Granite sees big gain in popularity

For many residents, buying a new home may not be an option during these economic times. There are, however, ways to help improve the livability of a home—and increase its value—by adding a touch of natural-stone beauty.

More and more homeowners are putting in granite countertops in kitchens and bathrooms, according to Lee Carpenter, fabricator and owner of Avalon Granite.

“It’s the biggest thing that homeowners can do to increase the value of their home,” he said. “Granite is almost a dollar-for-dollar investment; you’ll upgrade house by the same amount that you paid for the granite.”

Overall, granite is an extremely durable material, provided it’s fabricated and sealed properly, Carpenter said. It comes in a wide range of natural colors depending on where it was taken from.

“Most people choose granite for the natural beauty of the stone, as well as the longevity of the material,” he said.

“The number one advantage is that granite should last a lifetime.”

Carpenter, an independent entrepreneur, has been in the granite business for more than five years.

“I’m a fabricator, so we take the stones, we lay the template out for a bathroom or kitchen, and we fabricate it, put the edge on it and install it,” he said.

Carpenter said many of his slabs are purchased at Tempe’s Stone Burg, located near Hardy Drive and Elliot Road.

In terms of composition, all granite is made up of the same material, Carpenter said.

Matt Smith, who represents Stone Burg, offered a history of the product.

“Granite, if you go back thousands of years, was originally magma,” he said. “And magma pushed itself up over time and cooled over time, which formed granite.”

Due to its nature, extreme heat is needed to scar the surface of granite, making it ideal for kitchen countertops.

“You can pull anything out of the oven and set it directly on the granite, and it’s not going to do any harm to it,” Smith said.

And, in terms of quality, granite does not vary.

“In the granite business, slabs come in different price groups,” according to Carpenter. “It has nothing to do with quality; it just has to do with the rarity of the stone.”

Granite is shipped to local warehouses from all over the world, most of it coming from Brazil, Carpenter said. The cost of each slab increases as the buyer begins checking out higher quality groups, ranging from group one to group five.

“Group one stones have simpler colors and there are more of them in nature,” he said. “The design pattern and rarity of the stone is what affects the price.”

Customers should not base their choice solely on a sample of the granite slab, because often the design pattern may have subtle changes. No two slabs are the same.

Warehouses, such as Tempe’s Stone Burg, cut large blocks of granite in factories to slabs that are either 2 or 3 cm thick and average about 55 square feet.

“The slabs were cut out of the mountain, and were all shipped in bundles,” Carpenter said. “They are all cut out of a huge block of granite, and it’s sliced like a loaf of bread.”

With the 2 centimeter slabs, fabricators will need to install a wooden sub-deck to support the stone, while 3 centimeter slabs do not, Carpenter said. Also, 2 centimeter slabs require edges to be put on, usually by adding a granite layer that will hide the sub-deck, and is cut, ground and polished to create various curved finishes.

After cutting the granite into large slabs, Stone Burg polishes it and applies a resin coating, Smith said. The resin fills any voids on the surface, which is re-polished to get a smooth finish.

“That’s when some of the big differences come into effect: when you’re polishing the stone,” Smith said.

“The stone itself – the exact same block – could be shipped to two different locations, but that factory that actually produces it is where it’s going to make a difference in what that final result is going to be.”

During the polishing stages, the granite slab is brilliantly transformed from a lighter, duller stone into a darker color with more pronounced patterns that add to its beauty.

Avalon Granite is located in Mesa, on the southwest corner of U.S. Route 60 and Country Club Drive. Information: 480-834-3035 or www.avalongm.com .