We had beautiful Calacatta Gold quartzite counters & island top installed weeks ago; DH didn't like the polished look, so we paid to have the surface honed. After installation, a coat of GranQuartz sealer (413S Impregnator, I believe) was applied and left to dry overnight. The next day, I ran my hands across the surface, hoping for as smooth a feel as we experienced with the honed sample. Instead, grit. The installer (not due back for a couple of days to put another coat down, since one coat still led to water absorption) told me it might just be surface dirt/dust, and to go ahead and wipe/rinse everything down with plain water and a lint free cloth. We did as instructed, and the grittiness got worse: just like throwing water onto unsealed wood/lumber and having the grain rise up! The installer is scratching his head. I contacted one of the technical experts at GranQuartz, and he said a different GQ product (353P specifically for porous surfaces) should have been used. He couldn't explain the grittiness, but said to definitely begin by using the correct product. The initial coat of sealer was stripped with some solvent (recommended by GQ) and left to dry 48 hours. After 24 hours, I could still feel the grit. Guys came back Wednesday with a stiff brush to loosen up whatever the grit was (not sure if it's old solvent, old sealer residue, or the quartzite itself); then wiped down with acetone. Even before they left, however, I had them feel the counters and they, too, could feel the bits. Oddly, most of the time our fingers picked up no particulate matter . But when we ran a razor over the surface, something was definitely 'powdering' up and onto the razor blade. Upper left photo is a clean razor -- white fragments on the other three, after scraping various areas of the counter: Just really floored what this might be. GQ said this might be one of the unintended consequences of honing a surface: opening up the pores and possibly loosening up natural particles or even resin that may have been applied in Brazil. I don't mind at all (in fact, love!) the natural fissures and grooves we can feel from the honed surface. We knew not to expect the glassy-smooth finish that a polished surface offers. However, this grit is throwing everyone for a loop. Installer will be by Tuesday to 'lay hands' on the counter and see what we're up against.

Sorry you are having issues. Not sure if my experience is helpful at all to you because I don't have a polished finish. I just posted this on another thread. Copying it here: We had Moon Night Granite (our place called it granite but others call it Super White Quartzite), installed a few weeks ago. It's also considered a "honed" finish - but it's NOT smooth and I thought honed was always smooth. It's soft to the touch because of the matte finish, and has a lot of really cool texture along the veining. Our fabricator had never worked with it before, but he did say it was a very hard stone for him to cut. Harder than any other granite he's worked with. I sealed it myself with the DuPoint Premium Stone Sealer you get from Lowes. I had tried the 511 Sealer Enhancer on a corner spot but didn't like how much it darkened the stone so I returned it. After sealing it with 2 coats, we left a red wine spill overnight without knowing and it wiped right up with a wet sponge the next day leaving no stain at all. It also has not etched at all. At first I was completely paranoid about it, because I could not find a single person who has a counter-top like mine (with the matte finish and texture) so I was treating it like marble, but after seeing how the red wine cleaned up and not having a single dark water spot issue, I'm hoping we will not have a problem with it. This photo is before I sealed it. The fabricator wiped it down with acetone before he left. From Moon Night Granite Install From Berta Install

I had a few chunks missing when they installed my granite. They said it was because it was a granite with alot of different "chunks" of mica, etc. I hope that is the right terminology. Anyway, they filled the missing pieces and now I can't even find them. They didn't sand anything, but they filled it with the razor and what seemed to be the same goop they used for my seam. I know that there shouldn't be pieces missing in the more speckled stones. I hope that helps.

Oh that's a pretty one. It's geologic name is granulite, and it's a metamorphic form of granite. It contains mica minerals, which form in very thin little layers/flakes. When the mica minerals are oriented vertically, it's likely that the little edges stick up. Is it polished or honed? I don't think it's fissures, and sealer doesn't have any effect on this - the sealer soaks into the stone, it doesn't make a layer on top of it the way that varnish does, for example. It may get better over time - the mica edges may wear off. But I'm not sure!