Honed? Honed grabs and holds on to dirt and oils and is a lot higher maintenence than polished.

No - they're polished counters.

I am highly skeptical that any estone absorbed any adhesive or sealer. The marks near the seam could be metal marks from scraping the seam with a razor blade and could possibly be removed with estone slurry, but I'd test inconspicuously.

I hope you figure it out. I like Raven. My Caesarstone is dark and has been trouble-free. Sometimes bottles or glasses (probably wet on the bottom) will leave a faint round shape behind, which you can only see at certain angles. It doesn't go away with a damp sponge, but will with a little rub with a microfiber cloth. I don't know why it does that, but it isn't a problem.

Trebuchet - we were also quite skeptical - as was our fabricator. But the sealer soaked right in. There was only one tiny spot where the counter repelled it. The counter is now a shade darker and even smoother to the touch. The installer said it was behaving just like the granite counters they install.

The marks near the seam look like staining from something liquid (organic edges on either side). We've watched the installers use razor blades -- and haven't noticed any marks.

Linelle -- I'm glad to hear you haven't had any trouble with your counters. I'm curious - what spray cleaner do you use? I try to avoid chemical cleaners but from what I've read, it seems like I shouldn't use any cleaners made with essential oils.

I haven't had any trouble with my Ceasarstone either (organic white). We do use either water, regular Windex, or all-purpose Windex with vinegar to clean them. Water pools on the surface. There is one very very small seam (about 2", in front of the cooktop) that appears on close inspection to be a little darker than the others (they were installed in January), so I will call my fabricator to see what they can do, but since you really have to look at it closely, and in the right light, to see the problem, it probably isn't really a problem at all.

Sophie, for the most part I use water with a few drops of Dawn in a spray bottle, with a microfiber rub, a favorite gentle cleaner here at GW. My fabricator said NO to Windex. Maybe the ammonia? I've gotten a little more relaxed with my counters and occasionally use Method All Purpose. For a baby-bottom glass finish, I finish off with Pledge furniture wipes.

I would call the manufacturer to advise of the problem and see what they say.

"With a continuous proactive approach to producing over 40 innovative 9001.gifcolors and textures Caesarstone consistently provides a premium quartz surface with remarkable style and endurance - complementing a design application, from classic to contemporary. Nonporous, stain, scratch and heat resistant and backed by a residential lifetime warranty, Caesarstone is the ideal surface for kitchens, vanities and more."

We haven't called yet because the fabricator has been trying to deal with them for us (rather unsuccessfully, I might add)

Honestly, Caesarstone doesn't seem to have great customer service. When I ordered a sample of Raven, it remained unshipped for over 2.5 weeks. I had to badger them to get it in the mail. Contrast this to say, Cambria, where I got a square foot sample in two days.

On the bright side, our fabricator has offered to replace it at no cost to us... but yes, we'll have to hound Caesarstone some more.

I just wish we had a better understanding of what happened so that we can ensure it won't happen with the next piece.

Your fabricator has already voided the warranty on the product by applying sealer to engineered stone. If soap and water didn't work to clean your product originally, I would wonder if they applied the sealer to the stone in house before they brought it out. It would cause all of the problems that you are describing here. I'd ask them to use acetone to strip the sealer off, and see if that did the trick.

The sealer was not applied beforehand. It was done as a last resort a few days ago after nothing else worked. Before that they tried cleaning it several times with acetone as well as the special engineered stone cleaner that Silestone makes.

And I had certainly tried with soap and water many times before that...

The fabricator primarily works with Cambria, so they're very familiar with engineered stone. It's hard to imagine what they could have done that would result in the stone behaving this way.

I guess I'm relieved to hear that no one's heard of this... perhaps we'll have better luck with the next slabs.

live-wire-oak - Thinking more about it, I wondered if possibly the installers had sealer on their hands from a granite job when they installed my counter (there was a handprint for the longest time on one part of the counter and then it magically faded). But acetone wouldn't get those marks out. They had to apply the Silestone cream cleanser multiple times and use 000 steel wool just to get the spots to fade.

Thanks jerzeegirl. I actually saw that thread before the counters were installed and kept an eye out for any acetone cans. My installers used a plastic spray bottle, so there weren't any issues.

We've concluded that maybe some of the spots were from silicone on the installers' hands... but that still doesn't explain why everything else leaves marks, too... or even more weirdly, why it readily absorbed the granite sealer.

Any update on your situation? My raven quartz just installed has same issue it seems. Anything and everything leaves a darker mark