laundry

Reply to: may be in the minority, but I think the flooring is great. I would paint the walls white and let it be the star. - If you're in the minority, so am I. The flooring looks good and is a classic color and style. Yes, the color limits you a bit, but it's in no way offensive. - In all honesty, I wouldn't have installed it myself because tile is cold underfoot and hard on the knees and joints -- but since it's already installed and seems to be in good condition, I would keep it. I'd add nice floor mats -- maybe the gel type -- by the sink and stove, where you'll stand most of the time. - Note, too, that tile is really, really hard to remove. - However, I disagree about painting the walls white. Yes, you already have white cabinets and white spots on the floor, and I think you could over-do the white in a hurry. I dont think the floors are what makes it appear so busy. Its that wallpaper, and other stuff in there. Counters are full and busy, and walls are busy, etc. I would remove all the wallpaper, and paint all walls, a nice lighter color. Agree with all -- especially that the wallpaper's gotta go. What was the previous owner thinking?

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Reply to: It's polished and they said they sealed it twice! They are coming out on Wednesday to see what's up, but I'm discouraged because they are acting like this is normal and I should expect this. Absolutely not! Here's the crazy part: The fabricator gave me a sample to test and it did awesome. Then they installed the countertops, and they stained with oil the first day when I cooked dinner that night! Grease came out of the pan and onto the counter. I've tested side-by-side the sample they gave and my counter. My counter has a faint stain in 15-20 minutes of a tiny dab of oil. After 1.5-2 hours, it's a deep, dark stain. However, I can leave a thick puddle of grease on the sample, and nothing! It washes off great without a trace. Does not seem above board to me at all

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Reply to: Guys, the fabricator gave me a sample to test and it did awesome. Then they installed the countertops, and they stained with oil the first day when I cooked dinner that night! Grease came out of the pan and onto the counter. I've tested side-by-side the sample they gave and my counter. My counter has a faint stain in 15-20 minutes of a tiny dab of oil. After 1.5-2 hours, it's a deep, dark stain. However, I can leave a thick puddle of grease on the sample, and nothing! It washes off great without a trace. Does not seem above board to me!!

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Reply to: Update: Fabricator [finally] came to assess and did a number of tests with a razor and a key even--the razor left no visible mark. The key barely made any mark (not a shiny noticeable scratch, just a very faint dull gray line that is much harder to see.) However, there was no denying there were a fair number of shiny scratches. (Most if not all of them are essentially what granite guru mentioned as 'aluminum marks'- so cheap/soft metal leaves bits of itself behind, ie: metal bit of a pencil where the eraser fits in.) The fabricator took a 600 grit sandpaper and gently smoothed over the scratches; they all disappeared when he did this! (Please note here: my honed surface is basically matte--which the third party cleaner I mentioned earlier in the thread thought was 'too honed' and was probably 'grabbing' onto things which is why it was marking as easily as it was.) The good news- he left me with a pile of sandpaper to use if I needed to. The bad news is this really isn't an everyday fix since I would ostensibly be removing sealer. For what it's worth, my fabricator did say having it polished would have given it another layer of protection. And based on the 3rd party cleaner that the distributor recommended, sounds like honed comes with some baggage compared to polished. I really don't think that was ever plainly said at all while I was stone shopping - but hopefully this helps others! Side note: We also decided to seal the top with the DuPont sealer which I have to say I have noticed makes wiping down the tops much easier- i literally had to buff the tops after any wetness before-- now liquid beads on it and wipes up much easier- no more buffing! Big thumbs up on that. So is Taj Mahal too good to be true? Is it as 'strong as granite'? Well, based on my experience I would say when it is honed, it isn't. It isn't as easy/robust as the mid-toned polished granite that I had previously lived with - which is what I thought I was getting. Is it as fragile as I initially feared? No- thank heavens! It really shouldn't chip or etch as marble would have, for example. Will I be using placemats on a regular basis? Yes. Is it as beautiful as I had hoped? Yes. So, it could be worse...it could be better. And I now just hope that every scratch and mark from here on out comes with a wonderful shared memory with family and friends and I just will do my best to not scrutinize too much:)!!

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