Light scratches can be removed from a honed granite without too much trouble. They can do it while they're honing the edge profile to match the top.

Thanks Trebruchet. I've called a few fabricators this morning about this. I was told by one place that they don't re-hone virginia mist because it comes out looking too flat. I was told by another place that they don't hone other people's slabs. I'm at a loss at this point, but I'll call some more fabricators.

Is there anything specific about virginia mist that would make it difficult to re-hone (or make the result suboptimal)?

Many thanks

I'm guessing, as you say, they don't want to take responsibility for, get involved in, rehoning the slab which could set them up for being the ones to take the hit on losses should there be a problem. Who would pay them for the re-honing too? The repair must require more, and more risk, than a little buffing as they see it.

Have you spoken with the stone yard for their solution to fixing this slab?

What a shame. It takes a lot of time and effort to find the right stone. Good idea to prepare for the same problem next time.

It's difficult to match a factory hone. Those that even offer honing of a polished slab in house probably wouldn't attempt that.

Here's the follow-up. Thanks much for the thoughts.

I finally found a fabricator with a can do attitude who said he'll rehone the slab for $400 and then do the fabrication. While of course I'm not excited about the extra charge, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, both because I think the original fabricator was uncomfortable with dealing with a honed slab, and because the slab will be freshly honed, and thus hopefully look great.

Ugh. I was definitely not cut out for kitchen renovation!

kb

What happens if you don't like the re-honing result? You are willing to absorb all costs involved?

What might I not like about the re-honing result? I don't know much about granite, and I don't know what the potential issues are. The new fabricator says he has experience with honed jet mist and that re-honing to get out scratches is no problem. I'm kinda stuck with trusting him.

So the question is, is re-honing straight forward? Are there questions I should ask? How can it go wrong?

Thanks

"How can it go wrong?"

It can never go wrong as long as you owe your contractor money.

" I was told by one place that they don't re-hone virginia mist because it comes out looking too flat."

There's your first clue. "No problem" is your second. Could be fine in the end, but you will own the slab, owe him money and he may have different standards than your own or be too inexperienced to know the difficulties. Or a great master in full control of re-honing Virginia Mist to a beautiful finish.

There are far too many unhappy stories on this forum to not be thinking ahead. What do you know about this fabricator other than he is telling you what you want to hear? Are you willing to risk losing the cost of a re-honed slab gone wrong? Or is he? What happens if it doesn't turn out so well or meet your expectations?

So the new fabricator said the second half of the payment will be automatically deducted from my credit card on the install day. Perhaps I should ask to change this?

Ok, so now I am in a panic. I can still have the slab returned to the distributor. That leaves me in need of spending hours and hours trying to find a new slab. When I find a new slab, I will want a fabricator who can re-hone, in case it gets scratched again. That leaves me with the current fabricator, just a different slab.

I'm really not sure what is the safest way forward. I have heard that some fabricators will re-hone every honed stone, has anyone else heard that?

How does a factory honing differ from a fabricator honing?

Ugh. All opinions welcomed gratefully.

What did the distributor say? Can they get the problem fixed? I don't know where the original 'factory' honing takes place but isn't this ultimately the distributor's problem to resolve? They have to run into this frequently.

If you are lucky, oldryder will advise how to move forward.

Start another post : "Calling Oldryder & Srosen for Expert Advise."
Also, ask the new fabricator if the rehoned finish will look different from the current finish (minus scratches).

You might check over on john bridge forum. It is very active there. Pros respond to all the discussions. They have a stone restoration forum.

Mention virginia mist. Your callout thread does not include that info. The specific stone can make a difference.

No, honed granite is NOT "routinely" rehoned. The whole slab would have to be redone to get it to look the same. Usually, only the edges are done, and because it's on a different surface than the top, you can't tell that it's slightly different for the texture because the light hits it differently anyway.

If a fabricator has the ability to hone, and not all do, then they usually take a polished slab and hone it in house, so that everything matches.

Bump

Here is srosen writing about rehoning a jet mist top. He gets a response from the late Maurizio Bertoli, an icon in our industry. Neither seem to find rehoning a very big deal:

Here is a link that might be useful: Jet Mist

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Sat, Sep 20, 14 at 7:49

I am a fabricator.

We sometimes have customer selected slabs rehoned when, upon inspection at our shop, we notice scratches or inconsistent finish.

Our 1st step is to accompany the customer to select their slabs. Then, most of the time, if there are objectionable aspects to the customers stone we can point it out then. (I don't know why most fabricators don't help with the slab selection when it prevents SO MANY of the typical problems.)

If a slab has to be refinished there are two typical avenues; one is to have it refinished at a supplier with a polishing line. 2nd is for the fabricator to use a radial arm router and a skilled operator. (Most fabricators do not have this capability.) Either route can produce a nice finish but neither can be counted on to provide an exact match to the original finish.

A third, relatively recent option due to newly available tooling, is to hone the slab with a CNC. We haven't done this yet so I can't comment on the quality of the finish.

When we refinish a slab we require the customer to sign off that whatever the finish looks like will be acceptable.

There, you have a thorough answer.

"one is to have it refinished at a supplier with a polishing line."

I don't think this has been answered yet. Did you contact the supplier to see if they can fix it?

Thanks for digging that up Trebruchet. I'm going to share that with my fabricator. I'll keep you posted.

Many fabricators re-hone the majority of slabs before installing. Many times the factory hone has lines and swirls, re-honing eliminates these and produces in most cases a superior finish.
My company re-honed quite often. It is relatively easy when using a good honing powder. A polishing line is not necessary.