Tell me about your honed granite

[bunnymendelbaum]

So after looking at samples we are rethinking our countertop choice. DH wanted to use Quartz, but it is just not right. I was never that big of a fan of a polished material for this house.

We are thing honed granite in absolute black. Any pros/cons to share?

We had the epoxy resin in the last house that I loved. It was black and matte, but scratched easily (which I don't mind.) DH doesn't want to use it again though.

[munkii]

I don't know anything about honed granite, but have you considered honed quartz? I don't know what the price point is on granite, but I know Cam.bria typically ranges from $75-85/SF installed (and they actually charge by SF used not for an entire slab, which is nice since they switched to jumbo).

[livinthemiatalife]

We have honed black pearl granite and I absolutely love it, no complaints.

[IndiaInk]

We just remodeled our kitchen and put in honed granite in absolute black. I wanted soapstone, but we only needed a small piece and our local countertop store had a honed granite remnant on site that worked well. Our house is an ~1860s farmhouse, so I really didn't want polished stone. The honed granite is still slightly shinier than I prefer and doesn't have as much natural character as soapstone, IMO, but I still really like it. The dark color certainly shows every water drop and it is somewhat prone to watermarks but I don't mind it too much. It looks beautiful, fits the era of the home and I'm happy. Oh, and we paid about $90/sq ft for our remnant including install.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Feb 1, 2016 21:49:27 GMT -5 munkii said:

I don't know anything about honed granite, but have you considered honed quartz? I don't know what the price point is on granite, but I know Cam.bria typically ranges from $75-85/SF installed (and they actually charge by SF used not for an entire slab, which is nice since they switched to jumbo).

I honestly didn't know honed Quartz was an option. The place we went to was less than helpful really. I get that it was 7pm, but don't stay open until 8pm if you are just going to sit at your desk shouting at us in the back of the showroom! They were quoting $88/sf for polished Quartz and $84/sf for honed granite.

[lurknomore]

We're looking at the same honed black granite as IndiaInk. Love it. My stepmom had it in her old house and didn't have any problems with it. If that's the look you're going for, look at soapstone too. The prices we've seen are pretty comparable, but the look is slightly different.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Feb 2, 2016 8:14:36 GMT -5 lurknomore said:

We're looking at the same honed black granite as IndiaInk. Love it. My stepmom had it in her old house and didn't have any problems with it. If that's the look you're going for, look at soapstone too. The prices we've seen are pretty comparable, but the look is slightly different.

Interesting! I always thought soapstone was much more. I am a little worried about the color of the soapstone, I've heard a lot of what's coming out now is pretty green and veined. Although, this was when I was in NC, maybe the sources closer to Michigan are different.

[lurknomore]

Feb 2, 2016 9:36:55 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

Feb 2, 2016 8:14:36 GMT -5 lurknomore said:

We're looking at the same honed black granite as IndiaInk. Love it. My stepmom had it in her old house and didn't have any problems with it. If that's the look you're going for, look at soapstone too. The prices we've seen are pretty comparable, but the look is slightly different.

Interesting! I always thought soapstone was much more. I am a little worried about the color of the soapstone, I've heard a lot of what's coming out now is pretty green and veined. Although, this was when I was in NC, maybe the sources closer to Michigan are different.

This place has a DIY option and they also ship fully fabricated pieces. If you have someone who is handy, or a contractor who will go this way, and depending on how big of a piece you need, this might be an option.  We will likely go this route (full DIY) with DH doing it.  I'm only hesitating because we will need a seam if we do this.  If I can get over that, we'll prob do it this way.  These may be too veiny for what you want, but they have a sample board you can order if you want to take a look.

www.soapstones.com/classic-soapstones/

[chickens987]

bunnymendelbaum, my parents have black slate in their beach house. It's really nice and true black. I have no idea where they got it from though.