Cambria Stone Offers a Wine and Cheese Party Hosted in Your Home!

Cambria makes lovely quartz slabs. The colors that Cambria has developed are some of the most realistic we have seen. The surfaces of their engineered stone slabs are not porous, and therefore will not stain, nor do these countertops ever need to be sealed.

And now whats even lovelier is the wine and cheese party that our Cambria representive will host when you choose Cambria Stone slabs in your kitchen! Invite your friends into your stunning kitchen for a glass of wine, a bite to eat, and some laughs when you choose any of the following colors:

Berkeley, by Cambria

(Psst: this is by no means a complete list! It's just some of our favorites. For every single Cambria color that comes with a complementary wine and cheese party, visit Natural Stone Source's Cambria Stone page...)

Minerva, by Cambria

This slab is sparkly and pleasing with both modern and classic cabinetry.

Windmere, by Cambria

Windmere is a slab that is very popular among our clients...

Canterbury, by Cambria

The Canterbury slab carries an ode to the garnets found in natural granite slabs, such as New Venetian Gold and Oro Brasil, bringing along the golden coloring as well.

Give us a call at Natural Stone Source, 805-540-7171 for pricing. Or come in and visit us in our glorious showroom at 425 N. Frontage Rd., Nipomo CA 93444

Can Granite Countertops Burn?

Taking good care of your pretty granite countertops helps determine your actions in the kitchen. To preserve the look of the stone, home owners are sometimes afraid to set a hot pot or hot pan onto the surface of a granite counter for fear it will burn the stone, but this worry is unfounded. Granite is formed under intense heat, and can withstand a good deal of heat long after it is in your home.

In the shop, when granite slabs are being fabricated and formed into your counters, the blade cuts best if combined with running water. However, once the cut, the glue can only adhere to completely dry stone. In order to speed up the drying process, a flame torch is commonly turned onto the stone in order to dry every drop of water from the granite.

If a flame thrower does not injure the natural beauty of your stone, a hot pan can't really do any damage either!

The only situation that a flame torch might not be used to dry the water from a slab is when the slab is an engineered stone, also known as quartz. Companies that produce quartz slabs are Caesarstone, LG, Silestone, Cambria, Dal, etc. These slab surfaces are a combination of real granite and polymer glues, and the glues are the substances susceptible to burns. Because of this, quartz companies such as Cambria recommend a hot pad be placed between countertop and hot pans and crockpots.

The last instance where we have seen heat impact granite involved a black stone countertop that was exposed to direct California sun. A single slab of absolute black granite countertop covered the cabinets inside the kitchen, continued underneath a large window, and formed an outdoor bartop as well. The difference in temperature between the controlled household air and the open outdoors air, combined with a black surface absorbing the daily sun, caused the countertop to crack in many places. This situation was isolated, however, and does not represent a common occurrence in kitchens.

For a look at the stone we carry, please visit us at www.nssgranite.com

Can I Have Granite That Looks Like Marble?

Can you acheive the look of marble, yet retain the tough qualities of granite? Yes you can!

On the cover of every magazine, at the focus of many (if not most) dream kitchens of Pinterest, is a white marble kitchen. But how realistic is white marble? The Carrara and Calcatta marble looks nice in a picture, but when a glass of juice spills, when the butcher knife slips, these are kitchen countertops that can end up with lasting scars.

We have an alternative to light marble that is not only as tough as your average granite kitchen, it's even tougher! At Natural Stone Source, our favorite "marble-look" granite is called quartzite. Quartzite is a natural stone that is formed of pure quartz. Said by scientists to be sandstone that melted and fused together completely, this surface is tougher than granite on the Mohr's scale of hardness. It often comes in light colors, although it can be found in dark colors too.

As exampled below, the look of marble (left) next to a slab of quartzite (right) is quite comparable.

Carrera Marble.......................................................................................................Madre Perola Quartzite

The kitchen is a prime area to take advantage of quartzite's hardiness, since it will be more resistant to stains, won't etch like marble, and isn't soft enough to be scratched with a knife. In fact, granite fabrication shops often use the most aggressive diamond blade to cut quartzite because it will wear down the standard granite blades too fast.

Calcatta Marble..........................................................................................................King White Quartzite

The following comparison shows another granite-tough surface, called "gneiss", showing shades that rival the warmer tones that marble is traditionally sought out for.

Daino Real Marble...................................................................................................Brown Fantasy Granite

We carry all of these marble, quartzite, gneiss, and granite colors, and a whole lot more. Visit our extensive slabs page to begin designing the kitchen of your dreams!

Also, please visit our main showroom website at www.nssgranite.com

Slabs From Around the World!

Here at Natural Stone Source, new bundles of slabs are starting to arrive over the seven seas. We often marvel at the places and distances these slabs have traveled from! We are so excited about these new arrivals, we decided to share some of the most intriguing.

The most common country of origin that our slabs arrive from is Brazil.

A crane lifts slabs in a Brazilian
warehouse for transport to
our showroom!

These slabs include the handsome and map-like New Azul Aran granite slab...

New Azul Aran, from Brazil

 As well as our leathered visual delight, Verde Cristal...

Verde Cristal, also from Brazil

The popular opalescent Blue Pearl slab is seen and sold in many showrooms, including ours, but were you aware that is comes to our showroom from the cold northern country of Norway?

The Norwegian granite, Blue Pearl

 But where does a wild slab such as Onice Verde, the sumptuous green onyx, hail from? The answer may stun you: Pakistan!

Onice Verde, a Pakistani onyx

Another prismatic stone, Labradorite, which is acutally classified as a quartzite, ships across the waters from the exotic land of Madagascar. Our source for this stone likes to tell us the story of her visit to the Madagascar quarry on a donkey!

Labradorite, a Madagascan treasure

And finally, in this installation of worldly stone slabs, a favorite of many, the Baltic Brown slab immigrates to America from the distant country of... Finland!

Finnish Baltic Brown

For these and many other slabs of granite, onyx, marble, and more, please visit our main website at www.nssgranite.com to browse our fine array of available stone.

Care and Maintenance of Natural Stone

In order to protect and maintain your stone, many granite fabricators recommend cleaning with water and a mild, PH balanced soap. Dish soap is a perfectly fine cleaner for granite, travertine, and marble.

Oro Brasil Granite 

In addition, there are several cleaners that are specifically designed for stone. These cleaners can be found in the typical hardware store. They will identify themselves as "granite", "marble", or "travertine" cleaners on the label, and it is important to look for that claim when shopping.

When caring for natural stones such as granite, marble, and travertine, do avoid abrasive cleaners, glass cleaners, and bleach. Abrasive cleaners such as Ajax can scratch the polished surface of your stone. Glass cleaners and bleach will remove your sealer, increasing your risk for stains.

After a penetrating sealer is applied to the stone, it will last anywhere between 1 and 3 years, depending on the type of cleaner you use and how often you clean it.

The re-application of sealer is an easy process. We carry stone sealers for sale at Natural Stone Source, and once the sealer is purchased, re-sealing your stone is a simple matter of spreading the product on, wiping the excess off, and allowing it to dry for up to an hour.