Quarried Granite and Your Kitchen

Granite is a fantastic natural product that can truly make a kitchen look fabulous!

But how does granite go from being a mountain surface to a plush looking worktop surface in your kitchen; well, in this article I will hopefully clear some of those questions up.


Where is granite quarried?

With this type of stone there are many locations where it can be obtained and where it is quarried. To name a few; Portugal, Spain, Italy, China and Norway and with each of these locations, comes many differing colours and patterns.

Some of my favourites are probably the grades of Chinese stone, although this is simply a matter of personal preference and taste.


How is granite quarried?

This is a process that must be done with precision, care and focus. The stone is commonly taken out in blocks from man-made shelves in the quarry, which normally start from the top of a mountain and gradually work downwards.

The stone has relative holes drilled in straight rows, which eventually (when the stone blocks are removed) create a fresh, flat shelf beneath, to work from.

Once the holes have been drilled, explosive charges are placed at the base of each hole, only a small explosive, these being to simply crack the stone, thus forming blocks of stone; several metres in height, length and depth.

The blocks of stone are then carefully moved to either a loading truck or a waiting bay, with the use of a huge crane, or a digger with a claw grabber that has sufficient power to carry weights in excess of several tonnes.

These blocks of stone are then taken to a factory, where they are processed and cut into slabs, ready for shipping to stone fabricators across the globe.

Fabricators then fashion the stone, to the desired your desired specifications, which is then installed in your home.

Hart Granite are manufacturers and suppliers of affordable, hich quality Granite Worktops and can supply almost any stone type for you.