-Taking care of the granite
-How to seal stone
-Can granite be scratched?
-Granite veins
-What determines the  price of a slab?
-Why shouldn’t I buy prefab countertops ?
-I have a crack on my granite counter, What's the reason?
-What is the difference between stone contractors?
-Sinks

1. First we will need to clean the surface from food and dust,you can use soft scrub or
   soap and water. After you’ve finished cleaning, make sure you wipe all water off and
   the surface is completely dry.

2. Apply sealer on all surfaces including edge detail and back splashes.
3. Let it set for a couple minutes.
4.  Using clean cloth or paper towels, wipe all sealer off the surface. It is VERY important to change cloth often.
5. Polish surface by using clean dry cloth afterward. 

-Can granite be scratched?

Granite is a very strong and hard material.
By using a scale from 1 to 10 we would give 10 points to diamond, 7.5 – 8.5 points to granite and 6.5 – 7 points to the effect of a regular kitchen knife; rendering suitable to cut food on.But there is always an exception. Granite consists of many different minerals, some of them harder or weaker then the other.

During normal use we would recommend using a cutting board to protect your countertop from unwanted damage.



-Granite veins

 

   

-What determines the  price of a slab?

So what sets prices for slabs?
The price of a slab is usually determined by quality of polish, size, cracks, and the beauty
of it. If the same slab comes on the market in small and big sizes, small ones usually cost
less. But if you have a big project, consider buying more big slabs and less small ones, you
will same money on the waste.
Most interesting is that the price of the slabs depends on the quantity of locations this color
was extracted from.
Without competition between manufacturers, prices on some colors may double or more.



-Why shouldn’t I buy prefab countertops ?

What is so bad about prefabs?
Nothing, if you are trying to get the cheapest possible product, or if you are going to sell your house and you don't really care what's going to heaped into your kitchen in the next year or two.
Mass-production of prefab counters, most of the time, comes from China, and all of them limited to bull-nose edge detail and 6" back splash.
The main difference between prefab and custom countertops is the quality of gluing. Bull-nose edge is two strips of stone glued together, notches in the stone between them are supposed to hold them together; but not with prefabs, not only do they not have those notches, they barely hold to each other.
If you try really hard you can split apart those strips with bare hands.
The next problem with prefabs is quality of edge detail polish which has been done automatically by machine (not professionally hand made).
And let's not mention limited sizes (25"x9'),limited colors, and no rebar's inside.
Good luck!

-I have a crack on my granite counter, What's the reason?

Most natural stone slabs come with inherent faults, which usually can not be indicated at the time of purchase. But you certainly can protect your investment. Ask your fabricator to inspect the slab you like. Some cracks may be visible from the back of the slab, while others can be felt. When fabrication time comes we use metal strips (rebar’s), by attaching them to the back side, in places like the cook top or front side of the sink, to prevent from cracking. Another common cause for cracks in stone counters is an insecure base. Cabinets should be well installed and secure in place to remain at the same elevation and position for next 10 to 20 years (maybe more). It takes a lot of passion and planning for us to fix these problems at the time of installation.

-What is the difference between stone contractors?

There are two ways to get a project completed.
Lower quality and price,
or have a good reputation and the best as possible quality.
So what is quality?

Quality consists of:
Materials
Tools
People

Materials such as glue, tin set, silicone, wonder board. Top Price materials most of the time is best, but on the same shelf you can get materials twice or 3 times cheaper. What is the difference? Quality.

Tools. Why are the right tools so important in this industry?
Let’s take for example Diamond polish pads and sand paper.
It takes twice the time and is much more expensive to use diamond pads, but ultimately you will have a great look which not possible to approach with sand paper.

People are the most important part of whole process.
Passion of the people to do great work can not be calculated or trained. Attention to small details makes all the difference. Great people get paid better.

These 3 rules are the same for every stone guy.
But think, when you’re getting a quote which is $500 less then the previous one…Ask yourself from which rule does this money comes from???

- Materials - Tools - People -

-Sinks

		Under mount ( UM ) – installed under the counter. UM sinks usually sit on cabinets or can be mounted on plywood. In the occurrence  of damaging the sink, it is not possible to replace it. But these types of sinks are easy in use, while cleaning counter you can simply sweep water and food waste into the sink.
		Top mount ( TM ) – Installed on top of the counter. This type of sink is very easy to install, but uncomfortable in use. Because of the lip surrounding the sink its gets hard and tricky to get  water and food waste into the sink. Usually end ups having dirt around it.