Hi. I have been reading so many horror stories about using honed absolute black granite. What other choice is there? I like the solidness of color in the absolute black. Is there any other stone choice that will not stain, leave marks, etc? If not, would you recommend a synthetic? Thanks.

 

Dear Lorrie:

If you're willing to give up the gray (but still have a hone-finish) you could have the cake and eat it, too!

Let me explain:

On the subject of black hone-finished “granite” there is a unanimous consensus about the fact that it presents maintenance issues.

The problem with honed black “granite” is that it is not, well … black any more! Most black stones are but an optical illusion: they become black only when highly polished, or when wet. (See the back of your slab to see the real color of your stone!) As you take gloss off the stone surface (and honing does just that) you lose depth of color and the stone turns gray; but when you wet it ... here it is black again! As you spill oily liquids, or you simply touch the stone surface with your fingers (perspiration), you're going to have all sorts of dark surface stains that are a terrible eyesore. Please notice that I said, surface stains, not imbedded stains. In fact, you can clean those stains off (though with lots of labor), while if they were imbedded you would have to poultice them out. If you apply an impregnator/sealer to the stone you will not solve your problem one bit: in fact the sealer will only prevent liquids from being absorbed by the stone (which in the case of black honed granite is an unlikely event to begin with), not the staining of its surface.

Any solution?

Well, yes: you have to give up the gray!

If you apply a good-quality stone color enhancer to your countertop instead of an impregnating sealer (a good-quality stone color-enhancer like MB-6 is also an impregnator/sealer) it will turn it permanently black, while preserving the hone finish. In that way, the surface-staining problem would be minimi z ed.

Let's just hope that your fabricator, in their “infinite wisdom,” did not apply an impregnator/sealer to your stone: this would have to be stripped (not an easy feat!), or else the color/enhancer wouldn't stand a chance to work properly.

And don't you forget that in order to upkeep your stone and the color enhancer, your best bet is to use good-quality specialty products for stone. ( http://www.mbstonecare.com)  

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Thank you.

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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