Thank you Sophie. What questions should I be asking specifically? The method they plan on using to home? The tools they use? I know nothing about fabricating stone. I just left them a message saying that I would like to discuss how they will do it and if it's something they have done successfully in the past.

I recently spoke to a regional manager for a large well known tile company and he explained that it was even difficult for them, with commercial equipment to go from polished to honed or honed to polish. He said even their equipment didn't compare to that found at the quarries.

Are you willing to buy a slab, have it honed and scrap it (take a loss) if you don't like the outcome? Your fabricator won't be at fault and will have to be paid for work done.

If you are willing to do a test run, and need more than one slab, make sure you can hold/reserve any other slabs you might need if the honing does work.

Their response (not the actual fabricator but the woman I am dealing with for pricing etc) was that they have done it many times before, all successful.... Next time I am there I'll see if I can chat with the fabricator in person. I did also ask if it was possible to just hone part of one slab (that would likely be waste) before I commit to honing the whole thing.

I also wanted non-polished granite but live in a part of the country where polished slabs are what is offered for sale.

I found my polished granite slabs at a major stone supplier who sells slabs to fabricators but wanted a leathered finish which I love. The stone supplier arranged for leathering at a nearby facility (not sure if it was owned by the the supplier or not), and then the slabs were shipped to my fabricator.

The cost of leathering raised the price of my slabs from a level 2 to a level 3 granite.

Have you seen an example of your granite honed? If not, I would make sure you do...not all granites look great honed. Better to know exactly what it will look like to avoid unpleasant surprises. While I had never seen my exact granite leathered, I had seen enough polished and leathered examples of similar granites that I was fairly certain my slabs would look fine....even then, I waited anxiously to see the end result of leathering on my slabs.

Good luck in achieving your look!

rantontoo- I love leathered stone so much! The fabricator we chose doesn't leather though. This is my slab... it's Florida quartzite but not the colors you typically see from Florida quartzite. I have never seen anything like it at another stone supplier so I don't think I'll be successful finding it already honed :/ I did ask if they'd do just a corner before I commit but haven't gotten an answer yet.

That slab is gorgeous! Did you do the glass test to make sure it is true quartzite?

Does it have a high polished finish? I asked that because many of the polished quartzite slabs I looked at did not have the high polished look that granite gets; infact, many of them had the look of my honed marble vanity piece.

I hope you get to use that slab...it is really lovely!

It is pretty shiny. You can't tell from the outside pic but inside it reflects the warehouse lights a lot IMO.

My installer/ fabricator hones all marble counters that he installs for free. He believes Honing is a better finish on Marble. This is done at his factory or warehouse by machines. Marble is different that Quartzite so I am not sure how that works but for our Marble it is still very beautiful. The honed finish shows tiny lovely sparkles and the colors are a bit muted but still gorgeous to us.

I have both quartzite and granite that I’m getting leathered. I paid $750 for the granite but my fabricator sent me out to a specialty company that does nothing but honing/polish/ leathering. They charge more for quartzite because it is so hard.

The granite came out beautifully but the colors were way more muted even with their special coating to draw out the colors.

Wish I had a picture of the giant slab in their showroom. It shows the three stages on the same slab.

I am a fabricator. Changing a polished slab to leathered or honed is well within the capabilities of most medium to large shops. The risk you run as the customer is that you might not like the look of the stone as the colors become considerably muted (read "washed out") compared to a polished finish. I make customers sign off on acceptance BEFORE the custom finishing is done.

Just a heads you - we are getting lots of posts on the forum about leathered and honed slabs being difficult to get clean, keep clean, etc.

I had my quartzite honed 18 months ago at the recommendation of my fabricator and contractor. I had polished granite in my previous kitchen for 15 years and wanted a different look at my new home. We downsized and our new kitchen is much smaller than my old one and it's open to the family room. So I wanted a stone that was interesting yet subtle and calm - we picked Ice Flake Quartzite .

We also wanted to do all the tests on the stone to make sure it was quartzite so our salesperson gave us a 12" by 18" piece to take home - they honed one half of the surface and left the other half polished so we could test both sides. We also took it to the job site to see how it looked with our new cabinets and floor.

I'm happy to report that both polished and honed sides passed all the tests. I don't remember how much more we had to pay to have it honed but I'm very glad we did. It wasn't cheap because it takes a long time to hone - plus the fabricator goes through multiple diamond pieces to get the finished look - hence the price.

It has been easy to clean - it is not leathered, it is smooth to the touch and not as slippery as my granite was.

fidlfreek- I have noticed that as well but it seems to always be an issue with leathered surfaces, or honed quartz or granite... Please correct me if I am wrong but I haven't seen complaints about honed quartzite?

oldryder- Thanks for chiming in from a fabricator's perspective. I actually am hoping to wash the colors our a bit so you actually made me feel better :) I want them to be more subtle and soft looking. They're going to hone a sample for me to be sure I like it though before I commit.

maire_cate- Thank you for sharing your experience that is exactly how I feel! Your kitchen is beautiful. I LOVE your stone (and your pendants are so cool I haven't see any like those!).

Thanks Kim. I forgot to add that all the stone surfaces in the 3 bathrooms have been honed as well - both marble and quartzite.

kim k: Our Calacatta (Gold) quartzite arrived at the stone yard polished, and DH and I wanted honed tops. To oldryder's point: all the lines, colors, drama, etc. will be more muted once you remove the polish, but that's actually what we wanted. Among the many other issues we had with our installation, the honing/leathering was likewise a disaster.

Our fabricator gave us two samples to choose from: honed and leathered (they had plenty of our slab, so prepared samples for us). The leathered sample look very orange peel-y -- lots of small dimples. We opted for the honed, as it was the perfect amount of matte and smoothness.

After the installation, I noticed the tops were very gritty, and the veins had a whitish appearance here and there that were not in the sample we received. When I asked the company for the honed sample to compare, it took them a week (or longer) to 'look for it' (to include their coming back to me and asking, "Are you sure our guys took it with us?") before admitting they lost it. At that point, I had no 'proof' to show what the end result was that we'd agreed upon.

While they admitted I should end up with a smooth, non-gritty surface, they didn't know where to go from there. They had me contact a regional rep to inquire, and they had me post a query on on the Stone Fabricators Alliance forum (at which point the pros -- as helpful and understanding as they tried to be -- told me to tell my 'guy' to get off their butts and post the inquiry themselves...a customer shouldn't have to do this for a fabricator). We went back and forth for months. They finally agreed to use different brushes and try leathering the tops -- used a sample, and this time, the leathering didn't result in orange peel. I agreed to having them leather (or whatever they wanted to call it) on site. At this point, I can still see grinder 'arc' marks on the tops, but along with so many other issues with the installation, I just settled.

Based only on my single experience, I would not recommend having a fabricator (unless old ryder was nearby!) hone the tops -- unless you can go back and point to an example of what the end product should be.

Good luck!

@Kim K. I have crystallized quartzite

I’m reconsidering leaving it polished due to all the grease that will hit it as a backsplash. Easy to clean is a top priority for me.

Oh I love that quartzite! I fell in love with a leathered slab at Daltile so pretty. I'm going back and forth on honed or not... I think I'll wait and see how the sample turns out. Maybe I'll bring it home with me and test it out.