mjammjam,

I have been going back and forth on making my decision on counters. And just when I said okay, I am going to do Marble. Your horrible situation stops me in my tracks. I have been researching and trying to find a granite that could work and there is nothing pretty enough.

What are you going to do? Is there even a sealer that can work? My installer is saying they use Dry-Treat stain proof but it does not stop staining on Marble and you have to sign a waiver. I am truly sorry you are going through this. How frustrating!

I hope the professionals can get this stain out so you can enjoy your space.

~boxer

Boxerpal -- I don't like granite either! And I would never get marble after all the horror stories. However, some people have no problems with quartzite. The sales rep who was at my house today said they stand behind their products and will get it resolved. They said that nobody knows how to seal correctly. The directions on the bottle say to leave it for 15 minutes and then buff it off. They told me today that they leave it for a full day before wiping it off, and then let it dry a few days and then do this 2 more times. On my other post, somebody said something similar and that's what I'm going to do if these stains come out. I have a feeling this is not going to be resolved overnight though. They tried to take the stain out today with Bar Keeper's Friend Stain remover but it didn't work. I can't wait to hear from the stain removal guy tomorrow! Yes - it's so frustrating! And I just want it done, but I have to keep waiting.....

My daughter and I tested Ciello de Ivorie and it was essentially bullet proof.. We left red wine and hot sauce...all night long and they all came out except for 2 granites on the right. But it is a bit boring pattern and not really white.. After reading so much drama with stains I think I am going to stick with the Ciello, it is boring but will be around for the long haul.

: )

Wishing you lots of joy when they fix your counters.

Cielo de Ivory, Valley White and Giallo

I could not get a sample of the Calacatta, Statuarietto marbles or the quartzites to test. Did you test your mount blanc? My installer warned me MOntblanc is a stain magnet. Wishing you success with your counter.

~boxer

That's Great -- But try lemon and oil stains next. I have a sample piece of White Macaubus and nothing stains it. If they don't get this out, I may go for that again. Mine is called Zermatt but looks similar to Mont Blanc

Is the bottom photo, the "after" pic? I still see the stains on the first piece. Are they sealed?

Great to know that worked, Vinmarks! Thank you!

@ Vinmarks, Oh my gosh... Yes I remember Maurizio... I used to be called boxerpups You are giving me hope for a beautiful counter. I am going to research the Tenax today.

@Mjammjam, Those granites were sealed according to the stone yard. Sealed but Not by the fabricator. The first one had those marks already so that is color in the stone not from the stains. But I was unable to test the Quartzite or Marbles..

Here are the Marble stones I love but have a panic attack thinking about what has happened to you.

I have to make the choice by Friday.... wish me luck in this choice.

~boxer

Wow Boxer

Love those! Especially 1 and 3! I don't like the bottom left of the 2nd one. My sister-in-law's friend owns a stone yard and has the Marble Danby. It looked gorgeous for a year and now she regrets it.

I went through the same exact thing as you. I was all over the marbles until the horror stories talked me out of it. I couldn't find one single granite that I liked, and couldn't bring myself to use quartz. I work with a woman whose husband owns a stone yard and he said that nobody buys the granite anymore like they used to. He himself has the Taj Majal quartzite and has no issues with it 5 years later. He told me the sealer is key and that nobody does it correctly. I'm hoping these guys will remove the stain and seal it well. I'm going to test my sample slab before I commit to keeping it though.

Good Luck -- I know - it's so frustrating.

Sounds like you need to put the husband on a raspberryless time out until he repents of his countertop staining ways (and never does something like that again!)... ;)

Is that a male thing? My husband just leaves stuff out too. We are going from dark counters to light counters. It will be interesting to see if he will see his ground coffee and bbq spice spills that will now be visible on a light counter!

I tested a piece of my Taj Mahal after I had purchased it and it didn't seem to be affected by lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. I put some other stuff on it, that also didn't stain, but it was over a year ago so I don't remember what they were.

I love #3 as well but cannot find a good alternative that combines the golds.

It might be a male thing, but I don’t let the mister get that much time where he’s free to leave whatever on our granite counters so he can’t end up staining them. They’re like children sometimes...;)

He also knows better than to get any of my underpinnings mixed in with the rest of the laundry. Or tossed into the dryer! ;)

Curious to know if the stain ever came out and if you had any more stains after the fabricators sealed it.

Hi Layne,

Stains never came out. We got new countertops. We applied our own sealer Miracle 511 after we got the new counter, and I think we need to do it again, I notice some water stains only where the seams of grout are near the faucet. I'm going to let it dry out and then apply more sealer. Otherwise, the tops have been fine --

Make sure to seal the sides of the slab as well as the top. Maybe that's why I'm seeing water marks where the grout lines meet.

