Our Materials
Our wide range of precisely cut products can serve for multiple purposes including vanity tops, Jacuzzis, fireplaces, floor paneling, and much more.
Granite
![granite](https://hardrockgraniteandquartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/granite.jpg)
Granite is an intrusive (within the Earth’s crust) igneous rock; the formation occurs by magma flowing into pockets deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Over millions of years it cools and crystallizes. Granite is found all over the world.
The more colorful and exotic granite slabs are found in Africa, Brazil, China, Italy, and India. Other exporters of granite are Argentina, Egypt, Finland, Iran, Norway, Sardinia, Spain, and the Ukraine. Granite is found in abundance in the United States but the colors are more compatible with monument and exterior works.
Granite weighs between 18 and 24 pounds per square foot and is 1.25 inches thick (3cm). Some finished pieces can weigh in excess of 800 lbs.
Granite slabs are usually 3cm (1.25 inches) in thickness. They can also come in 2cm, but 3cm is recommended for countertops.
Granite slab dimensions are generally up to 68 inches in height and 115 inches in width. It is often necessary to seam pieces since the dimensions of the slab limit the length of an individual piece.
Onyx
![onyx](https://hardrockgraniteandquartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/onyx.jpg)
An onyx stone is defined as a chalcedony that usually occurs in a different band of colour. It can be used as a gemstone in intaglios or cameos. It is also described as a compact calcite variety used as a stone for ornament.
Onyx is available in a colour range from white to deep green and has a translucent appearance. It is being used widely in kitchen backsplashes as well as in free standing structures such as sinks, wash basins and tiles. It is a natural stone that is considered to be semi precious.
Stunning colors and patterns. Translucent types can be backlit. Suitable for bathrooms, fireplaces and furniture tops. Contemporary.
Marble
![marble](https://hardrockgraniteandquartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/marble.jpg)
With unbelievable colors and elegant veining, Marble creates absolutely stunning countertops for your home. Visit our showrooms to learn more about marble. Visit our showrooms to find out how our designers can integrate marble into your countertop project for breathtaking results.
As the favorite medium for Roman sculptors and architects, marble has become a cultural symbol of tradition and refined taste in home applications.
For that sleek and clean look, marble is a great substitute for granite, used for countertops in a kitchen or a master bathroom.
There are several different colors of marble. Some of the more popular ones are White Carrera, Botticino, Calcutta Gold and White Vermont. Color variations are the result of the elements that were present when the stone was formed.
Marble is considered more porous than granite so a little extra care and maintenance is involved but for many homeowners, the beauty and look of marble negates the issue of upkeep.
Quartz
![quartz](https://hardrockgraniteandquartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/quartz-1.jpg)
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2.
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth’s continental crust, behind feldspar.[9]
There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings, especially in Eurasia.
Quartz is the mineral defining the value of 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness, a qualitative scratch method for determining the hardness of a material to abrasion.
Calcite
![calcite](https://hardrockgraniteandquartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/calcite.jpg)
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 3 as “calcite”.
Other polymorphs of calcium carbonate are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite over timescales of days or less at temperatures exceeding 300 ° and vaterite is even less stable.
Calcite is a common constituent of sedimentary rocks, limestone in particular, much of which is formed from the shells of dead marine organisms. Approximately 10% of sedimentary rock is limestone. It is the primary mineral in metamorphic marble.
It also occurs in deposits from hot springs as a vein mineral; in caverns as stalactites and stalagmites; and in volcanic or mantle-derived rocks such as carbonatites, kimberlites, or rarely in peridotites.
Dolomite
![dolomite](https://hardrockgraniteandquartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/dolomite.jpg)
Dolomite (also known as dolomite rock, dolostone or dolomitic rock) is a sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite.
Dolomite has a stoichiometric ratio of nearly equal amounts of magnesium and calcium. Most dolomite rock formed as a magnesium replacement of limestone or lime mud before lithification. Dolomite rock is resistant to erosion and can either contain bedded layers or be unbedded. It is less soluble than limestone in weakly acidic groundwater, but it can still develop solution features (karst) over time.
Dolomite rock can act as an oil and natural gas reservoir.
Both calcium and magnesium go into solution when dolomite rock is dissolved. The speleothem precipitation sequence is: calcite, Mg-calcite, aragonite, huntite and hydromagnesite. Although there are reports of dolomite speleothems known to exist in a number of caves around the world, they are usually in relatively small quantities and form in very fine-grained deposits
Travertine
![travertine](https://hardrockgraniteandquartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/travertine.jpg)
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs.
Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties.
Travertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from solution in ground and surface waters, and/or geothermally heated hot-springs.
Weathered, natural look. Used for facades, stairs and decorative pieces.