What is a textured stone finish?
A textured stone finish is usually a brushed surface worked further than a leathered one. Abrasive brushes cut the softer minerals back farther and leave the harder crystals standing, so the face has visible ridges and hollows that follow the grain and veining of the stone. In bright light a textured slab looks matte and flat in color, and at a low angle the relief picks up shadows across the surface. Textured stone is chosen mainly for this play of light, which gives a stone that can look glassy when polished the feel of natural, quarried rock.
Quartzite slabs by color
Textured quartzite slabs cover the widest color range in the collection. Black stones include Negresco, Infinity and Belvedere, all with a black field. Smoky and Calacatta Lux are grays, White Mustang is a white with gray veining, and Taj Mahal Supreme and Naica are beige. Browns run through Elegant Brown, Jatoba Brown, Marrom Sandalus and Taj Mahal, and Thesaurus is a yellow quartzite with dark veining. Green Fire reads blue despite its name, and Fantasy Green is a green stone.
Quartzite is a hard, dense metamorphic stone formed from sandstone, and a deep texture brings its layering and crystal structure up into relief. Negresco and Green Fire are listed at 1 1/4 inch thick, and several quartzites are offered in batches cut from a single block, which keeps the veining closest from slab to slab.
Black and brown granite
Textured granite slabs at Stone Tile Depot include Absolute Black, Black Cardosa, Golden Eagle and Capolovora. Granite is a hard igneous stone with a speckled grain, and texturing turns that grain into a soft, non-reflective surface. Absolute Black and Black Cardosa are solid black granites. Absolute Black is also offered as a polished slab, which reads as a glossy black mirror, while the textured face reads charcoal and stone-like. Golden Eagle has a black base with a speckled grain, and Capolovora is a brown granite listed at 1 1/4 inch thick.
White marble slabs
Textured marble slabs include Lord White, Antartide and Absolute White, all white marbles. On a white stone the texture adds shadow to the surface and softens the contrast of the veining, so Lord White's subtle gray veins read quieter and the slab looks more like natural rock than a polished tabletop. Antartide is listed at 1 1/4 inch thick.
Islands, walls and fireplaces
Textured slabs suit surfaces that are seen and touched as much as they are worked on: a kitchen island, a bar top, a feature wall, a fireplace surround or a bathroom wall. The listings also name uses, with Taj Mahal and Belvedere listed for shower walls and residential countertops and Thesaurus for residential and commercial interior walls. On a bathroom or fireplace wall, a full slab shows the relief across its whole height.
Textured, leathered and polished compared
A textured finish is the deepest relief of the three. Polished is smooth and reflective, leathered is a gentle texture with a low sheen, and textured has clear ridges and hollows with little shine. The gentler finish is in leathered slabs, the reflective one in polished slabs, and the full range in stone slabs.
