Black Honed Granite?

[Accountingcat]

Anyone have black honed granite? Does it show water spots and scratches easily? I’m still in the planning stages of my basement kitchen model... I like the look of soapstone and honed granite so this seems like a perfect fit for me. I do plan on using/abusing my basement kitchen so I don’t want anything I have to baby.

[mrsukyankee]

We're getting something called Dekton, which is basically meant to be indestructible. Our kitchen place found it for about the same cost as quartz, which we were also looking at. You can get Dekton in a variety of looks, from matt to shiny. Perhaps check that out?

[saralee]

I have Absolute black honed granite in my kitchen. I does show water streaks and spots if you don't dry it down. For instance, if I clean with a wet cloth and let it dry, it will streak. I just aim for a damp cloth to avoid streaks. Scratches are much less apparent and we are HARD on our counters. I do have some oil rings where I sat a bottle of olive oil that ran down onto the counter. Not too visible from far away but I can definitely see them.

In my experience, honed is less work than polished on upkeep but not no work. Quartz is the least work of all in my house (not super shiny but not matte either). I also have honed marble because I am a glutton for punishment.

[Accountingcat]

Feb 4, 2020 11:48:45 GMT -5 saralee said:

I have Absolute black honed granite in my kitchen. I does show water streaks and spots if you don't dry it down. For instance, if I clean with a wet cloth and let it dry, it will streak. I just aim for a damp cloth to avoid streaks. Scratches are much less apparent and we are HARD on our counters. I do have some oil rings where I sat a bottle of olive oil that ran down onto the counter. Not too visible from far away but I can definitely see them.

In my experience, honed is less work than polished on upkeep but not no work. Quartz is the least work of all in my house (not super shiny but not matte either). I also have honed marble because I am a glutton for punishment.

Thank you for the comparison! Do you have hard water or soft? I also have honed marble in one bathroom so that is the level of babying I am trying to avoid. The oil thing makes me scared though. I haven’t found a quartz color I like yet...

[Accountingcat]

Feb 4, 2020 9:56:46 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

We're getting something called Dekton, which is basically meant to be indestructible. Our kitchen place found it for about the same cost as quartz, which we were also looking at. You can get Dekton in a variety of looks, from matt to shiny. Perhaps check that out?

Thank you - I have never heard of Dekton. I haven’t found a quartz color/style that I’ve liked yet in person but I’m still searching because I do know that’s the easiest care level.

[dr.girlfriend]

Didn't someone in the past post about having a "leathered" finish to their black granite? I remember thinking that that seemed like a good solution to the "they show everything" issue.

[allhis]

We have honed Nevada black granite in our kitchen and honed marble in our basement, I worry far less about the granite. Like PP said, if I don’t wipe up water spots they will show when dried, but it’s easy to fix by rewetting. We had soapstone in our previous kitchen and I loved it too, but it showed more, especially oil spots.
I’d totally do honed granite again if I was wanting to keep the high contrast look. If not, I’d lean towards a quartzite like Tahiti or taj mahal. I’m also not a fan of quartz bc I highly prefer the beauty of natural stone.
I’ve used a leathered black granite in a client’s home before at a work station and it was awesome, I just personally wouldn’t prefer that much texture in my kitchen. But it would be forgiving.
If it helps this is a close up of our Nevada black honed.

[saralee]

Feb 4, 2020 13:54:03 GMT -5 Accountingcat said:

Feb 4, 2020 11:48:45 GMT -5 saralee said:

Thank you for the comparison! Do you have hard water or soft? I also have honed marble in one bathroom so that is the level of babying I am trying to avoid. The oil thing makes me scared though. I haven’t found a quartz color I like yet...

We have fairly soft water. One thing I'll say for my honed granite is that it doesn't keep water spots next to the sink where water is often splashed the way marble does. My granite is a very matte black with no pattern. I think a light color with more texture/pattern to it would help hide any water streaks.

[kitchenreno]

I have leathered jet mist (a black/white granite - looks similar to the picture above)

Sometimes there are water streaks if I don't clean evenly but nothing out of the ordinary (to me, anyway - I just wipe again). No stains or scratches in the 5-6 years we've had it. I love it!

[atarianna]

We have black pearl in a leathered finish for our basement bar and love it. Honed is definetly going to show water rings as it’s more permeable than glossy or leathered.

[audry80]

We just got it about 6 months ago and hate it. It looks nice but the streaks are so annoying. I cannot seem to find a way so I don't see streaks.