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hydragea

granite that is suitable for honing

Hydragea
9 years ago

I've read that some honed granite shows fingerprints and oils like you wouldn't believe. I saw a picture that was disturbing.

From what I've read, some granites are less prone to showing fingerprints.

Would a light coloured granite be OK?
I'm thinking of 'Viscount" . The slabs available to me are medium gray. (Pics below.)

I'm hoping the speckles will be toned down, and the colour lightened by the honing procedure.

The speckles are well-shown in top pic. Colour is accurate in second pic.

...and this slab shows the colour well (there are some whiter versions of this type of granite, but mine is more gray, like in the pic below.)

This pic showcases the colour well:

Comments (7)

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    I don't know the answer to your question, but that second photo you posted is, like, completely trying to escape the column where the posts go and is overlapping and obscuring part of your post.

    This is happening in both Chrome and Safari. Weird HTML?

  • lisa_a
    9 years ago

    Blue Pearl is gorgeous honed! I had a 12 x 12 tile honed by my fabricator and gave it a run for its money. I didn't notice finger prints showing any more than on the tile I had leathered. It did, however, show rub marks while the leathered finish did not.

    I've seen Black Pearl in a honed finish, too, also lovely.

    You might consider a leathered finish instead of a honed finish. It also mutes the colors and contrasts but it doesn't have the issue with finger prints, etc, that honed finishes might have. I strongly encourage you to get a sample done first, though. Some leathered stones are very smooth, nearly like a honed finish, while others are quite uneven. They are lovely to look at but I wouldn't want it for a kitchen counter.

  • Hydragea
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Lisa_a.

    It's crazy how different granite looks honed vs. polished. Love the Blue pearl honed. I never would have guessed it would look like this :

    But, it's too dark. I need something lighter.

    LWO - I want something light, non-busy, and matte.
    Carrara marble is the closest thing to what I want, but I was hoping to get a 'knock off' using harder materials.

  • lisa_a
    9 years ago

    hydragea, we're using leathered Bianco Romano on our island and hutch counters. It's a light stone and very durable (I tested an unsealed sample with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, ketchup and mustand, passed the test with flying colors). I was also hoping for a marble look-alike but then fell in love with a slab of Bianco Romano with subtle movement.

    Here's a photo of honed Bianco Romano that I found on houzz.

    [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Greensboro Kitchen & Bath Designers Cabinet Concepts, Greensboro

    There are other light granites that would also work but you need to be careful with white granites. They can be more prone to staining. DH and I fell in love with a slab of Glac1ier White granite with gorgeous movement, the closest thing we've found to marble, and were beyond excited by the find. But my sample failed the condiment testing big time. It showed dark stains around each puddle within minutes. Sealing would take care of that but given how easily it stained, this stone would need to be sealed every 6 months. We decided that wasn't for us.

  • Hydragea
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    lisa_a: Thank you for posting that pic. I love it honed! It looks so nice in this kitchen too, with the knobs. Did you do a kitchen like this?

    Really, I should be looking for whiter stones, and perhaps not worry as much about the busy-ness of them.

  • lisa_a
    9 years ago

    We haven't even started our remodel yet. We hope to soon, though, so that we have a new kitchen by Christmas. That's what I asked Santa for (for the last 7 years, ha!).