We offer the following surface finishes for stone in addition to the factory finish: Polish, Hone, Leather, Caress, Bush Hammer, Tuscan, Flame, Flamed & Brushed, Rake, Scarpaletto, Sandblast, Rustico, Washboard and Chainlink/Wave. Please refer to the definitions below for more information on each finish. Additionally there are pictures of finished kitchens in our gallery with the leather finish. Note that some finishes are only available as factory finishes.
It should be noted for countertop use that only the polished, honed, caressed and leaterhed finishes are recommended. The Tuscan finish can be used for countertops as well, but in lower use areas. The bush-hammer, rake, scarpaletto and flame finishes are all rougher raw finishes recommended for decorative uses (vertical surfaces or anti-slip exterior and/or commercial walkways)
Factory
The finish put on the slab at the processing facility (factory) before being exported. Generally polished for most marbles and granites, and honed for most shist and limestones. Slates mostly come as cleft face. Additionally some materials are available in multiple finishes (ie a stone may be mostly exported polished, but a smaller quantity is exported honed).
Polish
Polish Finish on Ubatuba GraniteThis is the standard factory finish for most granites and marbles. A polished surface is glossy and highly reflective and the least porous of the finishes available. Polished marbles can be etched with many household acids and cleaners.
Hone Finish on Ubatuba GraniteThis is the standard factory finish for schists and most limestones (many of which will not take a polish). Honing a polished material opens the pores of the stone, making it more susceptible to staining than the same material in a polished finish. Honing produces a smooth, matte finish and mutes the color of the stone considerably. A color enhancing sealer is available and may be used to restore the color (if desired). Also note that honing is not recommended on very dark or black stones because it often results in an uneven finish.
Leather Finish on Ubatuba GraniteLeathering starts with a honed surface and adds texture. Additionally, it closes the pores of the stone (compared to honing) and retains the color better than honing. A leathered finish has a soft sheen but is not as reflective as a polished surface. The amount of texture produced varies from stone to stone and some extremely uniform stones will not leather at all. On a very dark material such as Absolute Black granite, leathering is preferred to honing because the resulting finish is very uniform, preserves the majority of the stone's color, and is much easier to maintain than a porous honed surface.
Caress Finish on Ubatuba GraniteImagine a Leather finish with a high polish and luxurious, saturated color. After Leathering "digs" out the softer areas of the stone, the Caress process then polishes the high spots of the slab and leaves the lower areas to a "high hone" similar to the Leather finish. Caress finish gives a lustrous look to the softer Leather finish and is an excellent choice for any application other than exterior paving subject to wet, slippery conditions. We can NOT caress tiles.
Bush Hammer Finish on Ubatuba GraniteA highly textured finish best used for external applications such as paving or walkways. Bush hammering will "grey out" or fade the color of the stone to an even greater extent than honing. The feel is rougher than leathering and more uniform. A bush hammered finish can be applied to virtually any stone (2cm or thicker). We can NOT bush hammer tiles.
Tuscan Finish on Ubatuba GraniteSimilar in texture to the original "River Washed" finish in that it is a rough or stippled surface. That is where the similarity ends. The River Washed finish opened the pores of the stone making it more susceptible to staining and washed all of the color out of the stone, while in contrast the Tuscan closes the pores of the stone similar to a honed finish and retains more of the stone's color. It can be used for countertops though we recommend it for tops with limited usage i.e.. bar tops, powder room tops, etc. The deep texture would require more maintenance for kitchen surfaces. It also lends itself well to fireplaces and accents. The Tuscan is a brushed version of the Bush hammered finish and can only be applied to materials that can be bush hammered. We can NOT do a Tuscan finish on tiles.
Flame Finish on Dakota Mahagony GraniteThis conventional textured thermal finish is now available from Percoco Stone Finishing. Suitable for exterior and interior commercial flooring it has been desirable for many years because of it's well known slip resistance. It is similar to a Bush Hammered finish but has a more random textured surface that can be different for each type of granite depending on the crystalline make up of the stone. Most all granites can be flamed along with certain limestones and marbles. We can NOT flame tiles.
Flamed and Brushed Finish on MultiColor Labradorite GraniteThis is similar to the Tuscan finish except that the material is first flamed instead of bush hammered. The use of this finish will be similar to the use of the Tuscan and/or Flame finish. We can NOT flame & brush tiles.
Rake Finish (Coarse) on Rosa Verona marbleThis is a very unique architectural finish that has the appearance of a split face or chisled look. Suitable for vertical surfaces (fireplaces, backsplashed, wall accents, etc). The spacing of the scored lines in the surface can be specified, altering the finished look. Our two default spacings result in a Fine and a Coarse option. We can NOT do a rake finish on tiles.
Scarpaletto Finish (Fine) on Rosa Verona MarbleThis finish is similar to the Rake finish, but softer. Not suitable for countertops, but can be used for vertical surfaces and also for anti-slip horizontal surfaces. The scoring is much finer and the finished surface is not nearly as rough as the Rake finish. The spacing on the Scarpaletto finish is restricted to only two options of Fine and Coarse. Currently the Scarpaletto finish can only be applied to marbles, limestones, and traverties slabs.
Sandblast Finish (Coarse) on Rosa Verona MarbleThis finish is similar to a true sandblasted finish, though we don't actually use a sandblaster. The tooling we have for the Sandblast finish is restricted to only two options of Fine and Coarse at this time. Currently the tooling we have for the Sandblast finish can only be applied to marbles, limestones, and traverties slabs.
Rustico Finish on Rosa Verona MarbleThis is similar to a bush hammer finish, but is more random & less uniform. Suitable for vertical surfaces. The Rustico finish can only be applied to marbles, limestones, and traverties slabs.
Washboard Finish on Rosa Verona Marble (Vertical Orientation)Imagine a scored and brushed finish with softened edges. Like the Rake finish, this is suitable for vertical applications and water features.
Chain-link finish on San Gabriel graniteNumerous design applications can be achieved with several different versions (direction & spacing) of this pattern. Can be used for backsplashes or wall features.
Many of the following finishes are only available as factory finishes. We can NOT offer any of these finishes UNLESS the slabs you select already have the desired finish on them (as a factory finish).
Antiqued
This is actually a style of finishes rather than a particular finish. Leathered, river washed, and tumbled finishes are all examples of an antiqued finish. A factory finish similar to a leathered finish is sometimes called an antiqued finish.
Brushed
This term is sometimes used to refer to either a leather finish or a river washed finish. Unfortunately, this leads to ambiguity as there are distinct differences between the leathered and river washed finishes.
Cleft face
This is most commonly seen on slate and sandstones. Cleft face is simply the natural splitting along the layers as the stone is removed from the quarry. This is a factory finish only.
River washed
This finish is the pre-cursor to the leather finish. Before a slab can be river washed it must first be flamed. The river washing process simply smooths out the roughness of the flamed finish. River washed surfaces are good for interior or decorative use and NOT recommended for countertops. River washed is only available as a factory finish at this time.
Tumbled
This finish applies to marble tiles that are literally tumbled to create a weathered or distressed look. There is some texture as well as softening of edges on the finished tiles.
Other articles and resources about surface finishes
Percoco Stone Finishing - Percoco Marble pioneered the surface finishing concept in Denver with the leather finish and then spun off Percoco Stone Finishing as a seperate company in 2008 to service all the wholesalers, distributors, and fabricators in the rocky mountain region. Percoco Stone Finishing's finishes (2.3MB) brochure is availabe in .pdf format.
