Granite Countertops
Granite is the stone most people picture when they picture a countertop, and there's a reason it has held that spot for decades. It's hard, it takes heat, and no two slabs are the same. We fabricate granite in our own shop on Haggerty Road in Commerce Township, a few minutes from downtown Walled Lake.
Come in and walk the slabs before you decide. A four-inch sample chip tells you the color. It doesn't tell you where the movement runs, and the movement is the part you'll look at every day.
How granite behaves
Granite is an igneous rock, mostly quartz and feldspar, cooled slowly underground. That gives it a hardness around 6 to 7 on the Mohs scale, which is harder than a steel knife blade. The only natural stone in the yard that runs harder is quartzite. Kitchen knives will not scratch it. A dropped pan will not chip it in normal use, though any stone can chip at an unsupported corner or a sink cutout.
Heat. Granite handles it. You can set a hot pot down on granite without scorching it. That is a real advantage over engineered quartz, which has resin in it and does not like direct heat.
Sealing. Granite is porous, and how porous depends entirely on the stone. A dense black granite may absorb almost nothing. A light, open-grained granite can drink oil in a weekend. Test yours by leaving a few drops of water on it for fifteen minutes. If the stone darkens, it wants sealer. Most kitchens do fine on a resealing once a year, and it takes about ten minutes with a rag.
Outside. Granite is UV stable. It does not fade in the sun and it holds up through Michigan freeze-thaw cycles, which is why it's the right pick for an outdoor kitchen, a grill surround, or a fire pit on a lake lot.
Where it works best: kitchen counters and islands, bar tops, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, fireplace surrounds, mudrooms, and anywhere the surface is going to get used hard.
Come see the stone
We're at 3011 Haggerty Road in Commerce Township, Michigan, and the yard is open through the week. Walk the yard, put your hand on the slabs, and pick the actual piece of stone that goes in your house. Estimates are free, and we cut granite for jobs all over Oakland County.
Call (248) 624-8280 or request a quote.
Work we have cut and finished.
A few pieces from the yard on Haggerty Road. There are 75 more.
