See if it needs to be sealed - sprinkle some water on it and see if it beads up - if it does, don't seal it again - you don't want excess sealer sitting on the counter.

I was also concerned about resealing my granite at a later date. My installer sealed it, then left me a jar of the stuff. It's been 4 years and I've "never" resealed it and it is still sealed.Note: I roll out pie doughs on my granite and fry foods, so it is a well used kitchen. So unless it's a porous granite I'm not sure it's an issue. My neighbor has labrador antique granite, it grease stained immediately upon first use and doesn't matter what he does, it's spotty. A poultice will lighten the grease spots, but they are permanent. FYI

I do interior design and discovered this sealing company 2 years ago. Everyone who has used it loves it! You can use any cleaner you want including Clorox wipes unlike other sealers.

I will be installing granite in my own kitchen this year and will be using this company to seal it. They have locations all over the US. I sound like a commercial but when you find a great product you have to share it with others!

"This is from their website: Granite Shield created the first lifetime granite sealer in 2002; the difference is the sealer will last a lifetime without maintenance or reapplication of the sealer. You don't have to worry about wiping up spills immediately, worry about acidic liquids, using coasters or placemats ever again. With granite sealed permanently by Granite Shield they mean it's permanently sealed, never has to be sealed again, has a lifetime warranty, not a limited warranty limiting you to use special cleaners and follow special maintenance procedures like other companies. If a company states or it's in writing on the warranty to wipe up spills immediately and use coasters and placemats, this indicates the sealer that's being used isn't a very dependable sealer and wonÂt last a long period of time or a lifetime without needing to be resealed."

http://www.graniteshield.net/

Here is a link that might be useful: Granite Shield site.

We were told once a year also! The sealant that I used is Professional Impregnator- GranQuartz Stone Care Systems.I purchased it at the granite store. LOL!

i was told once a year. i boughtg a bottle from the fabricator and was considering doing another just-in-case coat since i have a lighter color (yellow river) which definitely darkens when wet (pre-sealing). however, i have resisted, since it is cleaning up so well and water does bead up. no streaking, either - even if i don't dry it. i am keeping a sharp eye on it, but i think i'll get over that soon. :)

Thanks for the water beading tip, I did not know that, I will go do it right now. If it doesn't bead I will seal it.

Actually, once a year is more often than I'd recommend with a good sealer. The MOST you should have to seal is once every FEW years, and most claim 5-6 years. Those that claim 20, 30 years, or even lifetime, I wouldn't trust. Those long range warranties, especially on something like this where they have no control over the amount of use or abuse it would receive-- aren't worth the paper they're written on.

I hope someone can help me out with a question I have about my granite countertops...They were installed in my kitchen about a month ago. The installer used a silicone impregnator to seal the granite when they were installed. Over the last couple of weeks, though, I've noticed that when water sits on the surface for a while, the color of my granite darkens. It eventually dries back to normal, but this has me wondering whether my granite needs to be sealed again. Could the initial coating of the impregnator have not worked properly or something? Water does still bead on it, so it's not like it soaks in immediately, and luckily I've not had any stains or anything beyond the temporary darkening from water. If it helps to know, my granite is Giallo Antico, and is medium brownish color. Any advice? I love my new countertops and wnat to make sure I take care of them properly. Thanks!!

Yes - that's a sign that the original seal was not done properly. Call your installer and let them know.

Not necessarily. Many good quality sealers are what's called "breatheable", meaning they'll let moisture in and out.

Ditto what Bill says.

It is a common misconception that sealer should make the stone impervious. Nope it "breathes", it slows down the staining agent.

Some stones do not need sealer at all. Some more often.

Fabricators tell all to sela every 6 to 12 months to CYA.

This is too frequent for most stones, about right for the lighter ones.

This Granite Shield advertiser keeps popping up here. I do not have enough info to speak of it. It is just annoying.

As for my kitchen, 6 years now on the original sealer and no issues. I do get moisture spots but they go away.

Blessings

That's great to hear, Bill and vrjames, because that's the same thing my installer told me...makes me feel better about his answer! He basically said the same thing, that the water marks were completely normal and that they'd go away (which they have every time). The only thing he said I should be really careful about is leaving any grease on the surface for an extended period of time, especially on my color of granite. Thanks for your input--I appreciate it!

if anyone is still reading this post. What brand is a good sealer?

dd70,
there are many sealers out there of similar quality, depending on where you live.
Use a water based impregnator. Good ones cost between 30 and 60 dollars a quart.
Stone Tech, Aqua Mix, Gran quartz, Tenex, just to name a few.
As i said some stones require little or no sealing.
What stone do you have?

Thank you, I have Delicatus. I have also heard it called by some on here Jupirana delicatus, I dont know if its the same. Its a creamy off white background with lots of brown some black,chunks of quartz, sparkly flecks of gold. Im not sure if you would consider this light or medium but heres a pic.

So, does this count as OK? We had the granite installer out here THursday and they re-sealed the granite (Stonetech Impervious) and this is what happened tonight from placing a lid on the counter (that had been on the veggies I'd warmed up in the microwave). The granite also has this spotty "film" on it that the guy tried to tell us was just the nature of the stone. I'm not convinced - especially since it got worse (more of it seemingly) after this second coat of sealer.

Lid was on the counter for a half-hour max and the contents were not that hot.

