I don't have my granite yet but have my first stainless steel appliance (fridge) in place and I'm stressing. I'm cleaning the outside 2+ times aday. I guess I will get use to the smudges.

Your stone is absolutely perfectly beautiful. Makes me want to cheat on my marble plan...

jan jan- breath, and repeat after me, its going to be alright. :) really, i have a white granite(cold spring) and it has been a breeze to keep up with since having it installed back in january. actually, it shows nothing. my husband is probably a bigger mess maker than yours is too. wanna bet? i tell him he's "messy". i am a sort of nuts about cleaning, but not to the point of making myself crazy. has your granite been sealed? I'd take it easy because those husbands and kids have been known to turn when we poke them too much with our broom stick.

Make sure it's sealed with a good pentrating sealer, and then just relax and enjoy it. It took awhile for us to really feel at home in our reno'd kitchen, and while we still try to take care of it, we like really using it, too!

Off to clean up from a late dinner now....!

msgreatdeals ~ Stainless steel might put me over the edge although I want it.

remodelfla, your are too sweet! Thank you. That made my day.

Teppy you are cracking me up. OMG! I needed to laugh. Yes, I do get a little crazy with my broom stick every now and then and today has been one of those days. :)

Cat Mom ~ The guy sealed it but I don't know with what. I think you kinda hit the nail on the head with I don't really feel at home or like it's my kitchen. It's too new and nice. It's also very white and clean. maybe I need to put a big ol stain in it like the first dent in a new car.

Thanks everyone those were all good, fun, and sweet answers. I would normally say I'm gonna crack open the mrelot and relax but ahhh the merlot stain...I can see it now. I really need to get over this.

>ahhh the merlot stain...I can see it now.

So pour out a libation. If it doesn't stain you know you can stop worrying, and if it does, you've got the first dent out of the way. :)

Oh believe me I understand. I've had my light-colored granite in for almost a year and a half now and I *still* find myself fussing over it. Just the other day I was poking Hubby for something he did (sat the olive oil bottle down right on the counter). Funny, because I know my granite is quite bullet-proof as there has been many a drop and many a puddle of foreign substances left on its surface for longer than I'd care to admit.

I do worry less about most things (the ones that I've "tested" mostly) but there are still some things over which I am very sensitive. Chief culprits are oils and wine.

No need to worry about water, though as granite loves water. Even if it does sit there the worst thing that will happen is that it will temporarily darken that spot.

Writersblock ~ :) I did crack open a bottle...but I'm not pouring it on the counter, at least not until I've had a few more glasses

pbrisjar ~ Good to know I'm not alone, I'm sure I will still be a little freakish even after the "newness" wears off. Also thanks for the tip about the water, I was completely stressed over the water on the counter and with my color granite crumbs, water, everything is blending in and not showing so I'm just finding myself wiping it all the time. I'm glad the spot would only be temporary.

I have looked up some info on the net but it seems to contradict itself from one site to another. I'm just gonna baby it a little until I get used to it. The wine definatley helped the stress level :)

speaking of merlot, i have a story to tell. the other day i came home with three wonderful bottles of francis ford coppolla merlot. i've had it before and it is good. anyway, i was picking them up, all three at once, and somehow one slipped. before i knew it, i was just standing there in disbelief when one of the bottle shattered. can i tell you it made a sound i will never forget? oooooo, the sound of glass hitting granite is awful. i finally told myself "stephanie, no one is here to clean this but you". it was my island that got it, and its absolute black. i'm not sure what would have happened if it had been the white perimeter granite. i think though that it would have come up well if it were done right away. the worse thing was my brand new barstool cushions that had just been put on not 24 hours earlier for the first time. the outer fabric came out good in the wash although a little shrunken. it was the down pillow forms on the inside that are forever stained red. the rush seats on the stools suffered some too. i guess that was my first dent in my new baby. i'm sure there will be more. i do have to admit to guarding all of my viking SS appliances like a prison guard. they won't mess with me there. my broom stick is way too scary for them then.

Jan_jan!!

you poor girl, i can see myself doing the exact same thing like you!!

i guess this is the thing about granite, that makes you love and hate it. Love its beauty, hate the maintenance.

Do you have a scrap of your granite, like from the sink cutout?

