What are granite’s uses? Best stone home design advice:
The word ‘granite’ is a symbol of durability and elegance. Granite slabs, thanks to their beauty and qualities, are used in buildings and places inside and outside the house. It’s a universal, versatile product – regardless of the colour or texture. You can utilise massive sheets of stone for worktops or flooring, or use the hard-wearing product in more subtle ways. We explore the vast possibilities below:
Granite igneous rock: hard and durable natural stone
Granite is a dimension stone with very high hardness and resistance. For this reason, it has been used in construction since ancient times. And it is still popular today.
Granite is one of the hardest magma rocks – it ranks number 7 on the Mohs 10 scale. It is a frost, wind and water resistant material. Granite water absorption is negligible, and after impregnation or resin treatment – zero. Granite accumulates heat very well because it is a very dense material. Granite is not easily abraded, it will not be destroyed by chemical compounds or fire. It is very difficult to scratch it, because there are few materials harder than it. Its popularity is also due to the fact that it is amenable to shaping. It is easy to work granite in different ways depending on the purpose.
Uses of granite: where is granite used most frequently?
Granite can be used for finishing interiors and as it is resistant to changeable weather conditions it is also used outdoors. Granite tiles are used for floors, especially heated floors, stairs, granite countertops, window sills, fireplace surrounds, wall coverings and even for interior furnishings such as polished granite sinks, washbasins, not to mention trinkets.
Granites and their colours
Granite is a deep-sea magma rock composed mainly of quartz, potassium feldspar, plagioclase and biotite. It is the most common magma rock in the world. It is a dispersed crystalline material characterized by a variety of grain sizes. The grey background usually shows irregularly arranged grains of different coloured minerals. Sometimes the coloured grains form a pattern of stripes, ribbons, spots. Granite used in buildings can be:
- grey,
- dark grey,
- almost black,
- light grey,
- almost white,
- pink,
- red,
- green.
Among the mineral additives contained in it there is e.g. mica, so some varieties of granite shimmer glassy or like gold. On our market you can buy blocks or tiles made of granite stones (e.g. alkali feldspar) imported from India, China, Portugal, Italy, France, Brazil etc.
Natural stone tiles – where to use them & what’s granite’s importance?
Granite tiles can be used as a finishing material in many places. They are used for flooring, development or cladding in dry and humid rooms as well as in places where they will be subjected to changeable temperatures, e.g. on heated floors or terraces. The most popular are:
- flooring,
- granite countertops,
- window sills,
- fireplace surrounds,
- stairs,
- wall cladding,
- shelf,
- terrace,
- pathway to the house,
- façade cladding.