Okay I think I HATE my granite! Stained already!!
kmgard
14 years ago
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Comments (15)
janefan
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoweissman
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
I need to vent! I HATE my hardwood floor...
Comments (26)This post has come to life again, so for anyone seeking it out because they have the same problem, I wanted to jump in with some personal experience. After the oak floors in our new-construction house began cupping and buckling (the builder had rushed the build, since he was trying to finish a spec house on the same deadline, but had since decamped to another state due to a sex scandal), we saved for a few years and replaced it with engineered cherry flooring. This probably would have been about the same time as the OP's post, which as of this comment is 13 years old; the manufacturer was a Swedish company called Kährs, and since our local distributor had just started carrying it, there were no red flags in terms of bad reviews or negative customer feedback. That cherry floor looked great--for about ten minutes. EVERYTHING scuffed and scratched it. A puppy just innocently living its life? Scratches galore. Someone dropping anything heavier or sharper than a pillow? A guaranteed ding. A kid running a toy car over it? A tell-tale track of scuffs. Anyone wearing shoes (and I'm not talking stilettos)? Scuffs, scratches, and dents. It was ridiculous, like, we couldn't believe how quickly and easily the floor accumulated damage. Whatever finish was on that cherry, it did absolutely NOTHING to protect against ordinary wear and tear. We tried everything to clean, protect, and rehabilitate that floor. Shoes, even slippers, became forbidden in the house. We had a network of rugs from one end of the house to the next. Every chair not only sat on a rug, it had felt floor protectors and ugly wool socks on its feet. We swiffered like mad. For ten years, all the measures we took were futile, and just ended up causing us added aggravation and frustration. Finally we gave up, realized we were going to have to bite the bullet and install our THIRD hardwood floor in fifteen years, and replaced every square foot of the cherry. This time, we went for a harder wood (hickory), though the major problem with the Kährs had obviously been the finish. We put in a fairly pricey but beautiful hand-scraped wide-plank floor (Baroque Flooring Bavarian XL) and it was FABULOUS--everything the Kährs wasn't. It was gorgeous, it was tough as nails (pets were no problem!), and it was easy to clean. The moral of this story: Sometimes there's just no way around a bad product, except to replace it. The sooner you can afford to do it, the happier you'll be....See MoreOkay, so I think I'm done...Thank you ! (PICS)
Comments (81)That is the prettiest backsplash I have ever seen. I love: - the surprise sparkly squares - the color flow between the backsplash and the granite - the large amount of bright white in the backsplash and granite, with a minimum of grey (I like silver/gold, but not grey tones) - how the cabinet stain seems to match a hue in the mosaic backsplash... PERFECTLY! As though the cabinet stain was designed for that mosaic or vice-versa. Wow. Also quite clever is that curve-around feature on the peninsula. That looks very fun and very practical. Questions: Do you do cartwheels into this kitchen every morning from sheer glee? Did you put brackets under the granite curved out part? What chairs did you settle on ? Thanks to the person who linked to this thread from a posting today!...See MoreI hate my Kohler Stages sink. Learn from my mistake
Comments (56)I don’t think the Stages comes with a colander, at least it didn’t when I got it. It does come with a large wood cutting board, large white tray/cutting board, small tray/cutting board, 6 ceramic prep bowls, bottom sink grid, and under counter rack. The prep bowls are well designed to both stack and be reversible, although I mostly use them with the larger size up. I like the square design because it’s easy to use a wood spatula to scrape out the contents. The bottom grid hasn’t been a problem for me. You do have to lift it up or take it out to clean the sink, but that outweighs the advantages of being able to set things on it to drain and the fact that it protects the bottom of the sink from scratches. I do wish it was in two pieces so it would more easily fit in my dishwasher. It is so big that I have angle it to get it in and it’s hard to load other items around it....See MoreI left some wet rags on my granite countertops & this stain appeared
Comments (21)Hello - Sorry I haven't been back yet. That big darkened spot is finally gone. It took 5 days to go away completely. I cleaned the counters and then did 3 coats of sealer using the instructions on the bottle (it says to do 2-3 coats). Water definitely beads up now. I left a tablespoon for 20 minutes, forgot about it - and after 3 hours - it was still beaded up. I wiped it up to reveal a dark spot ... but this disappeared in 10 min! Like you mentioned Lisa, you definitely still have to be careful - but it won't be as sensitive (I am not leaving rags for 2 days again). I used the "Granite Gold" cleaner and sealer. The sealer has a strong smell, but the cleaner doesn't smell like much. The oven I have is a Wolf R304 (range / oven). I couldn't find reliable instructions about self-clean, but I am also a bit averse to it because of the strong odor it can produce. I had no idea what the former tenant had in there, so I was more comfortable cleaning it myself manually, though it did require a whole pack of 24 microfiber rags and 2 boxes of baking soda. I made a $1.29 betty crocker cake to celebrate (and test if this oven worked before I made anything more serious). It works! The "blue ceramic" interior doesn't have the best instructions on how to clean it, but that's why it took so many microfiber rags. They can't do much with just water. The prior tenant left a lot of rings on the granite, and I asked the LL if I should seal over them (since it's can be a process to remove them & they'd really have to call someone for that) and they said it's fine. So, some of the orange spots are sealed over now. Some are natural anyway (iron / rust deposits or whatever) Lisa, I don't think I have those light striations - I have seen them in homes (and bars too - it seems to be popular) & like that look actually, but mine is more speckled. Thanks for all of your help. I hope future people see the thread & know you haven't just destroyed $1000 in countertops because of a water accident....See Morejeanteach
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agosailormann
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoCloud Swift
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agonesting12
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agokmgard
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoCloud Swift
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agombarstow
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agophoggie
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoweissman
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoCloud Swift
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agojeanteach
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoHU-338755469
3 years ago
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