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What Do You Need to Know about Granite?

Granite has become the latest and most respected material in indoor and outdoor decoration, because granite not only has beautiful appearance and structure, but also granite products are absolutely durable. I believe this is directly related to the molding process of granite. Granite is one of the earliest building materials in human history. Its long history, outstanding performance and wide application range make it a well-recognized material in the construction industry.

Increasing use of granite in kitchen countertops, bathroom vanities, backsplashes, bathroom sinks and vanities, and table tops or table tops is driving the growth of the global granite market.

Granite Market

Moreover, rising demand for granite for residential use coupled with rising investment in construction activities is driving the market growth. Rising cost of granite and manual labor are the major factors expected to restrain the growth of the global granite market. Moreover, radiation from certain types of granite that can be hazardous to human health is another major factor expected to hamper the growth of the global granite market.

Table of Contents

I. What is granite?

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Colonial White Granite

Granite, the main component of the continental crust, is a magmatic rock formed by the condensation of magma below the surface. It is a deep intrusive rock and is mainly composed of minerals such as quartz or feldspar.

The stone number of granite starts with G, such as the most common G603, G65, etc. The etymology of granite is the Latin granum, which means grain. Granite is a deep rock that often forms well-developed mineral grains that can be discerned by the naked eye, hence the name.

Granite is a rock with a fully crystalline structure. High-quality granite has fine and uniform grains, compact structure, high quartz content, and bright feldspar.

Granite is hard, wear-resistant, pressure-resistant, fire-resistant, acid-resistant, alkali-resistant and corrosion-resistant. Most of them only have colored spots, and some are solid colors, with small pattern changes, strong spell ability, and a wide range of use. 

II. What is the classification of granite?

Granite is rich in resources and varieties, and has been widely used in civil engineering since ancient times. There are more than 100 varieties of natural granite in China, mainly concentrated in Sichuan, Shandong, Guangxi, Fujian, Shanxi, Henan and Inner Mongolia. The texture of granite is uniform. Although the color is mainly light, it is also very rich. According to the color, it can be divided into the following colors:

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1. White & Grey Granite

River white granite, colonial white granite, white galaxy granite, white ice granite, alaska white granite, viscount white granite, etc.

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2. Black & Brown Granite

Black galaxy granite, black pearl granite, absolute black granite, fantasy brown granite, baltic brown granite, etc.

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3. Beige & Golden Granite

Granite gold, new venetian gold granite, venetian gold granite, etc.

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4. Blue & Green Granite

Blue pearl granite, blue dunes granite, blue bahia granite, volga blue granite, peacock green granite, butterfly green granite, etc.

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5. Red & Purple & Pink & Orange Granite

Blue pearl granite, blue dunes granite, blue bahia granite, volga blue granite, peacock green granite, butterfly green granite, etc.

III. What are the granite surface processes?

1. Machine-cut

The machine-cut surface is directly cut and formed by a circular saw, sand saw or bridge cutting machine. The surface is rough and has obvious machine-cut lines.

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2. Honed 

The honed surface refers to the smooth surface, and the surface is less polished with resin abrasives. The specular gloss of the stone is very low, generally lower than 10 degrees.

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3. Polished

The polished surface is very smooth, highly ground and polished, with a high gloss mirror effect. Granite, marbleand limestoneoften contain natural crystals that are polished to reflect light and give the stone surface a lustrous finish, but require different maintenance to maintain its lustre.

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4. Lamed

The lamed surface is rough, the stone is heated at high temperature during production, the crystal bursts, and the rapid cooling forms a rough surface.

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5. Bush-hammered

The bush-hammered surface is rough and uneven. It uses a chisel to dig small holes on the surface densely, which has an effect of imitating the dripping of water droplets on the stone over the years.

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6. Chiseled

The chiseled surface, also called hammered surface it is chopped with an axe and hammered on the stone surface to form a very dense strip texture, some like the effect of longan skin, the roughness can be selected. Granitewith a chiseled surface, a commonly used decorative surface material in Chinese gardens.

