I think all granites should be sealed, but the question becomes which are more prone to staining (lighter colors in general since they are less dense) and which ones need to be re-sealed on a regular (yearly) basis.

I had Tropic Brown in my old kitchen, never sealed it after it was installed (was sealed by installer), but 6 years later I did notice it looked a little dull and not as shiney. Probably a good acetone bath and reseal would have fixed it, but never found any sort of staining on it at all (that I noticed).

Thanks, OCJeff. That may be one vote in favor. I understand that the yearly sealing is not a big deal to do, but this lifetime thing is not expensive, either.

I don't think that sealing will make a difference to the stone looking shiney vs dull. It just fills in pores in the granite so it doesn't stain. It doesn't sit on the surface. Actually, if they put too much on and don't wipe it off, it can make the granite look hazy.

I'm suspicious of the lifetime sealer or lifetime warranties in general. Some granites will never need to be resealed because they weren't porous to begin with. And even the regular sealers tend to last longer than a year.

Check out the terms on the lifetime warranty and care instructions. They will usually say that they warrant for defects in the product but not use and abuse. That leaves them an out if you ever call them on the warranty to say that the problem is due to you not following the care instructions. Also, what remedy do they provide if the sealer fails. My guess is that it is reapplication of the sealer and nothing else.

We looked into the Graniteshield lifetime sealer on our marble tops in the kitchen. After reading the very fine print on the contract regarding marbloe we opted for the regular old sealing process. The lifetime sealer was expensive here at 700 dollars for 100sq ft of marble. Also, Ask them for a sample of the sealer on a scrap piece of your stone. I have read that some lifetime sealers leave a strange film almost like a plastic skin texture.

Ginny - thanks for asking this and provoking some answers. :) I am leery of the lifetime sealers, ala "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" thinking. And, it would be nice to have one less thing to worry about. It seems that a couple of people have read the fine print and found this to be so. I'm curious if anyone has opted for it and, if so, what they think after the fact?