Remove Granite Slab Sealer?

[FL]

We had the granite installers come over to do some repairs and reseal the granite that was still allowing liquids to soak in. They apparently did not clean it first or make sure the slab was perfectly clean before reapplying the sealant. Looks like the granite was sealed over some water rings and small food spills and the application of the sealer looks generally sloppy. Is it possible to strip the granite sealer off to reclean the granite and then reapply the sealer? If so how do you get the sealer off? I'm not sure I want to use the same sealer they used. Is there any special kind of sealer that will give a smoother, glossier finish or is there a problem if two different kinds of sealer contact each other?

[pipedown]

I don't think it is possible to remove a penetrating sealer. You may be able to use a color enhancing sealer to darken the whole stone to match the darkest spots. If there already is several coats, adding another may be a waste of time as it would be sealed out.

In any case, if this was very recent, give it some time. It may take a few days for the sealer to cure and any water trapped beneath to escape (penetrating sealers do breathe a bit) the stains may fade. Unless they knew where these spots were, they could have cleaned the counter and saw no sign of them until the sealer reveled the deeper stain.

How could a penetrating sealer look sloppy. Its basically invisible when cured and the only sign its there is when it repels water. Did they use a surface coating Acrylic sealer. If so that can be removed. Strippers are sold in the same place as the sealers or check the website for the sealer.

[FL]

It looks sloppy because is looks like there is a hazy film on the counter. Hopefully it was something that can be removed or those water rings and food spills are now sealed into the stone forever. They must have just assumed it was clean since it was recently installed and seemed clean at first glance due the patterns of the grain in the granite. They finished the job too quickly to clean and I didn't see them with anything to clean with.

[Rudy]

I ve been told that ammonia will strip the sealer. YMMV..try some on a sample or underside edge first.

We use either 511 Impregnator VOC based or Aqua Mix "stone sealer" water based-Google for more info ..I can't see any difference once they re dry

[wayne]

[PipeDown]

Then its probably a surface sealer and might be removable (especially if they were dumb enough to apply a surface sealer after a penetrating sealer. Anyway, you need to find out what they did use and call the manufacturer's hotline for advice.

Try getting sokme stone cleaner wipes and see if that dosen't shine it up. If they did use a penetrating sealer, any surface dirt should be still free to remove.

The two types of sealers work fundimentally different