WHAT IS GRANITE?

Any discussion about rocks is like coming in at the middle of a movie. The oldest rocks date back 3,900,000,000 years, while our understanding of rocks barely goes back 540,000,000.—85% of the information is missing. Articles on rocks are usually written by geologists who strive to be accurate, but end up being confusing and boring. We, on the other hand, announce in advance that our objective is to gain a little knowledge with a minimum of words—and leave out a lot of stuff. We will try to define the technical words as we go along—in non-technical terms. This subject is so complex, involves esoteric science, includes endless speculation, and is so utterly confusing that we admit defeat before starting—and it does not bother us at all.

There are two kinds of rocks: sedimentary (formed by the deposition of material eroded away from older rocks and deposited in layers) and igneous (magma—molten rock from the depths of the earth). There are 3,000 known minerals that are the chief constituents of rock, but only a handful are significant, and the rest are impurities. Of the 40 metals found in rock, only 5 appear in any abundance (aluminum, iron, magnesium, manganese, and titanium). Only gold and platinum are found principally in their native state—all the rest are chemically tied up with other chemicals—called minerals.

Old rocks (who knows where they came from) are weathered (breakdown of rocks at the Earth’s surface) and then are washed down by wind and rain to form layers . That is why the Appalachian Mountains, which were once as high as the Rocky Mountains, can now be found as the sandy beaches in the Carolinas and Florida. We are not interested in these kinds of rocks, so forget this.

We are interested in the sedimentary rocks that were formed by the deposition of calcite and dolomite (both are calcium carbonate but with a different crystal structure). By far, calcite is the more abundant because, given a chance, dolomite will morph into calcite. Calcite was deposited from the excrement of algae in a marine environment. The algae was responsible for the cleaning of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere when the earth first formed. These sedimentary calcite deposits also contain the fossils of marine life. The overburden of eroded older rocks (and I told you to forget this) was deposited on top of the marine calcite deposits and compressed them under great pressure. Since this is a mechanical process, not a heat process, there are no crystals in limestone—making it softer and easier to process—but also more easily attacked by environmental pollutants, particularly acid rain. Also, since this is a mechanical process at or near normal temperatures, there is little opportunity for gases to be expelled, and consequently, limestone is quite porous—as are all calcite stones including marble and travertine.

From these mechanically compressed, relatively pure calcite deposits we get Limestone. The Limestone family includes marble and travertine—both physical morphs of limestone (discussed later).

In summary, Limestone began as gas in the atmosphere, was scrubbed out by algae, pooped out in deposits, mixed with some dead sea urchins, squeezed real hard—and presto.

We are also interested in magma. Magma is molten rock full of various gases including carbon dioxide and water vapor (yes, this is where all the water on earth came from, but who knows where magma came from). In the early days of the formation of Earth, these gases easily escaped into the atmosphere where things were a lot cooler. The water vapor condensed into our oceans, and the carbon dioxide was scrubbed out by the algae. The oxygen and nitrogen remained as the principal elements in our atmosphere today.

Apparently, there is still a lot of magma trapped in the earth. The magma, filled with gas, is constantly trying to burp its way to the surface, driven upwards by the gas it contains. If a stream of magma shoots upwards in a column, but is trapped so that it does not reach the surface, and can not flow sideways (and subsequently cools to a solid rock), it is called a Kimberly Pipe—the source of diamonds.

If the magma flows upwards, does not reach the surface, but can flow horizontally, it cools slowly into a solid rock called granite. If magma flows upward and does reach the surface, it shoots out in a molten stream which is called a volcano. The gas from a volcano increases the supply of water on earth, and adds to the greenhouse effect because of the carbon dioxide it releases. Magma minerals that reach the surface are cooled very rapidly and never have a chance for the minerals to form crystals—the principal difference between granite and volcanic ash.

