Frederick M. Hueston, PhD  

Stone Care Consultant 

All the years I have been in this business it still amazes me how much misinformation is out there.        

Today would prove no different and I hope all you stone suppliers and fabricators out there take this story seriously. 

Many people are being turned away from granite for many reasons and the story I’m about to relate is about just one of those reasons.  

As usual, I was sitting at my local greasy spoon enjoying a cup of Jo. I can’t believe there is still a diner that serves coffee for only a dime. Sure beats the latte at FiveBucks. 

Anyway, I was just finishing my last sip and my cell rang. Here we go again, I thought. The start to another interesting day. 

I answered the phone and all I heard was this lady crying. It was hard to make out what she was saying. I managed to get “granite countertop” and something about etching. I told her to calm down, take a deep breath and start from the beginning. 

After a few seconds of sobbing, she started telling me that she and her husband bought this beautiful granite countertop. “It was installed and within one week it started to etch.” 

“What caused the etching?” I asked. 

She said, “Almost everything–lemon, wine, sauces, you name it!” 

Well, the first thought I had was that the stone was dyed or what is called “doctored.” Those who read my column know all about what this is. I asked her what color the granite was and she said, “White.” 

Now I was really puzzled, since most of the doctored granite I have inspected was dark. But I also suspected that it might have some calcium binder, which I have been seeing a lot of in black absolute granite lately. I started to suspect that it was not granite. 

I asked her, “Have you spoken to the fabricator?”  

“Yes,” she said, “and he assured me it was in fact a true granite.” 

Well, I certainly would like to talk to this fabricator and get his definition of what a true granite is. 

The next step in my investigation process was to ask her to send me some pics. She said she would email me some right away. I said, “Once I see the pics we might be able to get to the bottom of this problem.”

Since I had to wait for the pics, I decided to have another cup of Jo–just enough to wire me up for the rest of the day. I was only half-way through it when my phone made that horrible dinging sound that told me I had a new email. 

I opened the email and was looking at some blurred stone pics. I waited a minute thinking that maybe the photos hadn’t loaded yet. But after a few minutes they were still blurred. I guessed Mrs. Etched Granite didn’t have a good camera on her phone.  

All I could see was a pure white stone with some gray veins. Not like any granite that I have ever seen. I called her back and asked her if she knew the name of the stone. 

“Hold on a second,” she said, “and I’ll get the invoice.”  

I waited and then she told me the name which made me yell a big Aha! “It’s called Super White,” she said. 

Oh no, I thought – not another Super White. 

Let me explain further. Many dolomitic and calcite marbles are being marketed as Super White, which is a quartzite and not a granite. Regardless, if she had the Super White Quartzite it would not etch or scratch– it is actually superior to most marbles in durability. 

Since we knew what she had etches I asked her if she noticed any scratches, and surprise – she said, “Yes, it has all kinds of scratches.” 

I told her she did not have granite but a type of marble. She began to sob again. 

“Look,” I told her, “I could write a letter that you can send to your fabricator, and if he’s honest, hopefully he will replace it.” 

Now, who do I blame? I blame the fabricator. He should have known better. Of course I understand that he could have been informed by his stone supplier that he was not getting granite, but he should have checked. 

Secondly, someone in his shop should have noticed how easily it cut and polished during processing. This is one of the reasons why we have so many people getting away from granite and going with man-made materials. 

I know all you guys aren’t like this, so please educate your customers about what they are getting. Another case solved, but nobody’s going to be happy with this solution, I think.

The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Fred Hueston, written to be entertaining and educational. He has written over 33 books on stone and tile installations, fabrication and restoration and also serves as an expert for many legal cases across the world. You can send any email comments to him at fhueston@stoneforensics.com.