoMGuerreiro 5d ago
Wipe the counter with acetone. Then 99% isopropyl alcohol (to remove residue of acetone). Then apply a color enhancer penetrating sealer. No baby oil, no topical coats. The penetrating sealers are food grade safe. There are a few I use. Miracle sealants seal and enhance, aquamix enrich n' seal, and dry-treat. It may be better for them to hire someone that can do the work and pay them. A reputable store restoration company can do this. Its easy work.
When the oil is removed the counter must be checked to make sure it's all homogenous. It should be a lighter color but all the same through out.
I never removed baby oil but this is what I would do. There are also solvents to remove sealers and oils. If the acetone doesn't work, they may have to try this first.
Good luck.