If so, I would go absolutely CRAZY on it with sauce, wine, water, ketchup, cleaners... then leave it. The next day clean it off. It will tell you what you need to stress over, if anything.

completely understand.... even though I don't have a light granite, we found ourselves "babying" it in the beginning. It has been installed since April. Had a family dinner and after filling the DW had some dessert plates that wouldn't dry too well in the sink. Set a dish drain on the counter and left them to dry overnight. The next morning, I was shocked to see a huge dark "stain" under the dish drainer!! I couldn't believe my granite could be stained from plain old water. I almost cried. Hmmm, few hours later the "stain" was gone!! Have had sitting water many times since then (under coffeepot, enthusiastic washing by DH & DS behind the sink, etc) I just wipe it up and know it will disappear soon enough. But the first time was a huge shock!

The one surprise that did make me cry, was to feel two chips in the granite when I was wiping down the counter. My granite installers came out since we had to wait for floors to be done before the DW could be secured (top mount, drilled into the underside of granite... Ouch!) and they put some colored epoxy on it, blended it and razored it smooth. Said, it's stone, it has natural fissures (?) and it's no big deal. You can't even see the fix. Now, I no longer baby my stone and just work as I normally did in my kitchen. You'll get used to it, once the fear of ruining it goes away!! Enjoy your new baby :)

OMG, this thread has me stressing out!! My light/medium colored granite is being installed in about 50 minutes.

How do I know that my granite installer uses a good sealer??????
I'm stressing. did I make the right decision???
Breath in, breath out :)

Okay I am laughing out loud...Boxerpups that was HILARIOUS! I want to pick a favorite part of your message but those stories are all so funny. I can picture the teenagers and the subcontractor...OMG! Switching from red to white wine...the shame! Too funny. Yes, I will get over it eventually and slowly. :) Thanks for the laugh. I really needed to hear I am "normal" in the new kitchen remodeling sense anyway.

Teppy just reading that story stressed me out. Your right at least it's over and you can relax more now. Broke in isn't so bad after all. :)

paintchips, I had a piece of left over he gave me and it was in the sink with crap all over it for testing and my husband thought it would be funny to bring me a large chip and just show it too me so I would think the kids chipped my mitered edge because I'm completley stressed over that happening. Well, the joke didn't go over well, I cried. He felt bad but he should feel bad it was not funny and not even 24 hours new. Yes, I am testing some samples thanks and so far it seems pretty tough.

Katie511 I'm so glad water is not an issue because serioulsy in the kitchen it's kinda hard to avoid water. Thanks

Laurilep I'm sorry but I don't think there is any getting around it other than just time. Enjoy your day, it is so exciting and fun watching it get installed and admiring it for the first time when they leave. I'm so happy and excited for you. Please post pics when they are done. What color is it? What a fun day for you!

Thanks for all the laughs...and tips.

Boxerpups, I love your post!!!!
I'm happy to hear that water will fade away but what is the deal with oil and vinegar??
I love the idea of taking the cut outs and trying all types of things on it to see what will stain and what won't.

jan_jan, we are getting Giallo Veneziano. My stomach is in knots right now. DH swears he can under mount our top mount sink, there is no turning back now as granite is on it's way!!
I have all of these "what if's" going through my head. I'll be better tonight after DH installs the sink :)

Boxerpups: You made me laugh :)

we had a huge group of friends over Memorial wk-end, my kitchen was only a few weeks old. After biting my tongue and not screaming to be careful with my counters and especially with my newly painted WHITE cabinets, I just had to stay out of my kitchen and know they would not intentionally damage it :)

When I found the chips in the granite, I had to calm down and kept repeating to DH "It's just a stupid (expensive) rock, right? It can be fixed. It happens... and it's not like we just found out someone we love has a terminal disease or died in a horrific accident. It's just a stupid rock, right??" He would just smile and agree with me. But I think he loves our "stupid rock" as much as I do... he just doesn't obsess over cleaning it..... heck, he never cared about making a mess before, either!!

Trust me, you do get over it! I was the same way in the beginning...even knowing that my AB counters are almost bullet-proof and don't need sealing. I was constantly wiping off dust, using up a bottle of cleaner in one week. Even my DD became obsessed w/cleaning it...

But, I slowly relaxed and now I don't care about a speck of dust on the counters (still not much since all counters do get wiped down at least once/day)...I now take a couple of months to go through a bottle of cleaner since I only use it when we're having "formal" company over for a "sparkling" finish (detergent & water do just fine for everyday)...my DD is no longer interested in cleaning the counters any more than she has to...AND...I let sixteen 12-yo girls make a 3-course Mexican dinner in our kitchen and only worried about how they used the faucet (they kept pulling it the wrong way). I then let them come back for a Chinese dinner!

