Since it was a mystery I bet everyone following feels a little victory and there is nothing wrong with that. :)

I thought "shadow" from the beginning, but thought it odd that it had gone unnoticed for so long.

When I put Sun Tunnel skylights in my dining room, the light fixture caused a shadow on my table. It wasn't very noticeable when I had a tablecloth in place, but this summer I refinished the table, and now leave it uncovered. The shadow was much more pronounced when the skylights reflected off the shiny tabletop! I was in an absolute panic the first time I saw it, thinking that there was a big stain on my brand new table.

Hahaha so happy to hear it's just a shadow. Don't feel silly either, you had us all scratching our heads...

I almost jokingly said in the beginning that your third picture posted looked like your head was casting the shadow and you should stand elsewhere but I didn't want the funny part to come off being rude.. Anyway enjoy!! :)

See, it WAS UFO's! LOL! UFO's visiting in the form of your lighting fixtures. :)

I'm so glad it was nothing dee. With all the probs you had with counter install, I might have screamed for you, if this was a real problem. I'm glad it's *all* good

I agree that even though you feel a little foolish, this thread was very educational to the Forum. I learned all about what might cause a stain, and how to be a detective to determine the nature of the stain, and the excellent white tea towel advice. Plus, I got to see your pretty counters.

Have you called Caesarstone to cancel the warranty claim?

Also, hug your cat! I felt kinda bad for him or her that there was some whiff that it might be the cat's fault!

Oh wow! I am so glad for you that it wasn't a stain. Don't feel bad. I have a similar "stain" on my countertop and I did the towel test when I first saw it. I was convinced it was a stain too!

Now I think Casey (aka sombreuil_mongrel) has a great mind to go with his/her great eye for design. Nice sleuthing.

And BlackChamois, thanks for letting us know the end of the story -- even if it left you a little red-faced. Think how different this world (or even this board) would be if we would all own our mistakes the way you just did. Well done! You’re a breath of fresh air. :-)

That's funny that it turned out to actually be a shadow after all. I could see a light fixture reflection in the counter and the shape of the "stain" appeared to be the same shape as the bulb that you could see in the reflection.

Sheeesh...what a huge sigh of relief you must be breathing right now!

What a relief that UFOs didn't visit nor did your neighbor sneak in with an iron!

Okay, everybody. Now repeat after GreenDesigns:

CS is nonporous. Oils, or anything else will not penetrate it. It's not ''stained''.

So glad to hear it (and kudos to you for admitting the truth!). What's really surprising is that you hadn't noticed it in the first 8 months following installation!

Looks like its from a rag left on the counter.

Quartz should be a lot stronger than that. As far as I remember there is not much that messes up quartz. It is supposed to be the most durable. Maybe it didn't get sealed very well right there or someone left a rag on it when it was getting sealed.

This post was edited by Vith on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 12:15

Vith :) It helps to read the thread in its entirety.

"Out of the UFO walked a cat who peed on the counter."

I would still sniff it to be sure.

Black_Chamois, I have a spot on my quartz (from acetone on install) that is only visible in certain light in fall and winter.

Do not feel bad! I always love a good mystery and especially when it has such a simple and happy ending.

For any of us who do wind up with a stain on our counters this thread has a lot of really good ideas and information on how to figure out the problem. Leave it up.

I am sitting by myself in a PAnera bread laughing so hard I'm crying! (And getting strange looks) Thank you so much for this post!! This is awesome, sticky worthy I dare say!

Very useful information, and a happy ending.

I was going to suggest that the shadow was in the shape of the Virgin Mary's head. You could have made millions!

That's such a relief! Scientific method to the rescue. I was only 10% convinced it would be a shadow, but curiously the shape was such a perfect parabolic.
I had the same "Oh s^&t" reaction on a woodworking project one time, come to think of it, from something dangling between a light source and the material.
Casey

Not only a happy ending, but a brownie recipe to try too! I'd say this is an entirely worthy thread. :)

Wow. Glad you didn't use whatever chemicals to remove the "stain."

Yeah, please don't feel bad. I did the same thing regarding a recurring drywall "stain" in a corner. This was a new build, in a corner with a funky roof line above it, and slightly below a window.

It looked exactly like a water stain.

I repainted and it looked fine....but then the stain came back.

I was certain the window was leaking, or the roof was leaking...

Turns out the stain was a reflection of the trim around the window - and was only there when a certain light was on.

I felt like the biggest fool in existence. You just made me feel better. :)

Acetone will not etch or discolor engineered quartz:

Here is a link that might be useful: Acetone

Hehe!

Cool!

I love this thread. UFO became IFO and all is well!

Strange phenomenon that it can be so hard to track down a shadow that we need actually step-by-step strategies and tools for the job.

lol Don't feel bad! A few months after my kitchen was completed, I was walking down the stairs and noticed a stain on my ceiling. We're getting to the point where we need to think about a new roof, it had just rained heavily and I panicked thinking that our ceiling was leaking. I call three roofers and found one that could come out fairly quickly. The guy took one look at it, asked if anything had been taped to the ceiling (like when the GC masked off the kitchen during the remodel) and pointed out that some of the sheet rock paper had come off with the tape. Oops. I felt like an idiot. I'm sure the roofer felt the same way. *sigh* Life happens. Kudos to you for admitting to being human. And what a happy ending that your beautiful counters are just fine.

Best thread ever! (especially the outcome!) You can't make this stuff up. I especially liked the cat pee UFO conspiracy theory. Black Chamois , you may need to change your screen name to BlackShadow. ;)

Oh my goodness! The thread I wanted deleted from existence I now want to frame!