Good luck

Had to look up this post as I placed a couple of slabs on hold of Zermatt. This one has a light cream tone with green hues in veining. Nervous about etching and staining. Let me know what you think. Originally I had a Santorini but thought maybe too busy. Santorini had white and gray tones. I like a creamy warmer hue if it is etch proof.

Here is the Zermatt

Thank you Rachel. I was getting really nervous. I think the Zermatt is also called Mont Blanc.

mcdb, did you test the slabs with any of the tests recommended on the karin_mt geology threads? No one can tell you how a slab will act just by seeing a photo.

this is the sealer our fabricator uses/recommends. They are having us seal it every couple of months for the first year

Chispa, I did not get a chance to and I'm terrified bebecause they are delivering today to my fabricator.

Hello! It has been two years since this post and I can’t help but ask, did the stains come out and did a good deal help with the marble countertop or did it continue to stain?

I am so curious how things turned out with the zermatt? I have to make a countertop decision ASAP And zermatt is the front runner!

Hi Guys,

I had the countertop replaced because I couldn't get the stains out. I have since been sealing it every six months which is the biggest hassle. I use Miracle 511 pourous plus and apply at least 2 coats.

I bought a buffer from Amazon (The kind used to wax cars) to help rub in and wipe off the sealer because it's so strenuous. i do have marks next to my stove - probably from water getting in between stove and counter.

I WOULD NEVER BUY THIS AGAIN! However, I just couldn't fall in love with Quartz -- I would get Taj Majal quartzite since it has a much better reputation!

Good luck!

@mjammjam Have heard that miracle 511 porous plus is the best! my slab of the zermatt is not as white as yours and I am wondering if that should make it easier to keep it looking nice?

do you think if you had less areas of white on the counter it would have been better?

(i know the Taj Mahal is known to be the strongest but I just don’t have the right color scheme for it...)

Runner.

Mine isn't as white either. I would make sure your installer seals the edges to where the counter meets the stove. Everyone compliments my kitchen and doesn't notice anything the way I do, but i'm always nagging my husband to seal the counter and he complains that this was one of the worst buys of ours.

@mjammjam I will definitely speak with my fabricator about sealing around the edges. My husband really wants quartzite over Quartz so hopefully the Extra effort will be worth it for the beauty. Really, really appreciate your insight and hearing about your experience.

@mjammjam

Oh thats awful you had to replace. I am so sorry.

I ended up going with a soft marble. I love it. I do seal it every 6 month or if I feel like water is staining it. It is just my husband and I. And now with Covid we rarely entertain. I have had no issues with staining but yes there is some etching.

Love your marble @Boxerpal !

Wait, @Boxerpal—are you the Boxerpups from THS and the old GW that was so amazing at pulling up the best photos ever? I still have some of your ideas saved... and that was a long time ago... so nice to see you here!

yes @gardener123 yes indeed I am.. Houzz made me change my name when I had to change my email.

Oh my gosh Boxerpal. No wonder I typed in Boxerpups when I commented on your reply to my post on flooring. I caught it before I posted but I wondered afterwards if maybe you were aka boxerpups!

@Holly- Kay yes it is indeed me. So sweet to be remembered. I miss the ole GW

Boxer, I do too! It was a blessing when I was renovating our kitchen!

Well, this discussion thread is depressing! Thought I had just found my countertop. I really want marble - but saw a slab of zermatt today and thought maybe that might be a good substitute re: durability.

@Boxerpal - your kitchen is beautiful. I love your marble. Honestly - are the issues more or less than you thought they’d be having marble in your kitchen? I really am tired of trying to figure this out. I haven’t found any granites that I really like. I don’t really want a quartz look alike. Idk what to do . . .

@dani_m08

Oh don't be depressed. Marble is great. I love it. Just go into this knowing the good the bad and the ugly.

I have no regrets. Love the marble would do it again in a heart beat. We normally just have two adults but with Covid right now I have three young messy adults here. One is a spicy messy cook the other two are not careful. I found my daughter painting her nails on the marble.. AAagghhhhh but nothing happened. The other one banged heavy pots while offering to clean after dinner.

If you want bullet proof this is not it. But I will say it is pretty wonderful. I love the look. I still use trivets and we wipe up oil and vinegar if it spills but wouldn't change a thing. Love love love my counters.

My particular marble is SOFT and chips easily but again I love it. We had rented out our house for 6 months while traveling up north and the renters were fine with it. I do have one minor 2 millimeter chip along the sink edge but you don't notice it. I might have the stone people come out sometime and fix anything that bothers me. If and when something ugly happens..

We love our marble.

~Boxerpups (boxerpal)

Just had my Zermatt countertop installed and the fabricator told me that he sees so many stones but that this one was just stunning. Made my day and feeling confident I made a great aesthetic decision. Time will tell if I have staining issues...

