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Doug Miller[_4_]

wrote in :

On Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:43:49 -0400, "Ray"
wrote:

We recently installed marble countertops in our kitchen, and it's been a
disaster.

Almost immediately water-spots began to form, taking off the sealer.

Even worse, a little tomato juice fell onto the counter, and it was as if
we'd put paint remover on it. Big ugly dull spots wherever the tomato juice
fell -- and it was there for just a few minutes.

We called the installer, who came out and used a different sealer. This seem
to withstand water fairly well, but the tomato problem is as bad as ever.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Any suggestions?

Do you mean granite?

I'm sure he means exactly what he wrote. Tomato juice would not harm granite, but it would
definitely etch marble. So would vinegar, lemon juice, or anything else acidic.

Marble is way too soft to make a counter top from.

Nonsense. It's harder than Corian or Formica which have been used successfully for
countertops for decades, and it's waaaaay harder than wood (which has been used for
centuries).

The reason marble is unsuitable for use as a kitchen countertop is that it is very readily
etched by even weak acids. Common foods which would damage a marble countertop if
spilled on it include:
- wine
- pickles
- almost anything containing tomatoes
- Coca-cola
- vinegar
- anything containing citrus fruits in any form, such as orange juice or lemonade -- and don't
even think about eating a grapefruit over a marble countertop...

Granite has none of these deficiences -- but that's the result of its very low reactivity to acids,
not its hardness.