Hi Bill, Thank you for your help and patience! I finally talked to someone at Aquamix that agreed the solvent based sealer would be better then Aquamix Gold (water based). She also didn't think putting the solvent based sealer over what is left of the TileLab (water based sealer) would be a problem. That the solvent based would work thru the water based. She also recommended using a product called "Aquamix Renue" before sealing. As that will help to get out any calciium deposits, hard water stains and minize the etching or spots. I appreciate your recommendation regarding the best type of sealer to use. What I couldn't understand is on the Aquamiz web page they state the solvent based sealer has "superb water resistance". So why would they recommend the water based sealer Aquamix Gold? Maybe they work on commision! Thank you again for all your help, patience, and understanding! Karen P.S. Maybe the reason Custom Builders purchased Aquamix is because they wanted a product for the high end market that is sold in tile stores (Aquamix). Especially since they had the low end covered with TileLab sold at HD (like Delta and Brizo or Moen and Showplace in the faucet market). I just hope the quality of Aquamix doesn't come down to TileLab's level!

A sealer won't prevent etching though. It sounds like that is your intension with the sealer. It helps prevent staining. For protection, on my marble counter in the bathroom, I bought a couple of long ceramic trays from Pottery Barn. I use them for my tooth brushes and other items. I have a microfiber cloth nearby that I wipe the counter with after use. I have had my counter for almost a year and I can't see any etching on the honed surface. There may be some, but I don't see it in my soft light bathroom. The sealer I've used is Miracle 511 Impregnator Penetrating Sealer. It does not enhance or darken the stone.

I respectfully disagree with Beachpea3 about soapstone. I love how it looks and how it feels. But even the most ardent soapstone lover will say that it scratches and chips, which is part of the patina that people love. Soapstone needs oiling, or if you decide not to oil, you need to be comfortable with some marks and streaks that may show on unoiled soapstone. If you are the kind of person who would be bothered by a counter that is not perfect, then soapstone is not for you. Many people love soapstone precisely for its patina, and its velvety feel, not to mention its gorgeous looks. But the OP ha posted regarding stones that won't be high maintenance, and won't have changes in appearance, so I would say soapstone would not be a good choice for her. I have granite countertops that were installed 6 years ago and look like the day they were installed. I have not babied them at all, and have spilled wine, vinegar, tomato sauce, all kinds of things, with no effect. My counters were sealed by the installer, but I have not re-sealed them since. There are so many granites out there, and some are easier care than others. As Weissman said, the darker ones tend to be less porous and harder. However, I find that if they are very dark (like Absolute Black for example), I am not comfortable with the glare they reflect, or that they will show dust and crumbs and water spots (think a black car). I like granite with a lot of movement and several colors because they also tend to be less porous, and the movement pattern doesn't show crumbs or grime. It's really best to go to a granite yard, with your cabinet sample, wall paint sample and floor sample if you have them, and see what looks good. After you find some you like, look them up on the site I am linking below. There is a statistic for granite called an "absorption rate". That tells how dense the stone is. The lower the absorption rate, the more resistant to stains. To use some examples, my granite has an absorption rate of .1-.3% which is low, but there are lower. Absolute Black is .05-.15%, about the lowest there is. By contrast, a granite that stains more easily is Imperial White, which has an absorption rate of .2-.4%. You can just seal that more often, and it'll be fine. As to the appearance of granite, there are some that look fairly close to marble like one called Princess White for example (look up threads on this forum about granites that look like marble), or look similar to soapstone like one called Virginia Mist (so beautiful). Again, you should go to several granite yards, and see what they have, before making up your mind. Here is a link that might be useful: Granite Lists with Absorption Rates

Ok, I'm weighing in here because I actually have the STT SB sealer on all the countertops in our house. We are going to add the second part - the FE- to our marble island. We hadn't planned to initially, and I will say that everything we've thrown at it so far in just the SB state(with the below EXTREME exception) has come off easily, including a tomato "stain" on the counter that ultimately self destructed. We've had dried on spaghetti sauce on our backsplash that has wiped away with no trace.... Coffee on my coffee bar - no problem. The reason we are getting the FE is that we were traumatized before closing and after original sealing: our builder's cleaning crew took the burgundy felt covers off our Rohl faucets and must have left them sitting for hours or days in a puddle of water on the countertop. RED DYE leached from the "protective" covers that had been removed - and stained the bejeezus out of our new, unused, honed statuary island. Horrifying doesn't begin to cover it! If you wet one of those covers and wring it out, dark pink dye comes pouring out into the sink! No porous stone would have been unscathed with that sitting on it, unattended.... John, (aka your advisor "doitright" over on JB forum), spent 4 days at our house restoring the tops. Stain is gone! Took a whole lot of chemicals (and even flames- don't ask!) but it looks perfect. A lesser human would've given up that first day, but lucky for us, he became obsessed with removing those stains completely. So- we are adding the FE because we were so stressed by the experience, but without the SB already in place, we all think we'd have been totally S.O.L. John has rags he uses to apply it that have been repeatedly washed - you can't GET them wet with water - everything beads up on them! And after the intensive stain removal we've been through with him, I value his opinions on all things stone more than ever. We had really debated about whether to spend a lot of money on a sealer (STT products are expensive!!) but are very glad we did.