I have had a smile on my face all day from all the comments since "coming clean" (pun intended).

You all are amazing! Thank you for your supportive comments and kind words and, oh my! the laughs!

But you know, you were right the whole time. You insisted that you couldn't have possibly done it. Even when we suggested that you must have done something, you held your ground. You were right.

There are important lessons from this thread. There are too many who are too ready to blame a fabricator, installer, general contractor, or manufacturer before taking a breath and looking at the facts.

Now we have potential quartz customers perhaps disregarding a great product because of a towel. A manufacturer and genre are taking a rap for something they had nothing to do with.

Treb - why did you say "now we have potential customers disregarding the product because of a towel"? I thought this thread had the opposite effect. The OP has no stain at all, and the thread is full of people saying they've had their quartz counters for years with no staining. If anything, this thread would convince potential customers to opt for quartz.

Check the 17th post.

happy ending and now i want to make some pioneer woman brownies!!!!

Yay, a happy ending! So glad you don't have ghosts, UFOs, or someone sneaking in when you're not there!

I had a repairman out to my home for a metal part I found loose in my dryer, (under warranty). He very graciously informed me it was from my underwire bra.

Romy718, that is funny! I love this thread. We all learned a lot and I feel it will be a great help to others.

Lol Romy. Reminds me of when one of DH's buddies at work was sent out to repair a microwave. The complaint was that the microwave went from 100 to 59. She also was quite upset with HIM when he gently told her that 1:00 was not one hundred seconds, but one minute. Or sixty seconds and 59 obviously would follow.

I'm glad nothing was wrong with your counter... I spilled red wine on the carpet and wish it were a shadow. But no it's still there...

So glad that this is resolved. What a relief :)

{{gwi:2144551}}

This post was edited by enduring on Sat, Feb 7, 15 at 9:18

Oh, BlackChamois, please know that as I chuckled through this thread, I was laughing with you, not at you.

If it makes you feel any better, I recently got in the car and realized I'd forgotten something. I went to get it, returned, and then the car wouldn't start. I kept turning the ignition and nothing was happening. I went in and told my husband the car wouldn't start.

He comes out to look at it and says...."uhhh, honey, it's already started." What? It runs so quiet that I hadn't realized I had turned it on and left it running. D'oh!

Funniest thread ever and I'm glad it had a happy ending.

I do want to know if the warranty people have contacted you back and what you've told them. :)

Blackchamois - very glad that this turned out to be nothing.

I do understand Treb's point. While the thread is useful to others for troubleshooting purposes, the title ends up being misleading.

Perhaps if you could edit your first post to say that the problem ended up NOT being the Caesarstone, that would be helpful to others who might not read until the end. Definitely leave some mystery, because it was fun reading through this!

Henceforth this shall be known as the "shadow stain" thread. Everyone knows that shadows can stain. Most enjoyable blackchamois though it was looking a little spooky upthread there!

Romy - big LOL and a great way to get my Saturday off to a great start. Thank you!

Best thread ever! (especially the outcome!) You can't make this stuff up. I especially liked the cat pee UFO conspiracy theory. Black Chamois , you may need to change your screen name to BlackShadow. ;)

Best thread ever! (especially the outcome!) You can't make this stuff up. I especially liked the cat pee UFO conspiracy theory. Black Chamois , you may need to change your screen name to BlackShadow. ;)

Tre - I'm sorry if it came across as if I was "blaming" anyone. It was more "what the heck happened, and how?"!

Oldbat - Good idea and done!

Enduring - Great visual!

Funkycamper - You're welcome to laugh AT me! It's warranted! :) Thanks for sharing your "oops" as well!

Poohpup, Romy, Patriceny, Yeonasky - All great stories! Love it!

Perfect!! I'll have forgotten all the details by next year so am sure to re-read with interest at some point in the future :)

BlackChamois:

Compared to the crow I've had to eat on this board, this is merely an appetizer. I always learn much more from my failures than from my successes. I can't believe I didn't diagnose shadow in my first post. What a rookie.

Thanks for having the guts to own it. That earns my respect.

Awesome thread! Thanks to all for contributing to my weekend entertainment. So glad it had a happy ending. Can't wait to get that Raven countertop for the bar....

BlackChamois- I have been following your thread and just had to join all the others who enjoyed the detective work to figure out the root cause!

In addition to fixing post one, consider a new post called "shadow stain" with a synopsis. It will make it easier for us to find downstream.

Thanks for sharing and being a sport at "humble pie". We have all been there before!

BTW- I just showed this to DH - he took one look at it and said "it looks like a shadow". Tre- we could team you up with DH to make a dynamic duo!

This post was edited by a2gemini on Sun, Feb 8, 15 at 10:31

This thread is a keeper! It has mystery and intrigue, almost a "whodunnit ".

"Only The Shadow knows..." Heehee.

Of course, the outcome was the best part, and what a huge relief that had to be. Yay for you!

BTW, I recently had a similar experience, where I thought I had a huge scrape, causing a dull spot on my granite, with no clue how it happened. I tried to scrub it off, scrape it with my fingernail, etc. in the hope that it was not scratched, but that horrible spot remained. I showed DH, who agreed that it looked like a bad scrape. I was researching granite repair in my area, and looking at ballpark costs, disappointed this could happen to my nearly "bullet proof" stone. After a few days, the spot seemed to disappear. I have no idea what kind of crud was on there, but whatever it was finally came off. I laughed at myself, imagining someone coming to give me an estimate, realizing that it was some sort of smeared food item superglued to my countertop and thinking, "insert blonde joke here". LOL.

I just love a happy ending. :)