SFA

We've got a super white quartzite top that's been etched and what looks to be stained as well, You can feel the rough texture around that ring. Any suggested plan of attack? My gut was saying to do a poultice treatment first than surface polish the area.

Unfortunately, Super White is not a quartzite, it is a Marble and will etch and stain.

You are right on track- Poultice then Top Polish and let the customer know it will continue to etch.

We have a similar issue... Customer bought a "quartzite" and it was actually marble. I used a marble blade on the bridge saw and everything... 2 months later customer doesn't know why its etched, scratched, etc... They're going back to the supplier and we're likely making a whole new top out of a different material. I figure it's best to point that inconsistency out ahead of time.

Are you guys saying that if it were a true quartzite that scratching and etching would not likely happen like it would with marble?

You guys are insane.

Test your materials and don't trust the supplier to tell you how it is going act. Soft quartzites, hard ones, marbles ect. You need to know how they act so you can sell it properly and avoid these issues.

Hard quartzzites can etch, some soft ones don't very easily. Not all stone is the same.

Hard and soft has nothing to do with etching. Etching is a chemical process (reaction).

Dustin gives sound advice, know your stone & do not rely on sales people and distributors to know.

Regardless of the stone, etching is fixed by top polishing & staining is addressed by poultices (of varying recipes).


Know your stone and know your stain.

At the time of sale, I believed the customer was just using the wrong term and I treated the stone as I would a marble. I did not realize at the time (purchase was made at a slab retailer by the customer and interior designer and delivered to us to fab) the selling point to the customer was how scratch/etch resistant a quartzite is. A true quartzite is pure(ish) silica, SiO2, or essentially glass, therefore it should be etch-proof and highly scratch resistant. Anything without those properties is just straight up incorrectly named/labeled.

P.S. I'm a degreed geologist, so I have that going for me, which is nice...

Mitch that is great and you should use that to your advantage! You need to control the selling process.

Designer trumps geologist, fabricator or stone guy. Too much bad info by too many know to littles.....

Many stones that are labeled as "quartzite" are not quartzite. I have heard from a stone slab supplier that many dolomite marbles are imported and labeled as quartzite. Simply because it is much more cost effective to import "quartzite" than it is to import marble.
That being said, I have included some information gathered on quartzite from the Marble institute of America, the Slippery Rock Gazette, and this sight.
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Stone Fabricators Alliance
Q:We recently installed an elegant white quartzite kitchen countertop, and about a week after the customer called saying that there were rings on her counter that wouldn't come out and I went up and took a look, we cut and polished the suface... got the rings out looked beautiful, re-sealed with tenax proseal, but within a week same thing? can anyone recommend a different sealer? or your thoughts on a solution. many thanks
A:I believe that many of the stones sold as quartzites are actually dolomitic marble and subject to etching ( like superwhite, fantasy brown, fantasy black, etc) but the true quartzites do not etch ( like taj mahal)
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5DmWF ... GU1o4/view
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http://www.slipperyrockgazette.net/inde ... ageId/1556

Not going to go into the geology of this stone as I have seen this called everything but granite from suppliers.

We have a five step system that will shine this with no problem. Use the 5 step and mb20. The shine won't be out matched. Promise.

Alex_Bores wrote:Not going to go into the geology of this stone as I have seen this called everything but granite from suppliers.

We have a five step system that will shine this with no problem. Use the 5 step and mb20. The shine won't be out matched. Promise.

HI Alex. The super whites that I have been dealing with don't shine with mb20. It actually dulls it. My best results have been using marble powder to match the finish. Which 5 step system are you using? Can you send me some info on it? Anyone else find the same results with dulling?

I believe "Stone Dude" (Cameron Demille) would know what works best for marble... I'd give him a ring and treat all future production of the material as though it is marble (which it is), including marble blade on the saw, polishing pads/powder, sealing, etc...

We carry an etch remover that has been known to work on Super White. If there is a stain, you will want to get that out first as some stain removers can etch the stone and you don't want to have to repair the etch twice.

https://www.tenax4you.com/product-p/how ... ultice.htm

Call or email me if you have any questions regarding this!