Y'all might have seen my patio granite bar project.
After I installed it, I sealed it. I basically looked for the best granite sealer in the world that was rated highly for outdoor use, and settled on TriNova stuff since all the googles said it was the best. Followed the directions and actually went an extra step and did a second application.
My granite still gets a little darker where the water hits it. Not instantly like with raw concrete, but still gets darker.
Last night it rained. When I want out to look at it, where the water "puddled" on the bar, there was an exact shape under it in the granite that was a wee bit darker. If I wipe it off, an hour later it's gone.
It's not the end of the world... but I can imagine red wine would be a problem, or if it rains and then freezes it could be an issue.
I figured the sealer would, ya know, seal it. Is there something I'm missing?
I used to work for a granite fabricator so know a thing or two about this.
How long after the sealing did you see the staining appear? You're supposed to re-apply it with some regularity like car wax. That said, it is ultimately a porous stone no matter what you do; it's just a trade-off of the material.
We always liked the MB Stone Care sealing products where I worked (no association, just worked well for us and got good customer feedback). We also had a local rep for Granite Shield, which was a purported "lifetime sealer" that involved a multi-step chemical process. IIRC it was somewhat expensive but it was also a one-and-done and customers with outdoor granite seemed happy with it.
In reply to pointofdeparture :
4-5 days was when we got our first rain after the installation/sealing and that's when I noticed the staining.
I resealed yesterday since it was a good, dry, sunny day so that makes three coats in a week. The water seems to bead somewhat, and under each puddle it just gets a little darker until it dries. I watered a plant on it and I did notice that the tea-like brown water that came out the bottom left a little permanent staining after just a couple minutes. Kinda frustrating, but I'm sure I'll be the only one to notice it. The base color of the stone is cream anyway.
Directions on the sealer say to recoat every 5 years for indoor and 3 years for outdoor, but I figured I would probably do it twice a year: once in the spring when I would start using it, and once in the fall when I was mostly done with patio things.
Thanks for the suggestions on the other products. I'll look into Granite Shield and see if I can just get enough for my little piece. It's only 72" x 17".
