granite

Kat Coleman, owner and principal of Long Beach, California-based Topkat Design Group, reminds clients that stone is a natural material so there needs be some tolerance. What some clients may view as imperfections in natural stone, Coleman calls “character.” “Nature is perfectly imperfect,” she reminds clients.

Much of the stone industry rests on centuries-old quarries with a multi-generational history of operations, but Kasota Stone emerged only seven years ago. Principal founder Jake Barkley and his team bring forth an unusual business model, a collaboration with the State of Minnesota, and a clearly-articulated determination to grow and thrive.

Jan Neiges is a certified master kitchen and bath designer with the National Kitchen & Bath Association and principal of Colorado-based Jan Neiges CKD LLC. For Neiges, the act of discovery and finding out what is drawing the client to a particular piece of natural stone is part of the fun when working on a kitchen.

Krukowski Stone Company quarries two distinctly different stone types: Aqua Grantique and Quartz sandstone. Although they are quarried only a mile apart, they’re separated by more than 1 billion years of geologic time.

The palatial estate of Eric Boch Jr. has been over a decade in the making. Boch’s home in Norwood, MA exudes elegance and refinement. The property’s most recent addition is an elaborate but tasteful natural stone chapel and mausoleum designed by Eric Inman Daum, AIA.

Every block of stone holds a story. Not just in its geologic past, but also in the ways that stone becomes part of human history. Behind every successful quarry is a collaboration between the forces of nature that created the stone, and human inventiveness that built it into a successful venture.

White stones are popular, frequently mislabeled, and often misunderstood. Learn how to tell if your white stone is a granite, quartzite, or marble. White stones are popular, frequently mislabeled, and often misunderstood.

Minerals are the components of all natural stones. The color of every natural stone, whether it’s jet black, glittery silver, or a kaleidoscope of Technicolor – comes from the individual minerals. Read more in this handy guide to the ingredients of your favorite natural stone.

Thought should be given to countertop material’s durability, maintenance, sustainability, and cost. Let’s take a comparative look at some of these issues before making a decision.

Let’s explore some green stones and illuminate their properties, minerals, and geologic origins.

We sat down with several stone care experts to learn how best to care for granite countertops. How often should you reseal? What should you use to clean granite countertops?

In Barre, Vermont, residents take the town’s unofficial designation as Granite Center of the World to heart. Learn about Hope Cemetery’s monuments and memorials.

In the natural stone industry, “granite” often means any hard stone that is not marble. This article will talk about igneous rocks that comprise most of the granite family including gabbro, gneiss, and basalt.

Cost is a major deciding factor in most purchasing decisions. There are many factors that go into the process, which makes every homeowner’s situation unique.

Gneiss is among the most common commercial stones, but you may not have heard of gneiss because it’s almost always classified as granite.

Home owners work together to renovate their patio featuring an outdoor kitchen.

How stone is reused, repurposed, or recycled for new applications and projects.

When choosing a countertop surface for your kitchen, there are a lot of factors to consider. If granite has made it to the top of your list, read through the article below to determine if its advantages and disadvantages make it a good choice for your family.

Marble has been a popular trend in kitchen countertops for the past several years. If you compare performance characteristics in a kitchen environment, granite is the better choice.

Granite and quartzite have very similar performance statistics. Quartzite is generally harder and denser and the pattern is more like marble which is appealing to many homeowners.