Types of Stone

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 Granite is one of the most abundant natural stones on the planet. It forms the bulk of the earth’s crust and is formed under high heat and pressure deep underground. Along with natural abundance, it comes in a large variety of colors. The incredible forces that create granite also cause it to be a very durable stone. It consists of mostly quartz and feldspar which give it a natural strength. It’s a very versatile stone that performs exceptionally well over time with minimal maintenance. Granite is ideal for practically any installation, indoors or out, kitchen or baths. It ranks a 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness. 

 This metamorphic stone is well known for its use in famous buildings and sculpture around the world. It comes in a variety of colors and patterns, depending on where it’s quarried. Because it’s made of metamorphic limestone, marble is very porous in nature. For this reason, it can be susceptible to staining if not treated and sealed regularly. For the same reasons, it can also etch from coming into contact with acidic foods or liquids. Marble is a much more high-maintenance stone than others, for this reason, we don’t recommend using it in high traffic/high use areas like a kitchen. 

 Quartzite, which is a metamorphic stone. Quartzite is sandstone that has been put under tremendous tectonic pressure transforming it into quartz crystals and then cementing them together. While often composed mostly of the same siliceous stone like granite, quartzite can also include a blend of the calcareous stone like limestone and marble. Visually quartzite can have veining similar to many marbles or a beautiful almost transparent crystalline structure. As a result, not all quartzite is as acid-resistant as granite and this should be considered when deciding upon its application in your home. 

Engineered Quartz is a man-made material subjected to rigorous fabrication processes that results in a product with very specific properties. This material is often easy to spot due to it’s uniform and consistent look.

Engineered Quartz products, sometimes just shortened to “quartz”, are a mix of quartz crystals and some silica, which are then blended with an epoxy resin, cast into a single block and cut into slabs. These quartz products are extremely hard, chemically-resistant, almost non-porous, and they are very consistent in their colourations. This process makes quartz products a very good choice for indoor applications like kitchens, bathrooms or furniture. You should note that Engineered Quartz products do not handle UV-light as well as Natural Stone products, so are they not recommended for exterior applications. Also because epoxy resins are used as the binder in the fabrication process these materials can be scorched if exposed to high heat.