Granite comes out of the ground rather than a factory, so every slab is unique and no sample fully represents it. That is its appeal and its risk, and it is why we ask people to see the actual slab before it is cut.
Heat is the clear one. Granite is natural stone with nothing in it that softens, so a pan straight off the hob does not mark it. On a heavy gas setup that is a real practical advantage rather than a specification detail, and it is the main reason we steer some kitchens toward stone.
Price is the other. Installed, granite runs roughly $40 to $100 a square foot against $50 to $120 for quartz, so it usually starts $10 to $20 a foot cheaper. Example ranges, not quotes.
What you also get is a surface nothing manufactured quite replicates: depth, movement, and a pattern that came out of one specific block in one specific quarry. Two granite kitchens are never the same, and the piece in front of you is the piece you keep. That variability is the appeal for some people and the reason others choose quartz. See how installation works and the countertops hub.
Recent work
How it works
How a Granite Slab Is Chosen
See the slab, not a sample
A four inch chip cannot show movement, veining or the darker band running through one end. With natural stone, viewing the actual slab is the difference between delight and disappointment.
Plan the layout on it
Where the island falls on the slab decides which part of the pattern lands where people look. Heavily figured stone is effectively laid out rather than simply cut.
Template on set cabinets
Edge, seams, overhang and sink reveal agreed on site. On veined granite seam placement is tighter, because the pattern has to run across the join convincingly.
Fit and seal
Installed, seams joined and polished, then sealed before handover. We show you the water test so you know when the next seal is due rather than guessing.
The upkeep
It Is Porous, So It Wants Sealing
Natural stone has microscopic pores, and those pores will take up oil, wine and anything acidic left sitting. A sealer fills them, and it wears, so granite wants resealing roughly every one to two years depending on the stone and how hard the kitchen is worked.
The job itself is trivial: wipe the sealer on, leave it, buff it off. Twenty minutes for a whole kitchen. The problem is never difficulty, it is remembering, and a worktop that has not been sealed in six years will show a ring where an olive oil bottle lived.
There is a simple test. Leave a small pool of water on the surface for half an hour. If it beads, the seal is fine. If the stone darkens underneath it, reseal. That is the honest maintenance story, and if it sounds like too much, quartz needs none at all. See backsplash and the fitting process too.
Honest upkeep
Other worktop work
Materials and the Wall Behind
Granite against the alternatives, and the process that fits any of them.
Sealing, heat, cost and why you should see the slab.
Roughly every one to two years, depending on the stone and how hard the kitchen works. The job takes about twenty minutes for a whole kitchen. Remembering it is the only difficult part.
Leave a small pool of water on the surface for half an hour. If it beads, the seal is intact. If the stone darkens under it, the pores are open and it wants sealing.
Yes. It is natural stone with nothing in it to soften, so it takes heat that would mark quartz permanently. On a heavy gas setup that is granite's strongest argument.
Roughly $40 to $100 per square foot installed, usually $10 to $20 a foot under comparable quartz. Example ranges, not quotes. Rarer stones sit well above that band.
Because granite is natural and a small sample cannot show movement, veining or a colour band through one end. What arrives is that specific slab, not an average of the type.
Approximately, if they are cut from the same block, and we ask for that. Across different blocks the variation can be significant, which is a normal property of stone rather than a fault.
Only when the seal has worn. Oil is the usual culprit, because it sits for hours before anyone notices. Sealed stone with reasonable wiping habits does not stain in normal use.
With natural stone this is the step worth insisting on. We arrange the viewing, plan the layout on the slab with you, and quote by the square foot fitted.
