Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Resin treated granite

 
I am in the middle of an installation and stopped the work. When my new counters arrived I noticed that the edges, were a substantially different color than the tops, much lighter.  The stone is called Red Tobacco which I purchased from Arizona Tile in Phoenix, AZ.  
 
Here's the explanation I am getting from the fabricator and Arizona Tile:
The fabricator says this is worst case he has ever seen.  I should have be told that this is granite was a resin treated stone. Which means according to him, that at the quarry it was "cooked" and then resin was applied to darken the stone to make it more saleable, a better color.  The process involved grinding it to a 400 grit, baking it to remove all the water, applying resin which soaked in to replace the water at least on the surface and then cooking it again to seal it up and darken the stone.  So when you work/grind  the edges one loses the darker color and you see the natural stone color which in my case is MUCH lighter. So I have a dark brown top surface with a very light tan looking edge. It looks like two different stones. They applied some "aging" agent, it darkened it slightly you have to look hard to see any difference (not in the picture).  They say there is nothing they can do and I should have been told that this would happen because this was a resin treated granite.
 
Here's what Arizona Tile says:
Arizona Tile say it no big deal and every fabricator should know how to take care of this. That they, Arizona Tile have the products to darken the edges and make it right. They did not respond to the comment that I should have been told that this would occur when the granite was edged. Or say much else.
 
Yes, it is that different almost white VS brown!!!
 
My questions:
Who's right?
Can this be fixed?
Should they have told me this was resin treated granite and I would lose color on any surface that was worked?
Is what the fabricator described an accurate description of the process of darkening the color of a stone?
What are the down sides of this kind of stone assuming it exists as stated by the  fabricator? 
Should the fabricator have known the stone was resin treated and told me this would happen, he was present when I picked out the slabs?
 
I would appreciate any answerers you can supply. I don't know who to believe or trust.
 
Sincerely,
Roger Gerson
 

No comments: