Honed granite????

[Charlie Lyman]

Customer has these counters. At first glance I thought it was Quartz. She said they thought the same thing but the builder told her it was honed granite. She hates them. The don't clean very good.
Is this really honed granite or Quartz?
Can they be polished to a shine? What would she expect to pay to get that done (psf)?
High end home and the have the money to get it fixed. She is considering replacing them.
I did not have anything with me to do an acid test.

 

[Mikey P]

Looks to be black absolute

 

[srosen]

Honed black ab -color enhanced-Using a low grit honing powder between 150 and 280 and remove the enhancer. Either reapply or leave natural. It may have a greyer look to it but in some cases(quality of stone) or some clients it may be easier to maintain. I like black ab without color enhancer.

 

[Cameron DeMille]

I think this is Cambrian Black (Not Cambria ES) and is easier to deal with than AB Black.

it's got a patina on it. When this stuff is honed and enhanced, it's fairly easy to take care of, but when it's cleaned with soaps and stuff over the years it becomes a nuisance.

Do what Stu said, but I would definitely enhance, use MB-21 Ultimate enhancer. We have been using that enhancer specifically for honed black granite since 2008 and have found that it is the best. When used correctly, it reduces smudging, but you have to wipe ALL the excess off and convince the customer to let it cure for 24 hours before really putting it back to use.

Maintain it with MB-23 or Easy Stone Care Ultimate spray polish on a regular basis. Honed black granites need a regular polishing with a light duty spray polish.

Jeff Kondra started with this polished piece at our last class

and ended up with this

 

[Cameron DeMille]

perfect sheen with 220 honing powder and enhancer

 

[SuperDave212]

we did some floors like that where the client listened to the decorator and went with honed, hated it had us put the finish back...we did it all with diamonds, first black tin oxide wet, then Hertons Ultimate Black Granite polish with steel wool...came out fine...

 

[SuperDave212]

sorry typo meant to say without diamonds...

 

[Mikey P]

What did they hate about it?

 

[SuperDave212]

dead, splotchy ...they were very happy after and glad I didn't have to use diamonds....the key was wet polishing first with black tin....they using the ultimate black with steel wool

 

[Cameron DeMille]

That looks great Dave.

 

[Dave B]

View attachment 14432 View attachment 14431 View attachment 14430 Customer has these counters. At first glance I thought it was Quartz. She said they thought the same thing but the builder told her it was honed granite. She hates them. The don't clean very good.
Is this really honed granite or Quartz?
Can they be polished to a shine? What would she expect to pay to get that done (psf)?
High end home and the have the money to get it fixed. She is considering replacing them.
I did not have anything with me to do an acid test.

Looks almost the same as my granite counter top. But mine has better shine. Figure $3-5 psf to grind with diamonds from 120 grit to 3500, then polish.

 

[Mikey P]

If I ever go back to Granite, I'd do this..

 

[Cameron DeMille]

Looks almost the same as my granite counter top. But mine has better shine. Figure $3-5 psf to grind with diamonds from 120 grit to 3500, then polish.

70 square foot kitchen, which is about average, would be $375 at $5/foot. You would refinish and polish a granite kitchen for $375? I don't think so. You can do it in a full day, with a $3200 planetary machine, which runs about $500 worth of diamonds, or 2-3 full days with with a Makita. It's not like refinishing marble.