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Right after we install any granite I can almost
guarantee that very soon the question will be
asked, "How often do we need to seal
this?", which is always followed by,
"How many coats of sealer should we
use?"
Looking
at the coating question first. If you are going to
need to seal the stone, you aren't actually going
to be coating it. Coating refers to something that
is applied and sets up like a film or a protective
coating, which really is not the case. The very
nature of why a stone would require protection
means that the stone is absorbent, so what you are
going to be doing is applying a liquid
that will be impregnating or absorbed into the
stone. So it is really applications, not coatings. Backing
up to address the first question. "How often
do I need to apply a sealer?" No two slabs of
granite are alike. Part of the desirability of
granite is because it is natural and it has
individuality. Thinking along these lines then it
is only natural to consider that no two pieces of
granite will have the same absorbent qualities.
Granite comes from all over the world and
therefore that beautiful green granite from China
will have different characteristics then the
beautiful green granite from Africa.  So
what are you to do, and why is there so much
confusion? Well, first off if anyone is to blame
it probably would be the stone industry itself. There is no
doubt that some stone needs a sealer, but just as
true there is some stone that doesn't. People get
a bit insecure about this expensive stone they
have just purchased and are scared of what could
happen to it. You just paid all that money for it
and now you certainly don't want to ruin it. Unfortunately, the stone industry
instead of looking at each problem individually
rather has just taken a blanket approach to it, to
seal everything and seal often. I guess if you are
a retailer of granite sealers you can't complain
since you're selling product to everybody whether
they need it or not.
But
the reality is less than 20% of granite actually
requires being sealed. That means that upwards of
80% of the granite installed in homes requires no
sealer at all. The
tests
So how do you know if you have a stone that falls
into the 20% category or not? A simple test that
is based on nature. Have you ever seen a granite
stone in nature or a granite statue after a rain?
Watch it carefully and see what it does. You
probably will see it dry very quickly, almost
instantly. What you are seeing is a granite that
doesn't absorb water. This is the same principal
used to test your granite. Simply putting a small
amount of water on granite and letting it sit for
about 15 minutes is all that is required. At the
end of 15 minutes wipe the water off with a paper
towel. Now examine the stone. Did is it darkened
where the water was? If so your stone requires a
sealer and falls into the 20% If not then you
don't. In fact if you tried to seal the granite
that didn't darken, the sealer would just get
wiped off since the stone simply won't absorb it. Now
go on to test number two. Drop a drop of mineral
oil on the slab and leave it for 10 minutes. Clean
it off and see what you get. (Don't worry, any
dark spot will lighten and disappear within 20-30
minutes and not hurt the stone) If you have a
darkened spot then your stone is susceptible to a
staining agent. You need to seal the stone. I recommend
a solvent based sealer/impregnator. There are
water based products on the market but solvent
based is still the king, at least for now.  So
the final thing to know is how often to re-apply
your sealer. It's actually pretty simple, when you
start to notice your stone starts to darken again
and isn't repelling water like it used to, it's
time for another application. How long might this
be? It could be 1 year, 5 years or 15 years. As
you now know all stone is different and will
absorb and repel differently, but you now know
that every 6 months or once a year is only a
guess. Now you have the information to test and
re-apply your sealer only when it is required.
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