Countertops - Honing White Grante / Quartzite & Care of Pietra

13 years ago

We are planning on using Pietra del Cardosa on our perimeter counters and Super White (SW) granite (or quartzite, we have heard both classifications) on our island (cabinets are satin finish red birch and island will be painted some type of white) and want some input on finish, durability & care. I had heard that honing for the SW is better to hide any scratches and is just more forgiving - is that true? Has anyone honed their Super White (supreme white or white fantasy are other names I have seen used) and has a picture or could describe how the look changes? It appears all I have seen is polished superwhite, which is beautiful and would love, but we are not super careful on our surfaces so would consider honing based on feedback on change in look or more forgiveness.

Regarding the Pietra, I have heard mixed things. That is is more durable than soapstone (which I love but DH is uncomfortable with chipping/dullness) but would benefit from a second seal at 6 months and daily mineral oil for the first few months. Someone else laughed at the mineral oil saying it isn't soapstone. I heard it does not scratch like soapstone, but is "not as durable" as granite but am not sure what that means. More than one fabricator we spoke to were shocked that we were considering it (we have two young small children) and another said it would be fine.

Any insight on durability, wear and care of pietra & super white, as well as considerations for honing super white would be greatly appreciated.

I will post photos once I figure out how :) I find the photos on the forum so helpful!

Thanks!

Comments (5)

sochi
13 years ago
Sorry, I don't have any answers for you, but wanted to bump the thread up. If you don't get much response, try posting with just the stone names - Super White / white fantasy question, etc.

For what it is worth, I have a grey/white quartzite counter, polished, and it doesn't scratch easily. I'm sure I could scratch it if I tried hard enough, but it is a pretty hard stone and I don't think it would be easy. I've been using it normally (i.e not babying it too much) for about two months now. I know others with polished quartzite counters who don't report any scratching problems either.

Good luck!
tanem
13 years ago
Our choices are very similar to yours. We are doing a polished white quarzite (Namibia Sky) which looks like marble, on our island. We were going to use Pietra Cardosa on our perimeter counters but, have friends they have quite a few dings and stains on theirs. We switched to honed Balsaltina which is a solid grey stone (we love the look with our quartzite). Both of our final choices did very well when I tested everything under the sun (and leaving on overnight). In Italy honed Basaltina and polished Marble are commonly paired together. They will be installed next week, so I will try to post pictures.
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sochi
13 years ago
tanem - it was your testing of luce di luna that really helped me focus on this quartzite, so thank you. I've had it for two months now and love it.

I'm anxious to see your Namibia Sky, I can't find pictures of it anywhere on the web. Please do post your pictures next week, I can't wait to see them.
firstmmo
13 years ago
I honed our slabs of White Princess. Search it on this forum--there are lots of pics of my counters. They don't etch but I did leave red wine on a test piece for 48 hours and it left a shadow. After 48 hours the shadow kinda disappeared. I have since sealed all my honed counters and backsplashes.

For me I love the honed look of marble, but since I didn't have marble, I still wanted that matte look. When the slabs were honed, it brought our the iridescent quality of the mica that is embedded in the quartz....it's like shiny opal cross sections. I just love it! Hope you love yours too.
spruce40
13 years ago
Tanem - any pictures yet? Would love to see the Balsaltina with the marlbe.