Wow - same as my granite too. ALTHOUGH - I'm not convinced, and I'm the one skeptical about grantie damage due to hot pans in the first place - they heated the whole slab - this doesn't test the question of placing a hot pan on a room temperature granite countertop - the cracking in question would be from stresses resulting from thermal gradients.
Banty
Note two things about this test.
Color me CONVINCED. Granite is it for kitchen
Bathrooms are to be Traveertine floors and walls. Undecided on bath vanity surfaces,..
They did NOT heat the whole slab, only a small portion of it.
In one photo the corner of the slab was heated until it was YELLOWISH RED from heat.
And they DID induce a small crack doing this test
You're going to point us to a *DuPont* site, the inventors and patent and trademark holders of Corian, and suggest that this is a disinterested view "from a company that sells both Corian and granite" just because they'll certify some granites?? C'mon. At least one purported advantage, that trivets can be cut from Corian, is perfectly applicable to granite as well - I'm *looking at* my granite trivet.
Mind, although I have granite and I'm very happy with it, I don't think it's the end all and be all, and I even have said here that Formica has its beauty and its place in kitchens and elsehere. But I can spot someone on a tear with a point to prove, and, honey, you're it.
Banty
OK, not the "whole slab", but they tested by *heating the slab*. Which will have a certain thermal gradient created by thermal diffusion. That's not the same as the kind of thermal shock that putting a hot pan on top of a room temperature surface can induce.
Banty
But note they heated a pot directly on the slab until the cast iron was glowing RED way more than 600F.
And note that this was a resin teated slab, as most slabs now are resin treated and it still performed beautifully.
I am SOLD on Granite for kitchens.
That's the temperature, but not the thermal gradient. It's the latter that causes cracking.
Oh, I went for granite and am happy with it too; don't get me wrong.
Banty
My digital camera is "missing." I'll find out this weekend when I search through the house and through everything that was packed away to make room for the painters and carpet installers to work whether it was misplaced and packed with those items or whether it was stolen by one of the contractors. I really wanted to post some pictures and I can't now.
It looks pretty similar to the photos posted in stoneadvice forums though. I'll see if the dark circles start to fade out in a few more days. The granite company has not come out to look at it yet. I just reported it to them today since they were closed on the weekend. It has already been 3 days though, so I think it would have faded away by now if it was going to fade anytime soon.
If they are oil they will never fade, just spread out more. If water, then they will dry out and disappear. I put in a granite kitchen floor once. It wasn't sealed. No one told me anything about sealing. When I left it had stains. I'm sure now, ten years later, it has lots more.
Not all granites are absorbent. I have granite counters now and with no sealing they don't absorb anything. The grain is very large and obviously tight. It goes by Rudy Red or Imperial Red, and probably other names. This appears to be the same granite that I put in a bathroom once on the floor and for the sink top. Again, it never absorbed any water at all. And I know we didn't seal it.
Don (e-mail link at home page bottom).
I don't think there is any reason for oil to be there, but it it is more likely the adhesive used to glue down the granite (does that contain oil?). I can guess that it could be moisture that was sucked up to the surface by the suction cups, but that would have dried by now, since this is not a humid area. How long does adhesive take to dry out in low humidity? Unless they were just experimenting with a new type of adhesive, this issue would have come up for them many times before and they should know exactly what it takes to resolve the problem. They do a poor job of communication though. I will not give them their final payment until I at least see it starting to steadily fade away or unless they give a written gaurantee saying they will replace it at no charge including paying for any other releated repairs and parts required (plumbing reinstallation, backsplash etc.) if it does not completely fade within a specified number of days.
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