They don't have to be. The lid has to be warm enough to evaporate water. Even if there's no water on the inside of the lid (and I assume there was) it'll cause condensationi on the granite, which will be absorbed by the stone, causing the dark spot you see there. Stone Tech's one of the better sealer companies around, and their sealers ARE breatheable.

So does that mean any liquid (including staining ones) will get through? How is our granite protected then?

What about the film/cloudiness?

The liquid will get thru, but not the solids FLOATING in the liquids that would get into the pores of the stone and stain it. As for the film/ cloudiness, I missed that part, and in the pic, assumed it was from the flash. Sorry about that. You're right, it's not the nature of ANY stone. What it looke like to me is he left too much sealer on the stone, and you're seeing a sealer haze. What HE can do (not your responsibility) is take a little more sealer on a rag and scrub the stone to loosen the old sealer up, and then take a dry rag and buff it, and your stone will be fine.

Thanks a lot, Bill. I'll be (re) contacting them tomorrow.

One more question if you don't mind. I thought for sure I'd read that the water absorption check was the way to see if your granite needed to be resealed. So if that's not the case, how do I know if/when it needs resealing?

You misunderstood. That's how you tell if your stone is one that needs to be sealed AT ALL. Not if it's READY to be sealed. There are many stones that not only don't need to be sealed, but SHOULDN'T be.

I had the haze thing too. It was hard to explain, but on one side I could take my microfiber cloth and it would just move smoothly across the granite. On the other side, the hazy side, it would get stuck and not move. They cam back and used an acetone and very fine steel wool to clean it up. It's been fine since.

OK so...

If the water absorbs *before* the sealant is applied it's a granite that needs sealing.

If the water absorbs *after* it's sealed it's OK.

Which still leaves me wondering how I can tell if my granite is properly sealed / needs to be resealed. I'd rather not find out by discovering a big, nasty stain.

If the water absorbs *before* the sealant is applied it's a granite that needs sealing.

If the water absorbs *after* it's sealed it's OK.

Yup. :-)

Which still leaves me wondering how I can tell if my granite is properly sealed / needs to be resealed. I'd rather not find out by discovering a big, nasty stain.

Once they take care of that haze, I'd say you're good to go for atleast the next 2-3 years. If it were me (and believe me-- I'd probably be as paranoid as you, with as much money as it costs to install that granite these days!!), I'd probably reseal again at the 2 year mark just to be safe.

Thanks so much Bill! I love my granite and really don't want anything to happen to it. I think I'm especially worried about it because it's so light.

Now granite countertops come with a new treatment called PermaShield, which is better than a granite sealer.

Here is a link that might be useful: granite countertops

I have blue graphite which my granite guys sealed with a water based sealer right before they left, rubbed it on and dryed it off.

Is blue graphite one that does or doesn't need sealing, and if so, how often? Also, does anyone know what kind of granite this actually is? (it has white, silver, black, and taupe colored browns in it with big mica like spots) Thanks

Fern

PS: Water does seem to bead up on it at present, so I guess its okay for a while?

The good thing is water based sealer doesn't last nearly as long as solvent based sealers (it's the cheap stuff). The bad part is that although it seals water out, it can also seal moisture IN, making it a breeding ground for mold, mildew, and other things as well. it doesn't always happen, but cheap sealers have been known to cause this reaction.

As for whether or not your stone even needs sealer, take an untrated piece of the stone, and put a wet sponge on it for a minute or two. Then pick it up, and wipe off the water. If the stone has darkened up under where the sponge was, then it needs to be sealed.

vrjames, yellowdogs2 is not afilliated with Granite Shield and I don't understand why if anyone that mentions good things about Granite Shield that it is assumed they are just associated with the company. As she states she is someone in the interior design business that came across Granite Shield and likes it so well she be putting it on her own granite. Lets see on this thread alone mentions GranQuartz, Innovative Stone's Stonemark with Permashield sold at Home Depot, Stone Tech, Aqua Mix and Tenex but should anyone mention Granite Shield is considered a no no. Instead of censoring the public to only certain products let the public know what all their options are and let them decide on the product that fits their needs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Granite Shield VS Stonemark Granite by Home Depot

This question is more about cleaning than sealing and maybe deserves a separate post. Is it necessary to use Granite Gold or similar? I prefer to use low tech, environmentally friendly cleaning methods whenever possible.

Granite Shield has eco friendly cleaners and repellent cleaners for natural stone, glass and stainless steel.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eco friendly natural stone, glass and stainless steel cleaners and repellent cleaners

The big thing is to make sure whatever you clean with it ph neutral.

hi Bill-I just read a more recent thread about granite and you added a link that listed the percent of absortion but mine wasn't listed. What do you know about delicatus and the care of it?? TIA

Go back to that thread. I just this second posted what to do if your stone isn't listed. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Another Granite Sealing Thread

We just moved into a house that has granite countertops. They were installed about 3 years ago. They are not smooth. Is this normal? Does it mean they were not sealed? We have no information about the type of granite or sealant that was used.

HOW not smooth are they? Can you take some pics and show us? If you want, you could email them to me, and I'll post them for you.

It is just when you run your hand across them, you can feel pits. When you look really closely, it looks like the pits are in places where different types of rock are coming together. It seems like a natural occurrence, but I thought that sealant would have filled these spaces. I'll try taking pics.