@Runnermom - looks beautiful!

@Boxerpal - I really appreciate your comment/thoughts. I do understand that it‘s a natural stone - and will have some issues. I just need to go ahead and pull the trigger on it - and stop reading discussions about marble here on Houzz! There are so many people who are adamant about how ridiculous it is to even think about installing it, that it‘s made me question my decision. Your kitchen is GORGEOUS. Knowing that you rented your house out for 6 months - and your marble is fine (except for the tiny chip) really is comforting. Even responsible renters won’t be nearly as careful as someone who own the house - happy to hear that nothing terrible happened.

It’s also comforting to know that there always is the option of having a professional come out and repair it some point in the future.

I’m going to find my slabs this week - and be finished with this whole issue! Wish me luck! Thanks again!

@dani_m08 lots of luck! Remember that there are plenty of people who have no issues with natural stone but you generally won’t hear from them on these message boards... As you can see, I went forward with natural stone because I do think it’s stunning and, with proper sealing many problems are avoided. I agree that professionals can help if needed - my fabricator told me He has never had someone come back to him regretting having gotten a natural stone. I’m sure your kitchen will be gorgeous - please keep us posted!

Hi @Runnermom, we are looking to get zermatt, for our kitchen but wanted to ask you of your experience with it since it's been sometimes you have it installed. how's it working for you? we have two young kids who always drip water from their bottles/cups on island. (as one of my worry), but we can't go with quartz as we don't like it.

any additional thing you do/did to protect from daily wear/stain? we will ask the fabricator to seal the edges as someone recommended here. Thanks!

I know this post is four years old, but I really appreciate this advice. I'm about to place my order for Taj Mahal Quartzite. I'm going to ask if I can seal the edges with the Tenax Skudo that @vinmarks spoke of. Thank you all!

After reading multiple posts about staining and chipping with all different types of quartzite, I just changed my countertop choice to granite. I managed to find a granite that is not too busy.

Sorry I didn’t respond with an update sooner. We have kids and, to date, have had no issues with our countertops. They continue to be the part of the kitchen that we get the most compliments on and I’m so happy looking at them everyday. Someone on another similar thread asked me to post final pics with the backsplash so I’ll post them here as well.

Runnermom, I am so happy to see your completed kitchen. It is just beautiful!!! Thanks for the update!

@Runnermom - kitchen is absolutely beautiful!

Are your floors red oak? What color (and brand) stain did you use?

Thanks for posting photos!

Dani

Thanks so much! We are loving our kitchen. So many decisions and it was overwhelming, but I followed along so many threads on Houzz to get ideas and advice and I’m happy to pay it forward. Our floors are red oak and the stain we used is DuraSeal Provincial with a water-based seal. They are the perfect timeless medium brown color IMHO. Red oak floors can be tricky; stains appear very differently on them than white oak for sure. I found other brands of Provincial to be inferior. We used Bona High Traffic HD in Satin for the finish.

Runnermom, were you able to test your exact slabs before purchasing it also what did you do for sealing. I’m leaning towards a quartzite and I have kids too.

I didn’t test my slabs before purchasing. I consulted with my fabricator and he knew they were true quartzite. (Definitely need to be careful because some slabs labeled quartzite are marble, see, for example “Super White Quartzite”). The fabricator professionally sealed them twice and I haven’t had any issues. I can tell they were well sealed because when water spills it forms bubbles and doesn’t absorb into the stone. I couldn’t love them more. If the stone is truly quartzite and if it is installed by a hood fabricator there shouldn’t be issues.

I’m having white quartz , not quartzite, installed in my kitchen, though I do love soapstone and marble. My engineer sister told me to avoid the extra work, which is fine.

I have other plans for marble. My home is a 1953 ranch one level house with walk out basement. I hated the mantel in the living room. Too much mill work and this awful granite the previous owners picked.

I’m having the flooring in my living room, former dining room, kitchen and addition replaced and the kitchen , dining room, pantry and addition remodeled and my garage turned into an ADU - so major work.

The fireplace was always an afterthought since the living room wasn’t used often (too dark & crowded with furniture). With the removal of the flooring, I saw an opportunity to reflect the mid-century look of the fireplace and get rid of the millwork and granite. Instead, I’ll be using Empress Green marble. I wanted Spider green marble from India, but simply couldn’t find it. Turns out it is very popular in commercial business foyers. Empress Green is a little darker but just as marbleized. The slab I found was great. I even have a fancy gold mirror I’ll be able to hang above the fireplace.

No food or drink will be allowed on the mantel and I don’t want it junked up.

Since I added a window in the old dining room, and the addition is now the dining room, with the 8 foot ceiling now segwaying into the additions vaulted ceiling, more light will be coming in. Even with the rooms being unfinished, the space is brighter.