Anyone who can survive that has overcome their obsession! So, give it time! (And maybe invite your local Girl Scout troop over to work on their Cooking badge...it'll either cure you or push you over the edge!)

Oh, my, it's posts like these that almost make me want to run from granite. Our family is not neat nor careful (teen boys and their friends, yikes!) so I've considered quartz more than a few times since staining wouldn't be an issue. However, I've heard it is more prone to chipping than granite so am I really gaining anything? Besides, none of the quartz selections speak to me like the granite we chose.

I told a friend the other day that maybe we should just stick with laminate. She looked me squarely in the eye and said "You can't do laminate. It will kill you at resale time." She used to be and her husband still is a real estate appraiser. Kitchens can make or break a sale.

I comfort myself that not only are we in love with the granite we chose (butterfly blue) but it is also a (pardon the pun) rock solid selection.

Relax and breathe - good advice! I'll keep that in mind as I'm sure to go through my own share of frantic hand-wringing after it's installed. Those situations are never fun while we're in the throes of them but they do make for good stories later, don't they?

Boxerpups -- your son is right -- you are NOT a marble person. ;-)

Lisa_a -- depending on what people's experiences and fears are, whenthe time comes, my marble could hurt me at resale. We don't plan on moving anytime soon -- if at all, so the boys may have to worry about that and they can be the ones who can tell folks what slobs they were and how they very thoughtfully broke this marble in for the next owner. LOL

The deal with oil is that some granites will absorb it, making dark spots. BUT, there are many methods "out there" for successfully removing the oil.

The deal with vinegar is that it can compromise the sealer. But again, normal everyday usage is fine (just avoid vinegar0based cleaners). And again, sealer can be easily re-applied.

I liken this to the trauma of getting that first scratch or ding on a new car. We know it will happen and we know it's really no big deal, but we still worry about it.

My granite is a work of art...you mean your's isn't *gasp*

That's the thing though-- they are art! :) Every natural stone counter is a unique work of nature. It's almost strange to not think of them as art. So while I get noname's point that maybe we're all freaking out unnecessarly about an inanimate object (I'm in the process of picking mine out right now), we can't help it-- we're TKO'd. :) Plus, the things ain't cheap.

by the way jan_jan, I LOVE your slab-- beautiful!

Just had to add that my counters ARE a work of art. :D But mine are fairly indestructable, so I haven't stressed too much.

sorry ... trying hard not to feed the troll here.... but OMG buehl, your comment was seriously, laugh out loud funny!! Love it!!

speaking of love, my goodness jan_jan, your granite is simply gorgeous!! nice choice :)

You are all very sweet.

Lisa_a ~ First of all Thank you! I love it! Second, I totally agree with your idea that you never know what people are gonna love could hurt you could help you so might as well get what you want and enjoy it. I really am trying to lighten up but I'm doing that in all areas of my life. ;)

Kmgard ~ Thank you and I agree it is art.

Katiee511~ Buehl's comment was hilarious! Thanks for making my thread good again Buehl! Katie, thank you very much for saying that about my slab. I really love it and it looks great with my cabinets and floors.

Thanks everyone! You have made my day. I can't wait to post all the finished pictures...about a week or two.

lisa_a -- so true! Anything you pick couls be an absolute no to a particular buyer. One reason we decided not to change a closet into a built-in wine cooler (besides cost and the fact that the insulation was shrinking the size and benefit of the built-in) was talking to a guy who'd put large wine storage units or cellars in very large custom homes and then had the builder call him to remove them. Turns out anyone with an alcoholic in the family, people of certain faiths and folks with other reasons would not buy the houses unless the units were removed. What the builder thought would be a big attraction to the market he was shooting for actually a negative.

I heard similar stories from a granite fabricator. They had put marble in a couple of high end kitchens, including some gorgeous polished statuary marble, and had the buyers come back and have them removed. What the builder loved, the buyer's didn't. He told me this after I'd asked about marble and he told me he wouldn't put it in a kitchen. Once I told him I understood about marble, he said okay. They would install it for someone who really wanted it and knew what they were getting, but would try to steer most folks away from it. I wish I could have reclaimed those rejects!

