Black Absolute Pitfalls

Through the years we have seen Black Absolute granite change in look and performance.  Though we call this a granite, petrographically, most of these are Gabbros or Basalts.  There was a time in the 1990’s when the premium blocks were going the Japanese market.  Lately, we have seen premium material going to the Middle East.  What was once a high quality African material is becoming a low quality material from China and India.  That is not to say that there is not good black material in those countries but what we are typically seeing these days is less than great.  Here are a couple pointers to help you sell this material and collect on the finished job:

STAINING:  A good portion of Black Absolute material has been stained at the factories in order to appear darker and thus more desirable.  If done correctly, this is not an immediate problem but may need ongoing maintenance. This could consist of applying a blackening product such as Tenax UniBlack II on a semi-regular basis (could be once a year or once every couple years).  Test your slabs with a white rag and acetone.  If the rag shows black when you wipe it you could be in for some added problems.  The stain should be in the stone and not on it.

ETCHING:  Yes, some of these lower quality Black Absolute granites will etch with acids – much like marbles.  What can show up is a whitish ring that can be very difficult, if not near impossible, to polish out by hand.  Practice in your shop first before attacking your customer’s kitchen countertop.  You will need to hone the spot, stain it and then finish polishing.  Most times the white marks will come out but it is not easy.

HONED FINISH:  The matte black look is popular.  As your client is showing you the latest photo from Home and Garden magazine of a honed black kitchen and telling you that is what she wants, you need to approach the sale cautiously.  Educating the customer is paramount and merely explaining that everything looks good in a photo is not enough.  Honed black can look great from one side of the kitchen and terrible from the other side where natural light is bouncing off of it.  Unequal finishes, swirl marks and pattern lines from the factory can all be reasons to not get paid.  Though we at Percoco Stone Finishing have developed a recipe for eliminating most of these problems, we still advise a Leathered finish for Black Absolute.  The Leathering puts a slight “wrinkle” finish on the stone, brings out more of the black color and is less susceptible to oil staining from hands and fingers.

In short, don’t be afraid to sell Black Absolute.  Just get educated and educate your customer.

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