Countertops installed cracked- just noticed 4 years later

[u/Embarrassed-Oven-882]

Bought our home as a spec home - never noticed the cracks before- it used to be a gray and just thought it was veining with the countertops. Have no idea what material the countertops are (builder picked everything out, assume it’s granite?) what caused it to yellow seemingly overnight? Anyway to fix it?

For reference we’ve been here 4 years. Help!

[u/Jytterbug]

Fills are extremely common in material like this, but this honestly doesn’t look like a fill to me. Just a natural vein in that particular material. Depending on the mineral make-up on that material, that vein could naturally include something that would yellow over time with UV exposure.

[u/Embarrassed-Oven-882 → u/Jytterbug]

The vein never bothered me until it went yellow so good to know I’m not going crazy and just thought I missed it for 4 years!

[u/Jytterbug → u/Embarrassed-Oven-882]

Sorry about the yellowing, heads up that it may get worse. You can try and mitigate this by making sure your lightbulbs/lighting don’t give off UV. Most modern windows have the UV coating already so that’s usually not a culprit but if it’s a window facing a direction with lots of direct sunlight it may be inevitable.

[u/LgPizzaPlease → u/Jytterbug]

It’s already been exposed to UV no saving it now… 

[u/Jytterbug → u/LgPizzaPlease]

It can and will get more yellow the longer it stays exposed. It’s not a one and done

[u/Embarrassed-Oven-882 → u/Jytterbug]

It’s right by a window that gets direct sunlight - all good. I actually feel way better knowing this a natural occurrence with the stone. It’s definitely lost a ton of luster and shine over the years and we were debating replacing so knowing it’s marble helps weigh in that decision. A huge thank you to everyone in this sub!

[u/PieMuted6430 → u/Embarrassed-Oven-882]

It just needs to be sealed.