A 970:
Would unpolished granite be a good choice for a shower? Would it have to
be sealed? Easy to keep clean? Thank you! Kay, Mexico, April 27. R1:
Hi,
Yes its ok just seal it. Pini, USA. Contact �
R2:
Unpolished granite comes in different finishes: flamed, bush-hammered, honed.
Only the last could be recommended in a shower-stall, because the first two are
very rough and it will be more difficult to clean their surface from soap-film
and hard-mineral deposit. Once this intuitive first choice is done, we have to
understand that it should not represent the main question. The main question should
be: What kind of "granites" are suitable for a shower stall -- regardless of their
finish? We have to keep in mind that a shower-stall represents as ruthless an
environment as a kitchen. Different problems, all right, but just as heavy-duty.
Many so called "granites" (which are granite only in the invoice of the dealer)
are extremely porous (most of them are, in fact, metamorphic sandstone), so much
so that if you put a piece of slab under a leaky faucet, after a while you will
see the water coming out from the other side (I'm not kidding). Now, you do NOT
want any such "granite" either in your kitchen (floor and / or countertop), or
in your shower-stall.
Oh!
I know, I know ... I already hear a chorus of protests from stone dealer and manufacturers
of stone "impregnators" from around the world. "All youhave to do is seal it properly,
and live happily ever after!"� My answer to that is: GOOD LUCK!!�Let's
make one thing clear: my company manufactures a stone sealer (impregnator) and
I can guarantee to you that it's a darn good one. What's more, business logic
suggests that one must sell as much as possible of the stuff (and, of course,
I try to do just that myself), but I will never extoll the virtues of my product
as the "miracle solution" for problem-laden stones. I leave that to the salesmen!
There is a limit to everything. Impregnator-type sealers are good problem-solvers,
for as long as the problemis
not too big. When we get to certain extremes, then an impregnator -- no matter
how good it is -- becomes only a fix. Good enough to make a sale, but not good
enough to make customers happy in the long run. I ought to know: I deal with stone
problems every single day (that's what I do for a living!) and, believe you me,
I still have to see one single customer happy with, say, a Kashmir kitchen countertop
after a year or so (unless, of course, they use the kitchen only a show-place!).
The list, of course, is much longer and I do not intend to list all the "bad"
granites (at least in my opinion).
The
only suggestion I want to offer is to test a piece of slab for absorbency: sprinkle
a few drops of water on it and, if you notice that it gets absorbed quickly, stay
away from that stone for use in a kitchen or a shower stall, no matter what the
dealer and / or your decorator tell you. As a rule of thumb (and, of course, there
are exceptions to it) the lighter the color of the "granite", the more absorbent
it is. Maurizio, USA Contact

In India I stayed at several places that had rough (flame or bush hammered) granite in the showers. I thought it was the bomb, because it feels great on your feet and there is no way to slip on it, even when your feet are soapy. I had people tell me that this was not doable for several reasons, so I looked this up...