You will need to talk to the fabricator to see if those marks are removeable there is no way for us to know.

I can't imagine bundle marks surviving honing.

Tell them to put some MB 20 on a hog's hair pad on a knuckle dragger and try to remove the marks first, please.

What kind of quartzite did you choose? Did you check with smaller local natural stone fabricators with slab yards? Whatever you choose, you should take a small sample with you and test its hardness because some quartzites are softer than other.

Thanks you for the input. We certainly wouldn't commit to buying any material that has defects without the fabricator confirming it's OK. Our fabricator never responded to my question about bundle marks but of course I know that nobody can "know" without seeing the issue in-person. The point was to just have him give an early opinion if it was even worth considering. Unfortunately, like so many tradesmen and craftsmen in our area, he has more business than he can handle so communication sucks, frankly.

Anyway, we finally went to a smaller dealer and found 3 slabs we really like. While looking for material that was predominantly white, it was proving amazingly hard to find natural stone that fit the bill in Quatrzite. I had an entire kitchen and butler's pantry in marble in the past and while it was beautiful, it was not great for heavy use (stains, scratches, gouges) over the years. We ended-up choosing a beautiful Brazilian Quartzite "Super White" (mildly Leathered) that is much more gray in color with really interesting veining. Here's a picture.

Super White is a beautiful stone but it's not quartzite. It's marble.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news - but better to know this upfront. Many dealers mis-label this stone, sadly.

http://usenaturalstone.com/definitive-guide-quartzite/

Good to know, Karin! Figures...ha. I give, the stone wins. I am worn-down running around this city dealing with this. Yes, it is really beautiful. The dealer is a very highly-regarded outfit carrying a lot of top line stuff and all of the "fancy" designer tile makers, etc. (and expensive). They had the very first staff person who was actually a professional and seemed to know her stuff. The slabs/tags indicate "Quartzite" and the source as Brazil. Interesting.

It sounds like this is actually Dolomite, technically, and may or may not have sections that are harder than others. Puzzles me how they can get away with calling it Quartzite if it's actually Dolomite with perhaps area of Quartzite. Kinda like the fish industry it sounds...

You're right Steve, it's a worrying trait of a business when they don't take steps to educate themselves. Super White is the reason I got involved with the stone industry, and over the past 4 years we've done a lot of training in all kinds of ways and many dealers are better now. The ones that have somehow missed all of this info are red flags at this point.

Just to clarify, Super White does not have areas of quartzite. It's not two separate rock types. It's dolomitic marble, with occasional areas of quartz (the mineral). And it is a beauty and if you've already lived with marble you know the deal. It's worth it, in my book!

If you feel comfortable, feel free to share that article with your stone dealer. I have a similar version of it that's written directly for people in the industry if that would be helpful.

Thanks again, Karin. Yes, sharing the article is good idea. I have asked my fabricator if he has any experience with Dolomite though I can't image he'll suddenly start communicating with me. ;^)

While we will most definitely be using the kitchen, it's likely worth the hassle and diligence to care for it as those slabs are the perfect visual fit. My previous kitchen and especially the Butler's Pantry saw very heavily use (I'm a former professional chef) and the carrara marble had a lot of "character" (beat-up) as the white showed stains and etching readily. I plan on being more careful with this kitchen and hope that the gray might help if someone doesn't handle it well.

Definitely avoid using any fabricator who would field hone a quartzite. It’s difficult enough to do at a quarry. What usually happens is s more “leathered” finish results, not honed. Dolomite is a bit easier to hone, but still, field honing has giant risks that you shouldn’t take.

Thanks Live_Wire. The material I have on hold is already leathered and this particular finish is great on these slabs. Not very extreme.