Hard to Beat
Bob and Rita Popp recently wandered the endless aisles of G&L Marble Inc.’s High Point, N.C., warehouse, searching for materials for the retirement house that they are building in Roxboro. “We’re shopping for granite,” Bob Popp said, “and it blows my mind. We’ve seen five pieces we like, and we’re not even halfway through yet.” It’s no wonder that the Popps had to take a lunch break in the middle of their search. With hundreds of slabs in 80 to 100 varieties of granite to choose from, they had a lot of thinking to do. Granite countertops remain atop the wish lists of many people who are remodeling their kitchens or building new houses. The craze for granite has been raging for at least 15 years now, and it shows no signs of slowing, despite its cost. Homeowners who invest in granite can expect to add value to their homes. Solid granite countertops can range from around $50 a square foot, installed, to several hundred dollars a square foot. Quirks in kitchens, such as unusual cabinet configurations, can make installation more difficult and more expensive. Granite comes in slabs, so waste is a given. Homeowners can’t simply measure their countertops and determine the square footage of granite that they will need.
“For most materials, it’s between $55 to $100,” said Nathan Shaw, a salesman for G&L. Using granite tiles can cut the cost nearly in half, said Mary House, an interior designer in Winston-Salem. But you lose the unbroken surface. For customers who choose granite tiles, she recommends using dark granite with dark grout to give a uniform look. Granite is a design trend, said Bruce Hageman, a stonecutter who ran his own marble and granite business in Clemmons. He is no longer in the business, although he still does granite work for family and friends. “As with everything in our culture, there are trends. But granite has been used throughout the centuries,” he said. He talked about European houses with granite that still looks good after 500 years and stones of Egypt’s pyramids that were polished 5,000 years ago and still maintain a luster. “It does have a track record,” he said. People like granite because it resists damage from heat, and hot dishes can be placed directly on it. They like its durability and its resistance to stains. And they like that it is a product made by nature, not by man. Years ago, Shaw assumed that granite would have a nice little run, then fade away. But he has watched sales increase steadily for the past 20 years. Only this year has he seen a slight downturn, which dovetails with a downturn in the real-estate market, he said.
Today’s granite was once molten rock. As it slowly cooled, its combinations of quartz, feldspar and other minerals formed various colors and patterns. The word granite comes from the word granum, which is Latin for grain. Granite’s colors range from neutral tones of brown, gray, white and black to vivid reds, greens and blues. Some types of granite have flecks of iridescence that change with the light and the angle. New technology has enabled workers to extract granite that was inaccessible as recently as 10 years ago, Shaw said. Along with the tight, consistent patterns that many people visualize, granite also comes marked by waves and swirls, with splotches and bands of color. Some customers, once they start looking, become overwhelmed at the dozens of choices available to them. “They had no idea they can get all this movement, all this depth,” Shaw said. “That’s the biggest thing that’s wowing customers now, all this movement.” House said that people need to be careful if they choose granite with a bold pattern. “You almost have to consider the pattern of granite like a fabric or a wallpaper,” she said. “Granite will last a long, long time. Therefore, you don’t want something that the eye is going to grow tired of quickly, especially when you think of it in terms of a large space, such as a kitchen. You can go with something absolutely wild and crazy in a butler’s pantry or powder room. But in a kitchen, with large amounts of surface, it would be my advice to a client to keep the pattern maybe not quite as pronounced.” People who love the patterned look need to keep the rest of the kitchen simple. Granite can go with a traditional or contemporary scheme, House said, because of its sleek, clean look. Most of the more exotic granites come from the Southern hemisphere, Shaw said, and the more subtle granites, with dense, consistent patterns, come from the Northern hemisphere. Mount Airy’s open-face quarry, the biggest in the world, produces black-and-white speckled granite. The granite is so consistent that damaged pieces can be matched and replaced easily. Some expensive granites, which have more crystals, veins and fissures, are more fragile than cheaper varieties. “It is more difficult to quarry, more difficult to transport,” Shaw said. Mesh backing and heavy coats of epoxy strengthen the granite so that it will perform well after it is installed in a house. “Without that technology, you wouldn’t even be seeing these stones,” Shaw said. “There would be no way to bring it to market.” The Popps were more interested in an understated granite look, “rather than something real ripply and wild,” Rita Popp said. She wanted granite with a light brown background and flecks of cranberry, a combination that would look good with blue. She and her husband came up with a unique method of testing the slabs for color compatibility. “That’s why I’m wearing this blue shirt,” Bob Popp said. “I stand in front of them.” – By Janice Gaston
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