My mother attests that she read somewhere that granite countertops became more popular in part because fewer headstones, etc are being purchased. (More people are cremated; People don’t get as showy headstones anymore in general.) So granite harvesters? stonemasons? Needed to find a new outlet.
Things like that. It seems logical to me, though perhaps not true.
I’ve attempted google fu but haven’t seen anything on the history of granite use. Okay, I have! But…mostly architecture(buildings) or geology/science references.
She said “I know I didn’t make that up–if I were that good a writer? I’d WRITE!”
Lots of headstones are being made and sold; but American manufacturers are certainly feeling a pinch from Chinese and Indian exporters. Cremation has had a real, but lesser effect.
So it’s possible that declining prices for worked granite may have also reduced prices for granite countertops, which would make them more popular. There is, however, no logical reason why consumers would choose granite counters simply because masons need a new market.
Better methods for extracting and fabricating granite has brought prices down considerably. This lower cost is in part what is driving the demand for granite counter tops. Depending on what color you are going with granite is sometimes cheaper than the higher end acrylic solid surfaces such as Corian or Staron which have almost entirely replaced wood laminate.
Well, to be fair, if masons switch markets, they’ll presumably start advertising, thus shifting demand out (and, of course, the change in markets itself shifts out supply). That would cause greater popularity of granite without a necessary decrease in price.
I don’t buy into it. The housing market went to much larger houses, and the people that can afford these houses, can afford nicer stuff like granite instead of formica counters. I’ve always wanted granite counters, but they still aren’t someting I’ll ever get. Houses used to be a ranch home or a split level. Now the houses are bigger than the barn on the farm that was subdivided for housing. The square footage is more than triple what a large house was 15 years ago. They want granite counters with the 2 commercial stoves and 2 comercial refrigerators.
This is definitely the case here. I recently had granite installed in my new kitchen. The countertops were the only part of the project that I didn’t tackle myself. Now, granted, I’m talking about “Tier A” granite here – that’s the bottom of the line stuff, the cheap stuff, what us pobes buy – and it was $35/ft^2 installed. It was cheaper than my Corian countertop in my last house, by far, and it’s certainly more beautiful. It’s already dark so doesn’t need constant resealing (did all this research online before committing). Of course, you won’t get this price in the home stores – you need to look up granite fabricators in the yellow pages section of your local telephone directory (err, smartpages.com).
In my area I couldn’t believe that headstone makers have anything to do with it. The countertop fabricators only make countertops, and the headstone guys (always located near a cemetery) only ever make “monuments.” It’s not even the same rock profile. Counterop fabricators purchase raw slabs that are already 30mm thick right from the quarry (or the distributor). The monument guys have all sorts of thicknesses to deal with, as well as have to do things such as engrave.
I am pretty sure that lots of modern granite use is driven by cheap granite supplies from India, where quarrying is done without regard to safety requirements enforced in the west. In many quarries, child labor is common, and industrial accidents regularly occur.
So - if you want granite, ensure that you buy from local quarries. But it will cost more.
Interesting theory. Do you have a cite? Here’s a list of the most popular granites – they seem to be sourced from all over the globe. India does not predominate.
My kitchen counters use Dakota Mahogany – one of the cheaper granites and it originates, as the name might suggest, in South Dakota.
It was the thrust of a couple of BBC radio documentaries I heard last year (one on the supply of Granite, one on safety issues in India, including quarries). This MSN Article covers the same grounds. The situation may be different in the US.
granite, esp. polish granite became popular because it is fairly indestructable. you can put a hot dish on it without a trivit. it laughes at cold dishes. polished it doesn’t soak up or in liquids. no worries, no fuss, easy clean up with a paper towel.
wood (butcher block) needs oiling and will burn or discolour if hot things are on it. water marks and warping if wet by something. food will soak into it, sometimes flavouring it.
corian, formica, may chip, not happy about hot, and will show cut marks.
marble is porous and will stain and soak in food and food flavours. will show cut marks. best use is for breads and pastries.
the only down side to granite is knife dulling. you do have to sharpen them more often.
The other reason granite pricing is falling is to remain competitive with the man made quartz products out there like Cambria and Zodiaq. Unlike granite quartz is non-porous and has been certified for use in food prep areas. Plus quartz is easier to fabricate and breaks less often in the shop so fabricators tend to price quartz lower than granite since you don’t have to remake tops as often. Middle of the road granite cost the same as high end quartz.
I grew up about two miles from the Dakota Mahogany granite quarries - some of the country’s largest. If you go to the FDR memorial in Washington DC, that’s what it’s made out of. Also there’s some bank in downtown Boston that is clad in it - my brother drove the truck to deliver the granite to the site (and hated the traffic). I hope you like Dakota Mahogany - it’s a pretty color. And yes, all the local headstones are made of it!
