the contractor put at least one coat of sealant on, but the marble seems to darken too easily with water. Sounds like the lighter the stone, the more sealant required? Not necessarily. The best sealers on the market will be what's called "breatheable". Yes, they let moisture through, but the thing is they let it thru BOTH ways. Even with a sealer that's NOT breatheable, you're going to get moisture transmitting thru the grout. That's just the way it is. Sealer doesn't make grout waterproof. The problem is that it lets in thru slowly, and as a result the moisture becomes trapped for a much longer time, giving mold and mildew a chance to start. With a breatheable sealer, it doesn't impede the transference of moisture, so the grout, as well as under the tiles can dry out much more effectively and quickly, so as not to give mold and mildew a chance to get a start. The bottom row of tile in the shower has turned permanently darker blue. I can't figure out if this is just that it is never fully drying out, and/or if the soap/water scum building up on the surface is trapping the water inside the tile? As for this one, this is a real problem, and could become serious. What's happening is the shower pan is holding water, and it's whicking up the cement board behind the tile, almost like a sponge. Unlike a sponge, though, once the water gets above the top of the pan liner, it then finds a way out. You might want to check the bottoms of the walls that back up to the shower. You may be in for a very unpleasant surprise. If you do, email me, and I'll give you a number where I can be reached, because this could get complicated, and it WILL get expensive, unless you can get your contractor back to fix the problem, which would require complete demolition of the shower pan and bottom foot or 2 of all walls. During a shower, tiles halfway up the wall look like they absorb some water in from the grout line (it kind of "bleeds" into the tile) That's also to be expected with a breatheable sealer. The mini floor tiles are also getting patches of discoloration, which seems to coincide with where water may be seeping in at cracked grout lines (where wall meets YIKES). And now we're back to the pan holding water again, which I'm just about positive of. Yikes is right. I would start using another shower if you have one. You know what, shoot me an email. Please.

Here is the main view of our kitchen, please remember we are nowhere near done yet. The panels for the pantry and fridge are not in yet, and the fillers are missing, and nothing is level, etc.... So it is hard to get a good feel for what effect the slight overhang will have. I have a feeling it wont look too bad... But now I am more concerned about the discoloration! And yes, we definitely stated we wanted flush. I attached a picture below of the other piece of granite that was installed correctly as flush. So it is possible. Also, I attached a pic of the kitchen that was our insipiration. We saw the showroom for this kitchen and loved it and decided to copy it. That kitchen had flush countertops AND we actually hired the exact same company who did the countertop for that showroom!!!! We hired them because we thought they would know what they are doing and be perfect for the job. I guess we were not lucky. Hmmmmm, what should I do? I wonder what that discoloration is? They installed the counters on Wednesday, so I cant imagine the discoloration is from dampness. I supposed if we have to redo the counters due to the discoloration, then that would solve the overhang issue. Main Kitchen Pic: http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2009/02/main_kitchen_pic.html Cabinet Closeup Pic: http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2009/02/cabinets_2.html Not Flush Countertop Pic: http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2009/02/countertop_too_wide.html Flush Countertop Pic: http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2009/02/flush_countertop.html Pic of Kitchen we are Copying. http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2009/02/kitchen_we_are_copying.html

Hi Lisa. Happy fourth. We just had calacatta lux installed five days ago. Love the look. The horror stories on Houzz however are frightening. Water beads as was promised on counter when they sealed but edge near sink discolored from droplets. It did fade away in about an hour. Have you had any problems or did you have any staining? How was it processed? Ours came the day after it was cut and hoping down the road I don’t experience the edge stains. Anything you can add is very helpful. Thank you again. Your kitchen looks fantastic! After reading all this I’d be grateful to hear your experience. Tks!

kim k: So, so sorry I didn't reply to your post. The grit/counter issues were resolved, sort of, in that I settled for a crappy job and had to move on with my life. The ugly details here, if you care to see/read. Scroll down to 6/10/2017, 1:08 p.m. post for the small claims update. The entire process has paralyzed me to a point where we are still without a backsplash. I'm so gun shy about hiring anyone at this point, DH and I have been contemplating DIY. I just need to get up the energy to find someone local (a master/certified tiler) who will take the job. (If anyone in the Houston area can recommend someone, I'm all ears. No disrespect to handyman-types who might do a great job, but I don't want to take any chances.) Over the past 18 months, I've turned my attention to something more gratifying and soul fulfilling than being angry about my kitchen: butterfly gardening! Butterflies will not fail you, people. :) --------- It you have specific questions, kim k, perhaps I can at least provide my experiences (i.e., are you considering having macaubus/calacatta quartzite honed?). I took these pics just now -- in many parts of the stone, these bright white veins (some of which I pointed out above) are still quite visible. (Click to enlarge.) Pic #2: The white arrow points to a pit I noticed this morning. So, I grabbed a safety pin and lightly scratched at the bright white spot in Pic #1: it very easily powdered up and resulted in another little hole. I'm so apathetic about my tops, I don't care any more about creating another hole -- at least it's in a relatively unused part of the counter run (but not less visible, as the area sits right beneath a window). So, perhaps stone that arrives polished should not be honed/leathered by the fabricator on this end. Dunno. But that would be something my fabricator should have realized and perhaps warned against -- i.e., that veins might be opened up, exposing, what, resin? I'm assuming that's what the white powder is. If Karin is reading this, perhaps she can advise: a quartzite vein shouldn't be powdering like this, correct? Or is it possible this powder does naturally occur? I just wouldn't have thought ANYTHING in a slab of quartzite would be affected by the head of a safety pin. And for anyone wondering, Tenax Proseal sealant did the job: our tops are very resistant to both water- and oil-based liquids.