Why We Carry Quality Granite

Myth: All granite is granite, and one slab is just as sturdy as another.

Fact: Not all slabs are equal in quality, even if they are the same type or color!

• Some granite is mined from a section of the mountain that has too many fissures, or compacts the granite together poorly, resulting in a finished slab that does not hold up well under fabrication. 
• Not all factories will mine, cut, and handle the granite the same. If a company is rough with the material, it may arrive to showrooms in cracked or warped condition.
• In order to make a certain shade of granite, some companies will cheat by dying the individual stone slabs. Unfortunately, this stone may bleach in areas that are exposed to sunlight years down the road. It also becomes hard for the fabricators to match the false color of the stone on the cut edges.
• Marble, travertine, and onyx are especially prone to cracking and breakage during mining, transportation, and fabrication, because they are formed of a more delicately bonded material. 

A yard of one of our favorite granite quarries in Brazil.

Some granite yards will carry any stone, especially if they can sell it cheaply, regardless of the quality that the slabs arrive in, and unaware of the complications that can arise during fabrication, installation, or under the wear and tear of daily use in a family kitchen. The slabs look to be of similar quality when a homeowner is shopping for that perfect color, but an experienced fabricator can often tell on sight if a slab is cracked, bowed, or crumbly.

Because our customers and fabricators are important to us, Natural Stone Source strives to only carry high-quality stone. If we notice that a bundle of granite is flawed, we return it to it's origin, and we will not stock that color lot again. This ensures that our frequent fabricators are able craft beautiful well made granite countertops. In the same vein (pun intended) we want every homeowner to be satisfied with sturdy kitchens and bathrooms that will last a lifetime.

For a look at our entire hand-selected variety of marble, granite, travertine, onyx, quartzite, and more, please visit our main website at www.nssgranite.com.

Durable Engineered Stone

What's the most durable surface in the world? A countertop made of diamonds probably. The next best surface material might be quartzite, but just beneath that is a man made substance called engineered stone.

Companies such as Caesarstone, LG, Silestone, and Cambria Stone are adept at producing an incredibly hard and impermeable surface that the industry generalizes as "engineered stone". This countertop material is made of real stone that is ground down and combined in pleasing and predictable color palettes with a polymer that binds it together.

The lure of engineered stone is it's durability, combined with the fact that every slab can look the same, allowing for great seam matching and easy color schemes for decorating. Many engineered stones are resistant to bacteria, and come sealed forever so that re-sealing is not an issue. The wide variety of colors, including bright hues of green from Caesarstone, as well as realistic simulated granite patterns from Cambria Stone, make the concept even more attractive.

In the fabrication shops, fabricators will attest for the solid nature of engineered stone. When being fabricated, these materials rarely break in unpredictable ways like granite can. Granite and marble, being formed by nature, sometimes have fissures between crystals that can come apart when under the extreme pressures of fabrication. Engineered stone stays together under conditions that would often see a natural stone break.

The only drawback to engineered stone slabs is the one attribute that also attracts homeowners: it's predictable colors and patterns. A slab of granite is like a work of art, often beautiful enough to frame and place as a wall decoration with it's strata and movement. Granite's spontaneous colors and wandering patterns won't be found in engineered stone, but for many designs that works out well.

Find engineered stone as well as natural stone at www.nssgranite.com or visit us in person at 425 N. Frontage Rd. in Nipomo California, 93444.

Better Granite Tools

The tool market has many options when it comes to tools for fabricating granite. Polishers, grinders, and saws need to be especially strong and long-lived, with the right attributes. 

The Makita variable speed grinder seems to be a common favorite among granite fabricators. With a variable speed Makita you can do any cutting or polishing necessary to complete your granite or marble job. This machine has the right RPM's to do quality work, and the Makita is well-built to last a long time.

Natural Stone Source is currently holding a blowout sale on Makita variable speed grinders in their showroom as well as online for the month of January. The Makita 5" variable speed, #9565CV, is on sale for $140.00. If you are in the area, head on down! We are at 425 N. Frontage Rd. in Nipomo California. Or call us at (805) 540-8051 and we will take a credit card over the phone (shipping rates apply).

Find information about our showroom at www.nssgranite.com or visit our tool site at www.nssgranitetools.com!