Granite choice

[Jim Morrison]

More of a personal question than work related.

We are doing a kitchen reno and will be going with granite counter tops. Totally new to us, the fist granite warehouse we went to, basically wandered around in awe at the incredible beauty of the slabs. After a couple more trips we are looking at a slab called Black Forest.

Would anyone in the know care to comment on this piece / style? Any inherent good or bad characteristics?

 

[Mikey P]

Those look like Marble to me.

no.

 

[Bryan Thomson]

Ask the sales person / stone specialist....what is the "MOHS hardness" of that specific slab.
Or if they don't know, ask if you can do a scratch test on the corner edge (very small scratch 1/2") of the slap which is usually considered "waste".
You can use a nail, razor blade, screw driver or even you keys.
If you can scratch it it is probably "Not Granite" and you would "NOT" want to use it for a kitchen counter top / work space cutting with a knifes.

Hope this helps,

 

[Jim Morrison]

Thanks, that's stuff I never would have thought to ask. I called the warehouse and the receptionist is going to get back to me.

 

[clean image]

also you want to perform an absorbency test... on a polished piece, allow 1 spot of water and 1 spot of oil to sit for 10 minutes and then wipe. If it has darkened, then it inherently will be more of a challenge. you can seal to make it better.

I purchased an exotic based only on appearance. it is naturally resistant to both I believe I posted pics of it here

 

[srosen]

Do the lemon test-
squeeze out some lemon juice on a sample piece-that will tell you the whole story(porosity and acid sensitivity). Black forest granite looks grainier than that-

 

[SuperDave212]

looks like marble would be a pain in the butt to take care of