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Juparana Bordeaux, anyone?

17 years ago

After a few visits to granite yards in the Denver area, we're starting to really like the idea of Juparana Bordeaux. Our cabinets (which will be refinished) and our floors are oak. Here's the current kitchen:

Does anybody have Jup Bordeaux? Any issues we should know about?

The $64K questions for us, too, is can it be honed? How does that look? How is it to maintain? And, of course, how much extra does that cost?

Comments (8)

  • 17 years ago

    I have it - mine is pretty much no maintenance and it doesn't show anything. I wasn't really too keen on granite but this one grew on me and I ended up using it for some of my counters and the backsplash by my cooktop. I don't care for shiny counters but in my opinion this granite lost alot of it's beauty and all of its appeal for me when honed. So mine is not honed. Here's a photo of the cooktop area.

    {{gwi:1589733}}

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks! That looks great!

    It's the shinyness of polished that has us looking at honed. I sure would like to see a honed sample - even like a 12 x 12 tile - then we could make up our minds with the information

  • 17 years ago

    Bump

  • 17 years ago

    I've had a combination of Juparana Bordeaux and Thassos White in my kitchen for 3 1/2 years. We all love it. The granite is polished and has what someone here referred to as "look into it-ness." I'm not sure that it would be a great candidate for a honed finish as it has mica and various other elements that might be prone to separation. Actually, I have never seen it installed in a honed version, so I cannot really comment. I do know that mine is resined and sealed, which you could have with a honed surface as well. However, I'm sure that you would lose some of the vivid coloration and drama of the stone with the honed version. Since my granite is on horizontal surfaces only, some of the drama is diminished. Mine has lots of movement, several burgundy rivers, and a lot of variety. Slabs vary greatly though, so your experience may be different.

  • 17 years ago

    Sounds beautiful! Any pics?

  • 17 years ago

    Bumping to see if anyone else has any thoughts....

  • 17 years ago

    Honing granite dulls them down and the colors aren't vivid at all. That's why honed black granite appears grey. The best candidates for honing are the ones that are extremely uniform in color, because you lose the contrast and sparkle when you hone it. You really need to look at several lighter granites that have been honed before deciding that it's for you. Honing granite also makes it more difficult to keep clean, as the textured surface "grabs" oils and dirts more and it isn't as easy to wipe them off with a single swipe. Think of a honed surface being like a really smooth grit of sandpaper. It feels smooth, but it's not a polished smooth, and still has more microscopic texture than a polished surface.

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks for the input. That's why we really want to see a sample honed so we can decide for ourselves. We'll keep searching, and we'll likely end up with something polished, but it sure would be nice to see both in person to make a decision.