Quality of Granite

Granite comes in many colours and finishes. The finest quality, ebony black granites are produced in India. They are dense in colour and much harder, so when lightly tapped with a hammer, the sound is reflected back out of the granite producing a ‘ringing sound’. Contrary to Indian granite Chinese granite is less dense so when tapped the sound is transmitted through the granite generating a ‘thud’ sound. The density of Indian granite also means that it takes a nicer polish and as it does not wear like some other imported granites, it retains its shine and elegance. With India having a long history of producing the worlds best granites, we prefer using  Indian granites rather than Chinese imports.

 

 

Newly imported

 

Fading of the polish

 

Staining beginning to appear in the granite under bases (right) As this is an interior grade granite, it does not wear well in exterior conditions.

 

 

 

As China is in a very seismically active area and has had many catastrophic earthquakes in its history, this has had an effect on the quarries and much of the granite can be found with vents and cracks, that could possibly lead to separation.

Staining:

Technically not all black granites are truly granites, some are basalt. Basalt is a hard, black or dark grey volcanic rock. Because it is a durable lava rock, it can take a long time to polish to a shine and even then, sometimes; it can be very difficult to get the correct finish. Some dealers of Chinese granite apply oil or dye to the slabs to hide defects in the granite and even use the oils to make basalt appear shiny. The resulting effect thus being fading over time.

 

 

 

To contact us call: 01253 773820

Or email us at; wyrememorials@hotmail.co.uk

Crack.

Vents / Shakes.

 

Abbey or Sea Grey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barley White

Chinese granite stains because the granite is porous and retains water. Abbey Grey, commonly known as Sea Grey, and Barley White are ‘high risk’ staining granites.

This is why at Wyre Memorials we use Terrazzo. A material that has been tried and tested for many years.