The Gremlin In My Countertops

Books by Patti Liszkay
​Available on Amazon

​"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
​Available on Amazon.

​THE GREMLIN IN MY COUNTERTOPS

...Continued from previous post:
​         Though we’d been living like this: 

...for three-and-a-half weeks – which felt more like three-and-a-half eons – the kitchen remodeling had been humming along, the odd blip or two in the process ironed out along the way and the work progressing smoothly.
   The project was slated to be completed this week, one month from the starting point, with the countertops installed last Friday, backsplash and new appliances to arrive the following Monday, and the final electrical trimmings set for a day or two later.
   And so by last Friday, on the home stretch of this relatively straightforward if nonetheless somewhat excruciating remodeling journey, we felt ourselves supremely lucky in having dodged any number of bullets that we knew – from experience and hearsay – could plague a home renovation project and drag it out to kingdom come.
     But today, a week later, we find ourselves gnashing our teeth that we were so close, so close to the finish line when what I described in my previous post as a "wee glitch" - but was in truth not all that "wee" - popped up in our newly installed countertops and threatened to pull us far back from that finish line that we were almost touching.
     The countertops arrived as scheduled last Friday. They were made of a light-colored, delicately veined quartzite called Brown Latte. 

       Once installed the countertops looked beautiful.

      That is to say, they looked beautiful from a distance and in a certain light. It wasn't until the following day, Saturday, that I gave my new countertops a closer look and noticed this:

 ...a six to eight-inch band of discoloration along the edges.
        And this along the corner seam:

        I immediately contacted both the stone contractor and the project manager, but it being the weekend I knew that no one would see my frantic emails or texts until Monday morning. Hence I spent the weekend fretting over the thought of having my brand new countertops ripped out and going months countertop-less and backsplash-less - the backsplash cannot be installed until the countertops are in - while I waited for new countertops to arrive.
        I looked and looked and looked online for some answer to what could cause the stains in the stone but I found none. I looked and looked and looked at the stains and wished and wished and wished them away. Sunday night the backsplash installer called to inform me that he would arrive early Monday morning.  I sadly told him not to come. 
     By Monday morning I wondered if all my wishing was in fact working: I had the distinct impression that the countertop stains were a little lighter. The project manager called me back Monday at 8:35 am sounding none to happy about the situation - this would definitely shoot the project schedule all to heck - but he had no more idea about what could have caused the stains than I or the internet did. 
        A short time later the stone contractor called me, as cool as I was ruffled. He assured me that those stains were nothing to worry about, that they were from water that had been absorbed by the quartzite from the water saw that was used to cut the stone. He explained that the stone always got wet from in the cutting and normally was allowed to sit for a while to dry out before the countertops were installed. Apparently, in order to stay on schedule, my countertops were installed before the stone had quite dried out. "Just wait a few days," the contractor said, "then the stone will be fine and the backsplash can be installed."
         I felt as if I had been granted a miracle. My counters would be fine. they wouldn't have to be pulled out and replaced. 
          I called the project manager, who was happy for the good news. The electrical work could be done before the backsplash and he rescheduled the backsplash installation for Friday. My kitchen remodel - except for the flooring, which will be a near future project -  would be finished mere days later than scheduled.
            However, though the discoloration looked better on Monday than it did on Sunday, it looked no better on Tuesday or Wednesday than it had on Monday. In the meantime my new appliances began arriving.  

​     On Wednesday afternoon I called the stone contractor. The countertop wasn't yet dry but the installer was due the morning after tomorrow. Would it be dry by then? The stone contractor told me not to worry. He'd send over a couple of techs with a special denatured alcohol drying rub and a heat gun, the equivalent, I gathered, of sending in the marines. 
     The guys arrived tout de suite with their equipment, but upon seeing the stains they were immediately skeptical: These didn't look exactly like water spots. What they did look like the techs weren't sure. Still, they got to work rubbing and heating my countertops,

...and were friendly and good-natured about letting me take pictures.

      The techs worked for a good long while on my countertops. But the stains didn't disappear. "I'm baffled," the lead tech admitted. "It doesn't look to me like water. I don't know what it is." He called his boss. His boss didn't know what it could be, either, but said he'd come out and have a look. He hasn't made it out yet. The stains haven't gone away. And I'm wondering if gremlins can get into countertops.