We moved to a new built house with granite countertops in the kitchen. . The granite is a light-ish slab ‘beige light brown’ with gray and orange running through it and is sealed. If water spills on it, it leaves a dark spot but eventually evaporating. However, we noticed lately the area around the faucet is discolored even after it dried out for more than 24 hours. We believe the discoloration is caused by water splashing onto the granite countertop surfaces while the faucet is turning on. It seems to me the water is already penetrate the stone. Is there any solution to withdraw that ‘wet look’ from the stone before we seal it.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Janet

Hello Janet,

Well, your granite was not initially sealed properly. Your water issue is very common when sealer is not done properly. Some people live with the discoloration because the water has absorbed so deeply that it can take two weeks to fully dry by evaporation. However, not only is it important to dry it out and reseal it for aesthetic purposes, leaving it wet will provide a growth source for fungus and mold. This is very bad. I recommend taking a day out and doing the following.

Disconnect and remove the faucet. You need to do this for two reasons. First, if there is a link in the base of the faucet you will never dry it out unless it is re-installed properly. Second, you will need to use a blow dryer and point it down the hole to dry the granite it thoroughly. If you only point the dryer at the top of the granite, the granite will dry out on the top layer only and then the water will leach up by evaporation later. I hope you understand this. It will take about 5 minutes of blow drying every hour for about 5 hours to dry our 3/4″ thick stone because you have a light color granite.

After you are done, apply a premium penetrating granite sealer over the entire countertop and a heavier coat around the sink and cooktop. Be sure to let it soak in for about 20 minutes and then wipe off all the wet excess sealer. Do not let the sealer dry on the granite surface. After 4 hours, hook up the faucet and you are done.

Best wishes,
Tom Cordova

This entry was posted on Monday, September 4th, 2006 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Answers to Granite Questions..., Maintenance Help, Sealer Questions, Stain Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.