Natural stone is a wonderful way to add elegance and warmth to your home or office.
Custom Granite & Marble’s staff is capable of designing unique as well as functional natural stone designs for your home or office and will assist you in your stone selection.
granite
Granite is a basic building block of the planet earth formed in a process that began billions of years ago. Its grains are crystallized and very finely textured, making it an extremely hard and durable natural stone recommended for kitchen countertops, bathrooms and furniture for the home.
Granite is second only to diamonds in hardness. Granite provides a worry-free surface and requires few special precautions. Granites are impervious to scratches, staining and heat blistering or cracking. Hot pots and pans won’t damage it. Warm water and a soft cloth can be used to clean up spills.
Don’t settle for anything less than natural granite. Granite countertops will improve the resale value of your home because they will always look as beautiful as the day they were first installed.
Our Process
A Granite Countertop’s Journey from Quarry to Kitchen
It’s a long way from a quarry overseas to a kitchen in the USA, but that’s the itinerary of a great stone countertop. Transforming the rock into a gleaming finished surface takes the labor of dozens of skilled craftsmen. The end result, a countertop that is durable, beautiful and virtually maintenance free.
In The Quarry
The countertop starts as a rock wall. Quarrymen use a chemical called an expansion mass, powder inserted into pre-drilled holes every few inches. A liquid is added forcing the powder to expand forcing the stone free. Cables are attached to the top of the block and a tractor, which pulls the massive stone block down.
1. Raw Blocks
At the quarry, the large blocks weighing anywhere from 20 to 30 tons each, get ready for transport to a quarry fabricator.
2. Slicing
At the fabrication plant, a saw slices the block into thin slabs. Several blades move back and forth cutting the blocks. After a few days of continuous cutting, the block is sliced like a loaf of bread.
3. Movement:
A cut slab is transferred to the polishing line. Powered suction cups connected to cables take the slab to a conveyer, which takes the slab through the polishing machine.
7. A Future Countertop:
Fabricators at Custom Granite & Marble prepare to cut a slab of Tropical Brown Granite..
8. Cutting:
After the slabs have been approved, a computerized saw with a diamond blade, cuts the shape of your top.
9. Shaping The Edges
A special router is used to form the edge.
4. Polishing:
he polishers' rotating heads work like those of an orbital sander. The slabs pass through, increasing the grades of abrasive, until the last pass leaves a mirror-like finish.
5. Export:
The polished slabs are loaded onto a shipping container and shipped to the USA.
6. At The Warehouse:
The slabs are received by the distributor and the slabs are then shipped to Custom Granite & Marble for finished fabrication.
10. Finishing Touches:
After the edge is routed, the edge is polished using a series of diamond abrasive pads.
11. Installation:
The finished top is installed using manpower and machinery. The top is fixed to the cabinet frame using 100 percent silicone.
marble
Marble is a limestone that was formed by natural geological processes 75-150 million years ago. During its formation other mineral and impurities became part of the stones which are now the regular color variations, small veins and uniquely individual characteristics. Marble is a softer and more porous stone than granite.