Granite is an igneous rock born out of the volcanoes that saw the birth of our planet Earth. It gets its name from the Latin word granum (a grain) because of the coarse grain structure of the naturally occurring rock. Chemically, it is made up of a variety of different minerals which accounts for the color and texture variations in which it is found. Quartz, mica and feldspar are the main ingredients found in granite. It is the quartz that gives granite rock its basic hardness and a typical quartz content would be in the order of 40 to 60%.
Construction
Because of its hardness and durability, granite was a favored construction material for large buildings before reinforced concrete took over much of the construction trade. The city of Aberdeen in Scotland is nicknamed “The Granite City” because of the high number of granite buildings found there.
Here in the States, we have two notable “Granite Cities”. St. Cloud in Minnesota is so nicknamed because of the number of granite quarries in that area and there is an actual Granite City in Illinois. The latter was so named because it was established around a steel making plant that produced kitchen utensils that resembled granite in their appearance.
Another Use For Granite
These days, the main use of Granite In St Louis is neither in the actual construction business nor for kitchen utensils. Granite is more likely to be found both inside people’s homes and in commercial premises such as hotels, bars, restaurants and health spas.
In fact granite can be found anywhere where a practical surface such as a counter or work top requires a relatively hard and durable upper surface cover. The flat spaces either side of a kitchen sink or the length of a bar counter are typical examples of where designers now specify Granite For St Louis. Granite’s durability is part of the reason for using the material as counter topping but probably the main key to its popularity lies in the range of distinctive mottled color patterns that are available when granite surfaces have been sealed and polished.
Care Of Granite Counter Tops
The mix of minerals that make up natural granite means that your granite counter top will have strong, impervious quartz along with other weaker minerals such as the much softer and absorbent mica. Your counter top started out as a huge chunk of rock embedded in the ground – literally a part of a mountain. Granite blocks will be quarried out of the mountain and then split or cut into slabs of a suitable thickness to be used as counter tops. The cut edges can lose softer material through abrasion and liquids can be absorbed through contact with the cut surfaces. Both these effects can only be avoided if these surfaces are regularly sealed and re-polished.