"I still don't have a backsplash---2 years later! I have samples but I keep going back to plain off white crackle subway? Too boring? Any thoughts?" Have you ever run across a thread called 'The Sweeby Test'? (You can find it in the Kitchen Forum.) Think of a classic black dress that you plan to wear to a social occasion. What do you wear with it? Simple pearls, hose and black pumps? A colorful scarf and red stilettos? A bold and funky necklace and boots? They ALL look good, but in a completely different way. You know the look you want for this particular social occasion -- so apply that same philosophy to your kitchen. The basic idea is that the right choice should be made to further your overall design goal -- NOT just on its own. So plain subways might be just what your kitchen needs to give you the look you want. Or a bold and colorful tile mosaic. Or sleek glass strips. Or traditional 4x4's set on a diagonal. All can look good -- but really only a few will take you where you want to go. What 'vibe' or 'feel' do you want your kitchen to have? Vintage? Classic? Elegant? Cozy? Modern? Write down the FEELING you want to achieve - not the LOOK - and that will give you a much clearer sense of the direction you need your backsplash to take.

If you're having problems "with ring marks and other stuff coming through", are you sure you have true AB and not a dyed/doctored stone made to look like AB? I would test it b/f you do anything else. If you hone it and it's dyed/doctored, I don't know what you'll end up with. Have you checked to see if a sealer was inappropriately applied? If so, it can cause all kinds of problems b/c it's sitting on the surface and was never absorbed like it's supposed to be. If so, you need to remove the sealer...then see how things are. True AB should be impervious to rings, etc. I think you should first test your granite b/f you do anything else. You don't want to make things worse. (I also have AB polished and have no problems with rings, etc.) Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Stone Information and Advice (& Checklists)

Rupes, After you tested the lemon juice on the sealer did you try to remove it? I'm wondering if it'll be permanent or if it can be dealt with. When our honed AB counters were first installed we had quite a few "stains.". For example, grease splatters. I could not get them out. They have since disappeared...whether they were absorbed into the stone or what, I don't know. I do periodically use the Method cleaner so I'm wondering if that helped. What I do now to clean the counters is use hot water and a tiny bit of dish soap, then use the Method cleaner every few days or so, with a microfiber cloth. I haven't seen anything on our counters like what you showed with the test above, even though our marble counter has etched quite a bit. I've heard the Cambria Black is less prone to fingerprints,etc., if that's an option for you.

So should I request a new piece of stone or a different one? You don't know yet whether you don't have AB or not. Read the link I posted above called "How to tell if your granite is dyed". Follow the instructions on how to tell. Acetone can be purchased at HD. And, if you find out it's not real AB, it doesn't mean you have to switch it out. It means you have to care for it differently than AB. Read the article I posted above called "What to do if your granite is dyed". Should this be the stoneyard's responsibility? Again, read the articles I linked above. One mentions that often the stoneyard and/or fabricator have no idea that the stone is not AB. Your timeline doesn't make sense. "the marks were there after they used acetone". Why did they apply acetone to newly-installed counters? Are you sure it wasn't the first application of sealant, then perhaps they applied a second application of sealant? (I am guessing here) Again, I repeat, AB does not etch, and it does not need sealant because it is so dense. It is too dense for sealant to penetrate. The marks in the pics look like wipe marks, i.e. sealant was wiped on, and then it dried sitting on top of the surface, creating the haze in a wiping pattern. Again, as Littlesmokie and I said previously, this is easily solved by removing the sealant with acetone.