Granite countertops are completely crafted by mother nature. It is cut from a mountain face or quarry and sliced down to a size that perfectly fits your kitchen cabinets. The variations in available colors come from the mineral composition of the original rock face and range from light gray to black to rust and green.
It is fairly simple. All you need to do is use a quality natural stone conditioner/cleaner. Using a cleaner like Supreme Surfaces will protect the surface every time you clean it.
No. Granite is an igneous rock, which means it was formed from magma deep inside the earth’s crust. The heat generated from a hot pot will do nothing to your countertop unless the stone surface is very cold. In that case, the shock of heat and cold can cause a minor hidden crack to expand, fracturing the surface of the counter.
Heat is known to yellow or discolor some manmade solid surface counter materials like quartz. Laminates can be melted, but it takes extreme heat to do so.
No. During processing it requires diamonds to cut granite. Your chef knives will not leave any scratches, but they can leave metal marks that are removable. It is recommended that you use a cutting block to prevent this metal transfer that will dull your knives.
On the Mohs hardness scale from 1 to 10, granite generally ranks at about 7. Quartzite counters can be as hard as 8. Marble is softer, coming in about 5, while soapstone is more easily etched and is ranked at about 3. The hardness of your particular counter will vary based on the other types of inclusions found in the slab.
Yes, a broken granite countertop can be fixed in many cases. Your countertop technician will use a blend of resin and stone powder that closely matches the color of your countertop to fill a minor crack. Once it dries, the filling is polished to blend in with the surface. A skilled technician can make the scratch almost invisible.
If you chip your granite save the pieces. Usually, the piece can be glued back in place using an extremely strong adhesive. If you lost a few chips, they can be filled in to make them invisible or inconspicuous.
