How Granite Countertops Are Made

Granite countertops are stunning, and that beauty takes a while to get from underneath the Earth’s surface to your home. Granite is one of the most popular and high-end countertop materials out there, and it comes in many different colors and patterns that occur naturally. Are you wondering how homeowners get their granite countertops?

Where Granite Comes From

For millions of years underneath the Earth’s surface, molten rock is compressed and forms granite. The granite, composed of interlocking mineral crystals, is obtained from large quarries with milling machines’ help. Carefully plotted explosives allow enough force to separate the granite block from the bedrock without harming the granite slab in the process. This part of the process mostly occurs in Brazil, the largest granite source, and other countries like Italy, India, and China, which have extensive facilities with advanced machinery for cutting granite slabs. Granite is occasionally quarried in the United States, but that’s typically for plain colors used in building material.

From Block to Slab

The granite block is then transported to a stone cutting facility, where the blocks are cut into slabs. Giant saws slice the block like an egg slicer, but it can take up to an hour for one blade to go through a foot of granite. With most slabs coming in at 7×9 feet, this can be a lengthy process. Thankfully, new diamond wire cutting saws and other advancements made the cutting process quicker and more efficient. This improvement in the process made granite countertops less expensive for homeowners.

Time to Polish

After the slabs are cut, they are polished and cleaned so that the natural colors and patterns pop while the texture becomes smooth. Diamond polishing pads bring out the shine, color, and pattern after every layer of the polishing until you’re left with a granite slab that’s ready to be shipped!

To the Granite Showroom And Your Kitchen

When you visit a showroom, you will see these polished granite slabs that customers can look through before finding a color, pattern, and aesthetic that fits their interior design. After the granite is selected, a specialist will take your kitchen measurements to cut the granite in the correct size for your countertops. The edges of the granite are then shaped and smoothed to perfection! Finally, granite can be admired as a countertop and used for decades to come.

Are you ready to find the granite countertops of your dreams? Transform your home with the best granite countertops Denver has to offer!