Advice on honed vs polished granite
Comments (11)
numbersjunkie
13 years agoelba1
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Polished vs honed
Comments (15)Thank you for this thread! I am considering leathering a piece of scrap sandstone that has fossils in it. There is no sample though.. I could probably ask the yard to do that but I'm not sure how necessary the extra step is. OTOH I'm not exactly certain what it might look like leathered. Can anyone help? From what I'm reading in archives and here, it sounds to me as if the leathering will bring out textures such as the fossils. That's probably a great idea, except I worry it's a pain to clean. Not that this will be in a terribly cleaning-intensive location. It's a bathroom that functions as a powder room. So people will be using the sink fairly frequently, just not leaving wine stains and the like. But do you think water splashes would pool in indents and maybe with time gunk those indents up? Because I'm guessing there's not going to be a whole lot of wiping-down going on.... Can anyone hazard a guess as to how polished vs leathered would look in this instance? I wish I had a picture of the stone but I forgot to snap one. Dumb! If the yard sends one I'll post it. Thanks, all!...See Morepolished vs honed and light vs dark granite/quartzite
Comments (38)I have honed dark granite right now and it stains like crazy esp anything remotely oily. Tried everything to seal it and nothing worked. It was in the house when we bought it and we are now remodeling the kitchen and it it will be gone. Replacing with polished Sea Pearl quartzite if the quote is right (fingers crossed). It's been a process because this kitchen has extremely high end (previous owner installed) cabinets with a high gloss finish in teal blue - gorgeous but challenging and way to expensive to replace. Very sleek and modern. Thanks to the oven forum we chose the Miele Master Chef oven (wanted that rotisserie) and warming drawer and after reading on the Refrigerator Forum we chose the Thermador Freedom Towers for the fridge and freezer. LOL we inquired about getting panels for them to match the cabinets and yikes, the cost was more than the appliances cost. So stainless fronts it is. Everyone here is so helpful - certainly appreciate this site and the forums....See MoreHoned Vs. Polished Granite-differences?
Comments (8)We are getting granite for the perimeter counters as well as the island in an antique finish (Cambrian Black and Persian Pearl). We decided on that finish due to not liking a really shiny finish and hearing from others that they were very low maintenance (several people on the forum appear to have Cambrian Black and all seem to love it). The slabs we saw have a slight texture to them, which looked more interesting than honed. As far as price, you do tend to pay a premium for the specialty finishes. When we were first looking, we considered Bianco Romano, however could only find it in a polished finish. The supplier offered to hone it, however were going to charge approx. $5/sq ft more, so didn't really make sense to do it. And since we couldn't see it in a honed finish, we weren't sure how it would look. It really may depend on where you are as to whether a supplier has many examples of special finishes. When we were first looking toward the end of last year, most places were telling us that due to so much inventory and the economy, they weren't ordering much new stuff. I would bet that hasn't changed much now. We had a really hard time finding the Cambrian Black and finally found a place with just 2 slabs - the problem was that they were from entirely different batches so looked very different. We finally realized though that it appeared as if one had already had sealer applied for some reason (it was prettier and much darker). We got the salesperson to break off a little piece of the other slab and put sealer on it and we couldn't tell the difference, so decided to go with them! Hopefully it will turn out OK - they are supposed to be installed next week!...See MoreMarble, honed vs polished
Comments (2)" but I cant justify that price for a manmade product trying to mimic the au natural that speaks to me." Exactly the way I felt. I sat their tonight with the granite thinking about how lovely nature made this (and trying not to think of the big hole it left in Brazil somewhere :( Are you talking about countertops or backsplash? If you pick marble, be aware that it will not look like the day you installed it for long. I was at a friends recently with honed carrera on the island maybe for 10+ years. It still looked natural, smooth, but certainly not shiny new. Think about bars that you have been to with marble on the long surfaces. Or the bistro tables. Nothing wrong with the look, just not shiny and new looking. It's all in what YOU want ;) Are you the type to love the stone or the type who wants it all shiny/perfect/pretty?...See Moremarcolo
13 years agoalex54
13 years agoboxerpups
13 years agoHi Alex54,
I too, have buckets of sunshine that pour through my two
story windows. I have sensitive eyes and wanted something
that would give off a soft matte feel. I chose VA Jet mist
honed granite. I love it. I love the soft matte flat paint
feel to my counters. I agree the color of granite makes a
huge difference on care or appearance. If you search on GW
for honed absolute black you will see some people have
struggled with finger marks and even how it cleans. Not
everyone but some have found this to be a problem and
so honed has had a bad reputation but this is not the
case for all honed granites. I have no issue with my VA mist
which is a charcoal graphite color.
A pattern on the honed surface is not going to emphasize a
uniform kind of look. Imagine a black painted wall in flat
paint. If you take a wet finger you will see a mark. It
might fade but if it is oily it might not for a little
while. But rather than my explanatin check out the pictures
they can explain with just a peek far better than words.
Keep in mind this explanation if for honed ab not all
honed granites.From a post by Metromom in 2008
Honed Absoulte Black granite
Honed black granite in a bright kitchen may emphasize
finger prints, water droplets or general streaks from
washing with a paper towel and how it was dried. If this
does not bother you, go for it.Meanwhile here are some images of honed granite. If you
check out the links below you will see honed Virgina Mist.
Honed Golden Amarillo
Some links from GW
Ideas about light honed granite
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0108363719329.htmlHoned granite images from GW
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0721345227780.htmlHere is a link that might be useful: Honed versus polished granite counters?
jterrilynn
13 years agomamadadapaige
13 years agoI orginally had shiny uba tuba and when I cleaned it, it sparkled! looked SO good. I used a damp papertowel and some vinegar windex and then would promptly dry it with a clean/dry kitchen rag.
I now have honed Ocean Green granite (meant to achieve the look of soapstone). It is holding up VERY well. It is lower maintenance than the shinier granite in that you really can't tell when its dirty - hides A LOT whereas it was easier to see crumbs, etc. on the shiny.
mee19
12 years ago61612
8 years ago
Aglitter
4 years ago
avesmor