Granite, to be useful as a building stone, must be cooled very, very slowly—over a period of millions of years. This is important to the formation of crystals (which are a lot stronger and harder than mechanically compressed minerals such as Limestone), and to allow the dissolved gases to escape. When a granite has properly cooled, there are few voids (porosity, where gas was trapped), and it is very hard as a result of the crystals. On the Mohs Hardness Scale, diamonds are 10, granite is 7 and limestone is 3.

The Limestone family is essentially one mineral—calcite—but granite is a mixture of three minerals—quartz (silica dioxide), feldspar (aluminosilicate minerals containing calcium, sodium, or potassium), and mica (hydrous potassium, aluminum silicate minerals).

There are many different feldspars—essentially different ratios of the aluminum, calcium, sodium or potassium. Feldspar is the “white” in Mount Airy White granite. Feldspars make up more than 50% of the Earth’s crust.

There are 28 known species of mica—each with its own name. However, only two are fairly common—muscovite (light colored) and biotite (black). The small black dots in Mount Airy White granite are biotite mica.

The third mineral in granite is quartz. When molten silica dioxide cools slowly, large silica crystals are formed, called quartz. The quartz content in magma varies all they way down to zero. Any stone originating from magma must contain at least 20% quartz to be considered a granite. The more quartz, the harder the granite, and the harder it is to process. Hardness variations in granite come from the quartz content, not from the rate of cooling. The porosity, or lack of it, of various granites comes from the rate of cooling. Any granite deposit cooled more quickly at its edge than in the center. This is why the first granite harvested from a new quarry is considered “skunk granite” and is discarded. This is also why granite from a relatively new quarry should not be used for important applications—it may take decades to quarry into the better quality stone. Older, proven quarries—such as Mount Airy White with over 100 years of continuous operation, are a better choice.

The silica dioxide in magma which reaches the surface (volcano) cools far too quickly to form crystal quartz. When molten silica dioxide cools quickly, it is called glass. Volcanic rock is, therefore, glassy—easily broken and ultimately ends up on a beach somewhere.

Stone originating from magma with low quartz content (less than 20%) is called basalt and is usually dark in color. Commercial “black granites” are not really granites at all, they are basalts—and are very low in quartz (often zero), softer, and often fade over time. This is why NCGC does not recommend polished black granite for high traffic areas such as floors or steps (where it can be scratched), but does recommend Virginia Mist for exterior applications such as building panels. Virginia Mist is a black basalt with a wispy white movement and fading is imperceptible.

While the quartz crystals are the same in each granite, they can be of different size and there can be more or less of them. Colored granites obtain their color from the various impurities, and are lighter or darker depending on the type of feldspar present. Whew, we blew over that subject fast.

Are you disappointed that sandstone has a family of products, but not granite? To try to balance things out a little bit, we will create a granite family—and include sandstone and quartzite. Unlike marble and travertine which are the children of limestone (altered forms of limestone), sandstone and quartzite are not altered form of granite. They do, however, contain quartz (crystals of silica dioxide), and sandstone also contains feldspar. Actually, quartzite is an altered form of sandstone.

Sandstone is a sedimentary stone put down in layers like limestone (not an igneous (molten) stone like granite). Sandstone contains both quartz and feldspar in varying proportion. The quartz crystals are in the form of a framework, and the space inside the framework can be empty (newer sandstones) or filled with a chemical cement of silica or calcium carbonate (ancient sandstones).

Quartzites are usually snowy white (less often pink or gray)—free of pores—and 90 to 99 percent quartz. Quartzite is formed from the precipitation of silica or by the high temperature recrystallization under high pressure of a sandstone.
These very large crystals, because they weather slowly, tend to project as hills or mountain masses. Many prominent ridges in the Appalachian Mountains are composed of highly resistant tilted beds of quartzite. Quartzites do tend to break up into rubble under frost conditions

That takes care of the granite family. Now we turn our attention to the Limestone family—more particularly marble and travertine.

