Don't wax it...call the place that installed and ask about it. It's probably just excess sealer that needs to be wiped off. Use a wet microfiber cloth and wipe it and then dry it with a microfiber cloth.

I have read that it takes more than just water to remove excess sealer. Insist that your installer come back and professionally remove the excess sealer. You paid quite a bit to have beautiful counters and they should be bright and brilliant when the installer leaves.

It's beautiful stone though--yowza!

I'd call the installer (because I don't know!) Just wanted to comment on how good it looks! I'm sure once you get this matter taken care of you'll be very happy!

Agreed--just wanted to say gorgeous granite!

Do you have Juparana Arandis? I do and love it. My granite does feel as smooth as glass. Definitely get them to come back and "fix" it. Could we see more pics?

If you check other threads, generally the experts recommend using the original sealer to remove excess dried on sealer - get your fabricator back to do it.

My granite wasn't completely smooth after it was installed either. It felt kind of grainy. At first I was heartbroken, then I cleaned it with granite cleaner and polished it using a microfiber cloth. It got smoother over a couple of days. I think it was residue left from the installation process, or possible the sealer, not to mention all the dust in and around the kitchen from all the work.

Beautiful granite!! I don't know about the sealer, but I wanted to comment on the wonderful coloring of the granite with your cabinets! You are well on your way to a gorgeous kitchen, I can't wait to see it all finished. Good luck!

When I got up this morning I found the wife who's first up, had used one of those scrubby sponge's and water on it and now its smooth as glass. It seemed a little oily ofter they left and looked streaky. However now it looks great. The stone is Creama Bordeaux. I will post more after the back splash Thank you all for the comments.

I just wanted to say how gorgeous the granite looks in your kitchen!!!

Correct answer:

I have read that it takes more than just water to remove excess sealer. Insist that your installer come back and professionally remove the excess sealer. You paid quite a bit to have beautiful counters and they should be bright and brilliant when the installer leaves.

A good impregnator needs to cure for 24 hours and will leave a haze and feel as you describe... most new construction gets the cleaning crew when the house is done and they take care of the final cleanup. With a remodel do you think they charged enough for a second trip to come back and clean it for you?
Did you buy on price or did you go for the quality and service part?

btw It looks like a good job!

kevin ii:
I think I got all three, since I'm 3 hours from Atlanta and since the wife got it cleaned like glass were happy with it now.
EXCEPT today I found a crack at the stove cutout. I will get them back out to rod the bottom so it doesn't go all the way through. Its only about 3" wide where the crack is. I believe it must have happened when the cut the stove top. It goes across the top and down the front but not all the way through. They cut the hole in place.

Larrywill,
the pic is a little blurry on my screen, the bottom looks like a clean break, but it looks like the curved portion of the bullnose was filled in. Two small brown spots right in the middle of the crack.

Did they try to fix it before they left the first time?

At least your stone is an easy one to patch cracks on. Enough colors so that a fill job will blend in, if they use enough colors.

Look into getting one of the NRSA guys to fix it. They are pretty good at fixing cracks in granite.

We didn't notice the crack until I started to put in the stove. They didn't either. There was no attempt to patch it.
They will come back and rod and patch it. Here is a picture of the top. The left side is the stove cut out.

What is supporting the stone under the cracked piece? Is there a gap between the cabinets and the stone?

As for the original question about the oily, grainy feel:

The Creme Bordeaux is always resined, and most of the slabs will not require the use of a sealer because of it. By what you are describing, the sealer they applied formed a film on the stone, trapping dirt and grit. When your wife used a scrubby, it probably removed the grit and sealer that dried on the surface of the stone. Do not attempt to reseal the stone, as you will experience the same problem. It is sometimes possible to remove sealer residue by mechanical abrasion - most commonly fine steel wool (00 or 000) is used, but it is a lot of hard work to do it this way. It is a lot easier to remove it chemically or to re-emulsify the sealer residue by applying some of the original sealer and then buffing it all off.

On the use of scrubbies: Use the blue on blue scrubbies rated safe for use on non-stick cookware. The green ones contain silicon carbide - a very aggressive abrasive also used in stone fabrication - and could damage the surface of your stone if used with vigor.

Good information, The cracked piece is approx 3" with 2" overhanging the front of the cabinet face frame then approx 1" over the face frame to the cut out.

Thank you

Make sure they use fiberglass rodding, not steel. With enough time and moisture, the steel rodding will start to rust, cracking the rail down the length. Make sure they rodd the back of the stove as well as doing the sink while they are at it. Otherwise it is just a matter of time before it cracks as well.

Grani Quartz carries the fiberglass rodding, doesn't cost that much for a roll of it.

Good luck on this
Al

Are you saying that every pace of granite should be rodded at the front and back of the stove as well as front and back of the sink?

Larry,

Al has it half right - again. Rodding is advised, but not required. Rodding is also not a magic potion that would make installation problems go away.

The crack at your cooktop happened because of lack of support or out of level cabinets. This should have been rectified at installation with shims, glue and the use of a level to provide proper and adequate support for the cooktop rails - a notoriously fragile area in any stone counter top.

When you get the granite guys back to fix the crack (which can be done in a very successful, practically invisible manner), have them check and recheck the supports for the counter tops - in particular the area around the cook top and sink. Rodding this area after installation is not a practical solution. The addition of adequate support will rectify the problem that caused your granite to crack and will prevent future cracks from forming.

Cracks in any stone installation is never the actual problem, but a symptom of something bigger in stead. Solve the underlying issue before fixing the cracks, or else they will continue to haunt you.

As far as rodding and rodding materials: There are various types of rodding materials: steel, stainless steel and fiberglass being the more commonly used ones. In wet areas like sinks, steel would be a bad idea IF used in a half assed way. The steel should be fully encased in the resin to prevent oxidation when exposed to water. Stainless and fiberglass rods would eliminate this problem. The fiberglass rodding, though light and water resistant, is not nearly as strong as the steel varieties, though, and will flex more, even if installed properly.

Rodding is mostly done as insurance policy for the fabricator and installer to ensure that the stone pieces have a bigger chance of getting to the job site in one piece. Sometimes rodding gets used as hidden supports in fragile materials or where larger than average overhangs could be an issue. Rodding is, like I said before, NOT an answer to poor support at installation.

Thank you for the information. They did shim the granite in several places. Then they caulked it to the front of the cabinets. I saw some rods on the backside that were enclosed in epoxy. I remember that the granite had some inclusions in it and he said they would rod anything near the edge, although the stove piece didn't have any. I could add a wood support to the front side of the stove cabinet under the crack. Both the stove and sink are bump outs. Here is a picture.

The granite people came by today, both owners. They are going to rod the crack and are making me 2 window sills out of my granite scraps for free on Friday. I was going to replace the old wood ones anyway.