During a recent remodel a friend of mine had granite counters put in and they really looked nice. Now it has been about 6 months and the spot directly over the dishwasher is starting to darken and discolor. They say that the counter gets really warm when the dishwasher is running and that steam exits out of the top of the dishwasher all through the cycle to the point that the underneath of the granite gets very wet.
Any thoughts on what might be causing the granite to discolor? Would excess heat do it? Could it be the steam? Any thoughts on ways of reducing this from happening further? Would pulling out the dishwasher and sealing the counter from below help at all?
As soon as I have a picture I will post it.
Thanks,
Mark
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Dishwashers often come with aluminum-foil-faced tape to cover the first couple of inches of the underside of the counter. It is supposed to protect the underside of the counter from the steam issuing from the front of the dishwasher when you open the door. I've never heard of steam coming out of the dishwasher further back. However, you might try the foil tape approach, using the aluminum duct tape -- not the fabric stuff.
So do you think its the heat or the mositure that is causing it?Mark
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Moisture will darken slab granite. Ours was delivered in the rain. Very dark. As it dried out it lightened up.
Does the counter have ply under it? That is what might be a problem.
No ply under the granite. The darkness is in a very small area about the width of the dishwasher but only a few inches deep and is about 6-8 inches in from the cabinet edge. So your thinking that if we are able to eliminate the source of the mositure that the darkness will go away?Mark
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Just a thought, try not using the dishwasher for a few days (week?) and see if color changes. At least that would point out whether water is the culprit for sure.
Hope this helps. Rich.
Rich,
The homeowners did that without really knowing it. They went away for 10 days over Thanksgiving and the color never changed. What I am thinking though is that the dishwasher might need to come out for the grantie to truly dry out. Thanks all for the info.Mark
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If it took 6 mon to soak thru the granite, it'll take another 6 mon to dry out.
Well, maybe not 6 months, but quite a while anyway.SamT
So much of the success of a company is not determined by degrees but temperature. gb93433 83537.46
Mark, I'll be watching this thread as I looked at yesterday a similar discolorment, this with Silestone. A "shadow" strip about an inch wide-front to back (not all the way) directly above the DW-off to the left of center.
No seam there.
Their installer is coming in the next couple days to take a look. I don't know if I will hear the outcome as my work there is finished.
Anyone see something like this in Silestone or similar product?A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Is it possible that this granite is 'color enhanced' post-quarrying (many are these days) and the steam from the dishwasher is driving color to the surface through the stone? I think there is an 'acetone test' for color enhancement - ie if an acetone soaked rag pulls color off the stone it has been treated. Of course you'd want to try this in a discreet location ;o)Jeff
We mostly install Silestone and I do most of our installs, up until now I have never seen that problem in person and none of our customers have called me to let me know that they have seen it.
Do you know which color? Was it a lighter color or darker?
We once had a set of tops come in TeaLeaf and under the tape the fabrication inspector put on to sign off on there was a stain that would not come out. That is the only issue I have ever seen with a stain on Silestone.
Almost total black, with some specks in it. I came on this job to do a couple minor tasks(would have been real minor or non existent if whoever orchestrated the install had used a little forsight.....that damn common sense thing again).
This "shadow line" is almost imperceptable. I could barely see it with my bifocals on and pretty good light. Perhaps it shows up better- at night with just overheads on. But this too was not there (I hear) b/4. Turned up later.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
That sounds very similar to what I am seeing. I will let you know what happens. I think the point about it taking longer to "Dry Out" is a good one. I just found out that the dishwasher was improperly installed and that a steam vent that is located on top of the dishwasher is supposed to be vented out of the bottom and was not but has now been fixed. I hope for the HO sake this solves the problem because the darkened area is really horible looking. More TK I am sure.
-MMark
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Did you mention what brand DW this is?
I have not seen any DW that required anything other than hooking up the water to and drain from-along with the electric.
thanks.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
It was some high end brand Asko or something like that, not one that I had heard of before. I was not the one who installed it but when the manufacturer came out he said something along the lines of oh this line needs to get connected to the bottom vent. That is why I am suspecting that this is the problem.
The granite is question is a light multi Colored stone and the affected area is definitely dark almost black compared to the rest of the stone around it.Mark
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How's your counters holding up? And the kitchen pictures that somehow you may have managed to post perhaps but I didn't catch them?
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Other than a few chips around the sink they are working out very nicely. I did finally finish the floors a couple of months ago. They came out awesome. 4 coats of duraseal and they really look nice.
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Damn nice x's you got there.
Glad you resized, these would have been hard to load
XA great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I didn't tell you that we painted it white on white? OK got to figure out why that didn't work... You would think I would know how to do these things:)Mark
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Try this again...Mark
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Alright Mark, your wife must be one happy woman.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Well if my son hadn't broken his arm we could have had some beers sitting at the counter :) Next Time!Mark
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I'm not a granite expert so take this for what it's worth.
I imagine the steam is penetrating the back side of the granite enought to cause it to discolor. I would let the c-top sit for a week or so with out running the dishwasher and see if the darkened spot goes away and thus the moisture has left the slab.
If that works, I would remove the dishwasher and seal the accessable area under the dishwasher with an epoxy.