The Earth is constantly evolving. Things that are on the surface, eventually end up on the bottom, only to return again to the top to repeat the cycle. For those families where one spouse wants to vacation at the beach, and the other in the mountains—you need only to go to one location and be patient—for you will eventually end up at the other.

Such happens with the sedimentary deposits of calcite—Limestone. Eventually, some of these deposits ended up deep in the earth, where the temperature is very high. The Limestone gets melted—then cooled slowly. This allowed crystals of calcite to form. The crystallized version of Limestone is called marble. Commercially, any limestone type material that will take a polish is called marble, but the true marble has been morphed via heat and pressure to a crystal form. This includes the near snow-white marbles of Carrara, Italy, favored by Michelangelo. Different colored marbles are a result of impurities.

When looking carefully at marbles, even the Carrara marbles, one can sometimes still find evidence of the organic structures, and fossils that have not been completely obliterated. Whereas limestone is compressed calcite and completely opaque, marble is crystallized calcite—and does transmit light. Thin panels of marble are translucent. Light enters the marble and re-emerges as if originating from within. This inner “glow” gives marble the “warm” appearance so popular with artist and sculptures.

Marble, like Limestone, is still calcium carbonate, and is still subject to attack by environmental elements, particularly acid rain. NCGC does not recommend marble for outside applications. Some people will argue that marble has been used outside since before the time of Jesus, and that is true. But Jesus did not drive a SUV. Upon closer inspection, these outside marbles show signs of damage and attack. If one visits the old marble cities of Carrara and Verona, Italy, you will see this damage, particularly in the sidewalks and curbs subjected to loading. This attack comes with the recent presence of wide spread acid rain and atmospheric pollution from automobiles. Maybe at one time it was okay to use marble outside, but not now.

The environmental issues relative to marble are of a recent origin. The same is true of limestone, and neither are well suited for external applications in our modern age. Neither is travertine, but its limitations were recognized early, and seldom was travertine used outside.

There are other issues with marble not relevant to granite. This was mentioned earlier. When calcium carbonate crystallizes, as it does in marble, there are two types of crystals formed—calcite and dolomite. Calcite is the more stable form, and dolomite, given a chance, will convert to calcite. What would cause this? Temperature! At higher temperature the conversion is rapid, but it occurs slowly even in the hot “noon-day sun”. This and related issues, such as porosity, have caused a lot of economic damage to buildings built with external marble panels.

In the early 20th century, with the advent of the skyscraper with its internal steel frame, it became possible to build office buildings with thin skins of stone. Since marble was well known, several buildings were built with marble skins. After a period of a couple of decades, the marble panels showed extensive deformation and warping. One of the largest failures was the Amoco (American Oil Company, now BP) headquarters building in Chicago.

All the marble panels of this 96 story building had to be removed. We are proud to say they were replaced with the famous Mount Airy White granite panels. Still, the marble failure caused great economic damage. It was initially thought that the failure was caused by the freeze-thaw cycle of the Chicago winters. This is still believed to be a major cause, but not the only one, as the experience of marble clad buildings in warmer climates was soon to point out.

Several marble clad high rise buildings were built in Houston, Texas, for example, shortly after the Amoco building was built, but before the failure of the marble was discovered. Houston does not experience the freeze-thaw cycle like Chicago, but twenty years later, these marble panels experienced the same distortion and warping. The exact cause is not well understood, but the damage is clearly evident. Perhaps, the marble was unable to support its own weight, but also perhaps the dolomite crystals slowly morphed into the more stable calcite crystals, accelerated by the hot Houston summers. Perhaps, the attack by acid rain and pollution from automobiles added to the problem—both Chicago and Houston have major air pollution problems. Regardless, all the marble buildings are now expected to fail, and the preferred replacement material is Mount Airy White granite.

