When you’re selecting materials for your remodel or new home, you’ll find row after row of natural stone and engineered surfaces on display. But have you ever wondered about their origins and the process it took for them to end up in your home? It’s quite a journey.
“Natural stone and engineered surfaces, like quartz and porcelain, take two entirely different routes to arrive in our showroom,” says Kaelyn Van Camp, Marketing Manager for Stone Mart, a wholesale supplier of natural stone and engineered surfaces.
ORGANICALLY FORMED FOR UNIQUENESS
Granite, marble, quartzite, soapstone, and other natural stones are created naturally from one or more minerals. Because of this, natural stone, which is thousands of years old, contains variations that make each piece unique. The stones in the Stone Mart showroom are quarried primarily from Italy, India, and Brazil.
To extract the stone, workers drill holes into a mountain or rockface and plug them with dynamite. The resulting explosion causes huge pieces of stone to fall to the ground below and break into blocks. Excavating machines move the blocks so they can be transported to a factory for processing.
At the factory, the blocks are cut into slabs, using multi-diamond wire saw machines or gang saw machines. Each slab is then given a finish, packaged in bundles, and shipped. Upon their arrival, the slabs are unloaded, placed on the floor, and ready for you to view and enjoy.
MANUFACTURED FOR UNIFORMITY
But not all material is created by Mother Nature. Quantra quartz, for example, is an engineered material made in India, manufactured using a patented Bretonstone technology. Quality inspections are done from beginning to end to create a quality, uniform material.
First, the ground-up natural quartz, pigments, and resin are combined, poured into molds, and formed into the desired sizes. This mix is vibrated and compressed to remove all the air and keep the surface even and compacted. The slabs are now ready for the curing kiln where they’ll be heated at consistent temperatures until they attain the required strength and solidity.
After a final calibration, the slabs are polished, and undergo a rigorous quality inspection, before being labelled, packed into bundles, and shipped to Stone Mart’s showroom.
Whether you’re considering natural stone or engineered surfaces for your remodel, visit Stone Mart’s showroom and talk to their experts to find your perfect match.
