That's really just a gimmick.

Your best bet is to get samples of the granites you like, take them home and test them out for staining. I'd test them sealed.

Rose_Mary:

pbrisjar hit the nail ON THE HEAD!!!! and I concur.....

Here's my thought to add to pbrijar's great comments:

I would tend to NOT do business on the scale of what you're proposing -
a full on countertop installation - with the Big Box stores - You will
loose a lot of your ability to customize your project, and in the end -
you will NOT be "saving" any money.

As for the "re-seal every six months" thingy - that is pure HOGWASH - that
is - unless you are doing a commercial application that gets wiped down
with ACETONE every few hours. The fact of the matter is this - sealers
are TEMPORARY COATINGS that applied to PERMANENT SURFACES - and
when applied correctly - will last for YEARS - not months.

Many stones today are "resined" which means that they have a coating of
Epoxy - applied at the finishing plant. I'll be doing a Podcast next week
on this subject - so watch for it at Natural Stone 101.com..... ANYWAYS -
The coating of epoxy is applied BEFORE the slab gets polished, so the epoxy
soaks in to the stone, and the excess is ground off when the slab goes through
the honing/polishing sequence.

The resin coat ALSO helps the stone to withstand a degree of staining, but
remember - Natural Stone can and will stain IF you try hard enough. The trick
is to be vigilant and wipe up potential staining agents as soon as they come
in contact with your stone.

Sealers applied after the stone is installed will HELP tremendously in creating
a TEMPORARY BARRIER to delay the staining agent from soaking in to the stone
and leaving it's own "unique calling card" in the form of a stain.

Does that make sense?

I have had tremendous success for more than 15 years using 511 Porous Plus -
yes..... there are other quality products available from AquaMix, Lithofin, Surface
treatment Technologies and others - but I have had NO problems from
using 511 Porous Plus and 511 Impregnator.

sorry to be so long - My podcast will have all of this in it and more

kevin

The sealant should not be a deciding factor. I have marble on my island, which stains very easily if not sealed... the sealant really does a great job. Everything I've spilled on it since my kitchen was finished 2 days ago has come right up (and I've spilled a lot of things-- my intent was to be more careful... oh well!)

We found an awesome fabricator after a long search. We wanted someone with a lot of experience, not a fancy showroom with ignorant salespeople. We also wanted someone who was comfortable working with soapstone. This guy's price was also very reasonable.

Shop around, test a variety of stones, and don't be afraid of sealing it.

or, if you really don't want to have to deal with sealing, go for soapstone!

I have gotten samples from several companies. My concern is there are now companies like Milano offering limetime stain resistance warranties. Am I wise to get the same stone from the fabricator for a much cheaper price but without this specialized treatment. Has anyone had basic granite they seal every year? Is it easy to do and does it resist stains? As I posted earlier, we were thinking HD laminate until this great price came along. Also any opinions on the color Santa Cecelia? We are trying not to make the kitchen too dark with the cherry cabinets but we also like uba tuba, verde butterfly and sapphire blue. We are putting in a light toast colored Bruce engineered oak floor. We have two large windows and a smaller one over our sink but no direct sunlight. We also have plenty of recessed lighting and are putting in undercounter lighting. So it's been hard to decide between a more classic dark color and brightening up the place with the Santa Cecelia. The walls will also be a shell white color. Thanks for any imput.

The most important thing is to research the stone you like first. Most "granites" are not really granite at all. I have Blue Bahia, which is a Solidite. I not only have to be careful with staining but also etching. Anything acidic will etch my stone.
Take a sample home and try and stain it. Use red wine, tomato sauce, lemon, etc. and see what happens.
I chose beauty over durability. A sealer won't stop etching, think of it like clear nail polish, it's only a barrier. I learned a lot from Stone Advice.
Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone Advice

Even if what you select needs to be sealed every 6 months all it means is remove items from the counter, spray sealer and wipe off. Put stuff back on your counters. It is really no different than cleaning entire counter with a spray cleaner.

test, test, test and then decide for yourself. believe nothing a seller, fabricator, KD tells you.

we have serpentine. does not etch, does not stain, but it does scratch. i am planning on learning how to polish it myself. maybe do that once in three years to keep the high polish surface.

so you have to see for yourself how the stone will work in your application.

Blue Pearl goes great with cherry cabinets and doesn't need to be sealed. See if your place has it and if you like it. There are other granites that don't need to be sealed as well. I think the lifetime sealing thing is a gimmick!

Sounds like you have an opportunity to get granite counters at quite a reasonable price. All four of those choices are fairly common here (I have Butterfly Blue, which I think would be between verde butterfly and sapphire blue, my Mom has Uba Tuba, and my sister has Santa Cecilia), the three darker ones are pretty well bullet proof, and I doubt if they'd even need an initial sealer, let alone every 6 months. so, I definitely wouldn't pay twice as much for a granite with lifetime sealer.

However, more important that the price (and believe me when I say I am VERY price-conscious!), is the ability of your fabricator/installer to do a satisfactory to good quality job. Are you able to see the kind of job this fabricator can do? Will he offer you any kind of guarantee/assurance that his seams will be tight and smooth and even? What if the granite cracks within a few months (ask me why I know about this? :>(. Will he repair or replace your counter?

My granite was sealed when they installed it....."5" years ago! I haven't sealed it since. I cook all the time. I roll out pie dough on it, fry chicken & bacon....it spatters. I've found chunks of greasy food on it the next day,DH didn't see it when he cleaned up. Never a spot or a stain. On the other hand, my neighbor installed labrador antique and it stained day one. So........it varies.

I haven't resealed my granite and I spill red wine on it, coffee, what ever. Just wipe it up.

Make sure you see examples of your fabricators work. Ask to see seams he's done also. There's another thread here that lists great information on what you should know about granite. type granite seams into a search and read away.

Some of the big box stores can be higher in price on granite, BUT---I would be VERY VERY concerned that a reputable granite fabricator would be able to come in less than laminate. Something sounds just not quite right. There are plenty of "counter top guys" who are buying container loads of pre-fab slabs from China and setting up shop calling themselves stone fabricators when it just ain't so! Definately check out samples of his work and how long he's been in business before going with this guy. In the end, if you can't get a reputable granite fabricator for the price, I'd suggest going with the cheapest possible laminate countertops (NOT the HD stuff!) until you were able to save enough money to get the stone you want from a good source. No point in throwing dollars at a temporary countertop when they can be saved for the better quality one.

And, sealing granite is NO big deal at all! No, it's not hassle free, but nothing else in life is either. If you fall in love with a beautiful granite, the 15 minutes you might spend annually won't be a big deal to you. It does sound as though you really haven't found "the one" granite yet though.