Grant Me Granite

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Ask me to recommend a countertop and my response is "it's got to be granite."

The seemingly perpetual popularity of natural granite countertops continues to make granite the hottest horizontal surface in home decor. We're not only using granite for countertops these days - we are starting to see it being used for custom applications like stair treads, tabletops, fireplace mantels and borders around hardwood flooring.

Today, granite sales are up approximately 40%, making it the number one choice for countertops.

Why the sudden interest in a stone as old as the earth itself? The answer is availability and durability. Because of improved quarrying techniques, the price of granite has dropped by as much as 40% during the past half dozen years. At one time it was a luxury item, but recently - because of that new quarrying technology and correspondingly lower prices - it has become available to all ranges of homeowners.

Granite quarrying used to be a cumbersome process that required extensive drilling and the use of explosives. Today, most of the world's quarries - concentrated mainly in India, China, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Canada and the US - use long loops of steel cable impregnated with diamonds to slice easily through large sections of granite and extract them from their quarry beds.

Virtually indestructible granite is a coarse grained crystalline igneous rock composed primarily of quartz, mica and feldspar. Because each granite deposit contains varying proportions of these minerals, every slab of the stone looks different. Every quarry produces a distinct palette of the stone. Even more appealing than granite's colour and texture is its durability. For many homeowners, this is granite's greatest draw. Unlike engineered stone look-alike products such as Silestone, Corian and high pressure laminates (Formica, Wilsonart), the colours and textures of granite change every few feet.

Granite is priced in the same range as a solid surface or synthetic countertop material - between $85 and $155 per square foot. (Laminate countertops are approximately $30 per square foot). Granite is so affordable these days, once you put it in your home, you'll never want - or need - to put in anything else. Its beauty and durability is unequalled. Granite's rich colours are speckled with flecks of crystals that sparkle, giving the appearance of movement on the stone's polished, smooth surface.

Granite rates a seven on the measurement of hardness scale for stone's 1-10 scale. A stainless steel blade measures a six, meaning a knife cannot scratch the surface of granite.

Granite also can withstand temperatures up to about 482 degrees Celsius; a hot frying pan that would normally scorch solid surface countertops has no effect on granite. Corian, a popular alternative to granite, can be scratched with a knife and will withstand temperatures up to about 93 degrees C.

Elegant and durable countertops are the highlight of any truly modern kitchen and bath. By using granite you will have unlimited design possibilities, a variety of edge treatments and a wide selection of colours.

Whatever look you want to achieve - traditional or contemporary - there's just one material for today's most beautiful countertops - granite. It's an investment a homeowner will never regret.