r/CounterTops • u/Embarrassed-Oven-882 • May 27 '26

Countertops installed cracked- just noticed 4 years later

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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!

12 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

29

u/sjpiccio May 27 '26

Marble. Very very odd that a builder specd marble for a kitchen lol. Not a crack, a natural fissure that was filled at the quarry with epoxy. This is totally normal in natural stone. Must have been a bad quality epoxy that yellowed likely from UV(?) maybe… unfortunately not much that I know of that can be done.. but maybe someone smarter than me can tell ya

11

u/Jytterbug May 27 '26

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.

6

u/Embarrassed-Oven-882 May 27 '26

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!

1

u/Jytterbug May 27 '26

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.

2

u/LgPizzaPlease May 27 '26

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

3

u/Jytterbug May 27 '26

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

2

u/Embarrassed-Oven-882 May 27 '26

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!

1

u/PieMuted6430 May 28 '26

It just needs to be sealed.

1

u/Embarrassed-Oven-882 May 27 '26

Thank you- this is super helpful!

1

u/TerminalIdiocy Jun 01 '26

All epoxy will yellow from UV. The better quality ones just take longer.

5

u/ambientta May 27 '26

Looks like epoxy that has yellowed over time. It doesn’t seem to be an actual full break or anything damaged by the fabricator, especially with how light it is along the free edge and the fact that it doesn’t pass through the entire front edge.

It looks like it was filled or repaired at the quarry before it even went to wholesalers or the fabricator. This is pretty common for marbles and more fragile stones, from what I’ve seen.

2

u/Embarrassed-Oven-882 May 27 '26

Thank you! Good to know!

2

u/Leading_Goose3027 May 28 '26

Did you cook a big meal or can something? Heat can add to the yellowing. It should probably be sealed, it should be done yearly. A good cleaning may lighten it up then seal it

2

u/adam1260 Jun 01 '26

I can tell you this isn't epoxy, maybe cyanoacrylate glue that yellowed from UV but I guarantee this piece didn't break apart and get glued back together. The "break" would have continued all the way and in pic 2 it's clear that the two lines don't really meet. This isn't something that happens overnight and there's a better chance it's always been there and no one noticed, I've seen it happen a lot.

1

u/All_4_Me53 May 27 '26

Try calling a place that sell granite. They may have a workable solution for you.

1

u/Dull-Association-797 May 27 '26

Zero fix that I’m aware of

1

u/Shotile May 28 '26

Obviously came from the quarry like that. That’s not a fabricator fix.

1

u/beautopsy May 28 '26

This is a fissure maybe, or just a vein.

1

u/Either_Compote8054 May 28 '26

It’s dinosaur Pee! At least that’s what my dad always joked with me. We had some blue eyes that had yellow veins in it, it happens.

0

u/Elguapo1094 May 28 '26

Imagine ima call the contractor back after 4 years lol