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7. Flamed brush

In order to eliminate the thorny characteristics of the flamed surface, after the stone is first burned with fire, then brush it with a steel brush 3-6 times to form an antique surface. There are many ways to make the flamed brush surface, such as water flushing after fire, acid etching, direct steel brushing or high-pressure water flushing. The processing of the flamed brush surface is time-consuming and expensive.

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8. Rough-picked

The rough-picked surface is a plate shaped like a pineapple peel that is struck with a chisel and a hammer on the stone surface. The rough-picked surface is rougher than the bush-hammered surface  and the chiseled surface. Subdivision can also be divided into thick pineapple noodles and fine pineapple noodles. The rough-picked surface can be divided into coarse rough-picked surface and fine rough-picked surface.

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9. Mushroom

The mushroom surface is generally chiseled by hand, and the effect is similar to that of natural slicing, but the surface of the stone is a plateau-like shape with depressions around the middle protrusion.

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10. Naturalcleft

The naturalcleft surface is rough, but not as rough as a fire. Generally speaking, the naturalcleft surface stone refers to the surface formed naturally without any treatment, such as the slab of slate, the joint of granite and so on. However, the natural surface in the market refers to the natural undulating surface formed by splitting and knocking and breaking, so it is also called natural splitting surface.

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11. Grooved

The grooved stone surface is also called the machine planed surface. The grooves of a certain depth and width are opened on the surface of the stone. It is a special processing technology of stone. Not only does the texture have a special texture, but it can also play a non-slip effect.

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12. Sandblasted

The sandblasted surface is to use ordinary river sand or diamond sand instead of high-pressure water to wash the surface of the stone, forming a decorative surface with a smooth frosted effect.

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13. Water-jet

The water-jet surface is to directly impact the stone surface with high-pressure water, peel off the softer ingredients, and form a unique rough surface decoration effect.

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14. Pickling

The pickling face is to use strong acid to corrode the stone surface, so that there are small corrosion marks, and the appearance is more rustic than the polished surface.

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IV. What is the application of granite?

Granite’s unique physical properties and beautiful patterns make it a good material for construction, known as the king of rocks, and has a wide range of applications in life. Outdoor plazas, large areas of parks, standard materials for building exterior walls, subways, high-speed rail stations and other grounds with a large flow of people are its main battlefields.

The interior is traditionally applied to functional parts such as kitchen countertops and staircase. The rich surface touch of granite after burning and washing, combined with its own uniform pattern, has been used by designers in the interior minimalist style in recent years. The popularity of concave and convex design elements has also made granite popular. Let’s take a look at the applications of granite!

Granite Carving Decoration

Granite Floor Paving

Granite Building Facade

Granite Interior Wall

Granite Staircase

Granite Countertop

V. What are the advantages of granite?

1. Beautiful and durable

Granite exterior wall, noble and elegant, low-key luxury. Granite has the characteristics of durability, beauty, easy cleaning and acid rain resistance. It is an ideal material as a building material, especially for building exterior walls. Granite has good thermal conductivity and high heat storage capacity. It is warm in winter and cool in summer, which is conducive to energy saving. As a building material for the exterior wall of houses, it can isolate sunlight in summer.

2. Natural and unique

Granite is a natural stone, a work of art of nature. Its own texture is unmatched by any other synthetic materials and composite materials. When natural stone is mined, it is generally large blocks. Designers can design the size and shape of the stone according to their own design requirements. At the same time, the rich color and variety of stone and the unique processing possibilities are unique among building materials.

3. Cost-effective

The cost-effectiveness of granite is high, and the long-term comprehensive cost of granite is low. If you pay attention to the total cost of various building materials for 30 years or more, you can see that the total cost of granite is lower than that of other engineered building materials.

George Stone, as the leading granite manufacturers in China, have more than 30 years of experience, insist on applying natural stone, creating time-honored methods and exquisite craftsmanship that have been passed down from generation to generation. Now we use the latest precision CNC stone cutters and laser template tools to ensure perfect measurements and installations.

The above is our comprehensive introduction to granite. If you have any needs and design ideas for granite, please feel free to contact us!