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Should Black Impala granite be sealed?

15 years ago

The granite fabricator is here as I write this and I asked him about sealing Black Impala. He said it should be sealed, but I remember reading on this forum that BI shouldn't be sealed. So I told him I didn't want it sealed. He looked at me like I was crazy.

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Comments (4)

candf
15 years ago
Mine looked at me like that also.
The table on water absorbency states that Impala Black has an absorbency rate of 0.05 - 0.15% rate. That's a no for sealing. To be sure, place a big drop of water on the granite for 10 minutes. If the granite did not darken temporarily after wiping it dry, do not seal it.
pkirkha1
15 years ago
I have impala from 2004 - it was sealed when installed and I have't done it since...looks great, same as it did upon install. My fabricator told me to seal it every 6 months for 2 years and no need after that - I just forgot to keep it up but it has been fine.
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azstoneconsulting
15 years ago
There's very few stones that I do not seal...

I know that one of my dear friends here - Adriana (Stonegirl)
has a differing opinion on this, and I totally respect that...

However - I have to concur with Candf - test first, and
if there is ANY water absorption - seal it to be sure.
Test first on a piece of scrap if you want to be really safe.

Hopefully Adriana (Stonegirl) will chime in on this,
because her knowledge is AWESOME
and I would love to have her reiterate her philosophy on what
she feels should and should not be sealed -
She wrote a simply brilliant post on the subject
here on GW too, so maybe if somebody knows where it is,
they could post a link to it too....
I can't find it right now... But....If I could read it more
thoroughly this time -
It might change the way I feel about sealing too!!!

I have to go back to work now
(taking a quick break to answer questions/e-mails/etc)....

Differing opinions will only help to enrich our collective
knowledge on this....

just my .02 cents worth

Where are you Adriana???

kevin
bill_vincent
15 years ago
According to the chart, Impala Plack has between .05% and .15% absorbsion. Anything less than .25% does not need to be sealed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone chart

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