Jan-jan, your granite is lovely. It looks like it has similar colors to the granite I first picked for our kitchen. Different textures though. The sample I was looking at was almost speckled (although I generally don't like the speckles, the colors were soft) and it had light blue inclusions. I tried sealing the sample and it still stained -- that lead me to marble, although I would have looked at yours if I had seen something like that. I'm thinking that sealer may not have been good, because my marble has a different sealer and has had no stains. You really shouldn't have to baby it -- just seal it once every year or so. Enjoy it!

Thanks lascatx! Your very sweet. That is insteresting about the buyers and the wine units...I never thought of that.

So anyone want to recommend a GREAT sealer?

Lisa -- I also meant to add another example -- my neighbors just recently updated their kitchen, breakfast room, family room, powder room and utility room. They painted the island a color that washes out, left the cooktop there even though it means almost no room to balance a plate beside the cooktop, and topped the whole thing (and all the counters, desk space, etc) with granite that reminded me of what pets puke up after eating dry food. I'd take just about any laminate over that stuff, but they are very proud of it. All in the eye of the beholder.

Get what you like and are comfortable living with. I would only let resale be a factor if you couldn't change it or plan to sell within a relatively short time (2-3 years, 5 at the most).

The two sealers I keep seeing mentioned over and over are Porous Plus and Stonetech. I think those are the two Bill V mentions too. My fabricator used Stonetech.

I can't wait to see your granite installed-it's beautiful!

I don't stress out about my viking range, because I bought it used off craigslist, and I have long since gotten over the dings in the stainless steel fridge we've had for three years or so (although I am still a bit annoyed at Maytag for their lousy service of a faulty part...). I didn't even get upset when my five year who is learning to ride a bike came in today and said he accidently made two big scratches in the side of the van-they will blend with the rest of the scratches, LOL...

I DID just about blow a fuse, though, when I walked into the kitchen a few days after the butcherblock on the baking counter was put in. Someone had left a bag of frozen blueberries out, some were spilled on the counter, and there were blueberry fingerprints all over the egdes that just happened to match the blue stained fingers of a certain three year old. Good thing she is as cute as any works of art. :-)

What about 511? From Bill V:
Thread: RE: marble sealer -- help!

* Posted by bill_vincent (billvincent@hotmail.com) on Thu, Jun 4, 09 at 23:43

Stone Tech and the 511 family of sealers are both top notch.

BTW...I've seen a few posts from NoName02 on other threads now & I've come to realize that I don't think he meant his posts to be as "trollish" as they appeared. I noticed they're gone...so I think someone has been "editing" this thread. The difference, I think is that he doesn't understand how we communicate on this (and other) Forums. We talk about our "feelings" a lot, sure, but that's one use of this forum, to be able to talk to others who share our kitchen "obsession" and share are feelings & thoughts w/o fear that we'll be ridiculed. The comparison of us to those who are obsessed w/their cars or motorcycles is apt, I think. There's a place for all of us!

So, I apologize to NoName02 if he took offense at my "work of art" rebuttal. But, please remember, we're not here to judge others...we're here to share and listen and, if asked, give advice that's appropriate.

If noname02 is not a troll, I also apologize for believing he or she was and chalk that post up to good intentions poorly worded.

Thanks for the sealer info, buehl. I haven't had a chance to read that thread yet but I'd better because we're almost at that point.

Buehl, no offense to 511 if I have it confused with the Porous Plus line and they are different. I haven't had it or them -- whichever it is. So maybe there are three I hear a lot about -- not sure, but I trust Bill V and I know the Stone Tech has worked really well for me.

I read on Kitchen and Residential Design website about some new sealers called nanosealers that are supposed to be very good although very expensive. I don't think they have been out for very long so don't have a history behind them.

The quality sealers are not cheap. I haven't bought any recently, but they run $100 or more a gallon, but for counters, a quart will last you a LONG time. You don't need a gallon unless you are doing large floor areas. If the nanosealers are more expensive than a good penetrating sealers, I wouldn't spend more unless you have a really delicate granite -- like the one I looked at and didn't get.

Lisa_a, just wanted to say with regard to quartz - you might just need to find the *right* quartz. I looked at a lot of them - different brands, different colors. I thought that Zodiaq looked the most "natural" to me. I ended up going with Zodiaq Smokey Topaz, and I'm very happy with the way it looks. (And very happy that I get to be non-paranoid about its maintenance.)

jan_jan, your granite is so lovely ... can't wait to see more photos.

You granite owners are putting me to shame -- you're more careful with your granite than I am with my marble! And I wonder if you came over if you'd notice that the stainless steel countertop around my cooktop already has lots and lots of scratches everywhere. I've left slops of wine, oil, coffee, tomato sauce and curry on my marble overnight. I cut lemons and mix vinaigrette on it with total abandon! I am careful not to bang my heavy pots and pans on it though ... I know it can chip much more easily than granite.

Most of my friends have had granite in their kitchens for years and also have messy hubbies and kids like mine. Their countertops look brand-new to me ... no patina! I've always heard and believed that granite is extremely durable -- won't stain, won't scratch, doesn't etch, you can put hot pans on it, almost no maintenance required.

So, what's the scoop? Does granite require just as much care and maintenance as marble?

Maintenance varies. As I mentioned, mine is pretty much bullet-proof. I don't seal it or do anything else "special" to it. Occasionally, if I want it to *sparkle*, I'll use Method cleaner, but by and large I just use what I used on my old laminate...detergent & water. One thing, on the laminate (and probably light-colored stones), if you overdose on the detergent you will get a detergent haze but you can't see it. I have polished Absolute Black Premium so the haze is noticeable. But, we've learned to go light on the detergent and we're fine...and we go through less detergent now as well! (The "less is more" mentality has extended to everything...an unintended good side effect!)

The "being very careful" stage is just the "new car stage"...it's new and, at least for me, I'd never had stone b/f so I needed to learn what & I could & could not do on my own (I'm one of those that likes to know through experience, not just what I'm told!)

What have I learned? Nothing seems to hurt my stone...I no longer worry about anything...I now treat it with even less care than I did the laminate! It's nice not worrying that I'll stain it if I leave something sit (I worried about it w/laminate all the time b/c my mother's laminate has a lot of stains...of course, it's a light tan and 39 years old! It watched six of us grow up!)

[And *sigh*, I now have my first big ding on my cabinets...we've filled it in but I can still see it...no one else notices it, but I do!!!]

HTH!

charlikin, thanks for the advice. My SIL is very happy with her Silestone so we started out with quartz as our goal. And a recently posted finished kitchen with creamy-beige quartz is to die for so yes, considering it again has crossed my mind.

The sticking point is cost - in our area, quartz is at least 20% higher than granite and our budget can't handle that, not without giving up something else. Nothing purchased yet so I could change my mind if need be and we found corners to cut but since the granite we selected is also one of the bullet-proof ones, I think we'll be okay.

I'd love to see photos of your quartz counters, though (hint, hint).

buehl, we get new cars so rarely (I'm 50 and my 10-year old VW is only my 3rd car ever) but I do remember the new car paranoia. And how relieved I was when it got its first scratch. I got over it, it's a car, it gets me from here to there and back again. And I can fill the back end with sod (which I've done, filled the whole back of my VW wagon with sod because hubby forgot to leave me the truck - now that was a sight!). I'm sure it will be just the same with our counters, whatever we end up with.

Bummer on the cabinet ding.

Here are a couple of unfinished kitchen photos highlighting the quartz:

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Thanks, charlikin, that's a lovely quartz, looks great with your cabinets and backsplash!

Wow, jan jan! That's one lovely slab of granite. I don't post here often, but after looking at that gorgeous slab, I had to compliment your choice.

timber.j & erikanh thanks for the compliments.

Thanks everyone for the great tips on the sealer and the wonderful compliments. I am almost ready to post finished pictures.

mini bottle ~ VERY sweet of you to take the time to post that to me, it was really nice to hear other people liked my choice.

Thanks everyone!

jan jan, I love that Piracema! I'm looking at the same type although it's sometimes called Wave. Do you have pictures yet? I loved reading this thread especially boxerpups with the marble story. Please share your story of any encounters of the staining kind!

swickbb ~ Well...because our remodel was not totally complete I had to get over my obsession very quickly. :) Here are some pictures AFTER it was installed during painting and backsplash. We also had a few mishaps like spilling an entire GALLON OF WHITE PAINT on the countertop before it was covered. OMG! I really got over my "stressing over my granite" thing quick. hee hee
My conclusion is GRANITE IS TOUGH! I will post some pictures of my granite for you in a little while with some info. I need to upload them to photobucket. Thanks for the compliment by the way...it made my day.

I just posted some pictures of my granite for you in a new post titled "My Granite Pictures (swickbb request)"

Good luck with your granite search. It's so hard to pick just one. :)