Mount Airy White is clearly the preferred material. Since the original marble panels were white, building owners usually look for a white granite to replace the marble. Not all white granites are equal. Many well know whites (which will go unnamed) are known to exhibit streaking , bleeding and color change. This never happens with Mount Airy or Greene County (Arizona) White. Since the Mount Airy and Greene County White granite quarries are so large, there is no limit on the size of the building. These quarries are so consistent, even very large projects can be done with complete confidence that the panels will match. No other white granite can meet all our requirements.

Since Limestone is a sedimentary stone, imbedded in the earth, it is subjected to ground water. Granite, for comparison, is also subjected to ground water, but is completely impervious to its effect. Limestone, on the other hand, is easily dissolved by acidic water—and most ground water is acidic.

When ground water runs over or through a limestone deposit, calcite is dissolved into the water and travels along with the water to where ever it is going. This is how caves, such as the Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, are formed—water dissolves out the Limestone. Sometimes, the water from an upper Limestone deposit drips down into a cave below, and forms stalactites (attached at the ceiling) or stalagmites (formed on the floor) as the water evaporates leaving the calcite behind.

Sometimes this water is trapped at some point downstream, and eventually evaporates—re-depositing the calcite. When the deposit is large, and depending on the rate of evaporation, a useable stone is reformed. These calcite re-deposits are called travertine, and they are often found near old river beds. Travertine has a light color and takes a good polish. However, since travertine is not formed from a thermal or mechanical compression process, it is very soft, and very porous—often with holes big enough to put your fist through. It is often used in walls and interior decorations. Travertine, like marble and limestone, is not recommended for outside applications.

If you struggled through to this point, you can at least say you know what granite and marble are—and you know some of the applications and limitations.

Let’s pause a minute and touch on some of the other natural stones that you may have come across in your reading. Trade magazines often mention agglomerate, onyx, onyx-marble, alabaster, slate, sodalite, soapstone, flagstone, and Jerusalem Stone.

AGGLOMERATE: Agglomerate is rock fragments associated with lava flow that is ejected during volcanic eruptions. They are, therefore, igneous rocks although they may look more like a sedimentary rock. When the material ejected from the volcano is molten, it become rounded upon solidification, but if solid rocks are ejected they tend to be angular.

ONYX: Onyx is a striped, semiprecious, translucent variety of quartz. The stripes come from various layers of other materials laid down when the onyx was formed. It is used primarily for carvings.

ONYX MARBLE: The term onyx marble is technically a misnomer—actually, two misnomers—it is neither onyx nor marble. Onyx is quartz, and marble is a thermally morphed calcite or dolomite (calcium carbonate). Onyx marble is a crystal form of calcium carbonate deposited from a cold water solution—more like travertine. It is also translucent like marble or travertine, but because it was laid down in layers, there are intermittent layers of other materials put down also—which gives it the striped effect like onyx—hence the mixed name.

ALABASTER: Alabaster is a fine-grained, snow-white, translucent gypsum. Gypsum is a hydrated calcium sulfate (calcium sulfate combined with water). Alabaster has been used for centuries for statuary, carvings and other ornaments.

SLATE: Slate is a sedimentary clay (sand and volcanic rock) that has been morphed by low grade heat and pressure. It is a god-awful mixture of all kinds of stuff. The morphing process was not very severe, and the planes of the sediments can be easily leaved or split. Rocks that can be cleaved are called slate and are used for roofing, walks and similar purposes.

SODALITE: Sodalite is a chloride-containing sodium aluminosilicate—from the group of chemicals called feldspathoid—similar to feldspar. It is an igneous rock, and is found in volcanic ejected material. It is also found as a hard rock (Mohs 5.5), and different species of this group have different colors. Sodalite occurs as irregularly shaped, translucent, bluish-colored grains with a glassy or greasy luster.

SOAPSTONE: Soapstone is compacted talc—magnesium silicate –also called steatite. It has the lowest rating (1) on the Mohs scale. It is soapy or greasy to the touch accounting for its name. Because it is so soft, and easily carved, it has been a favorite of artisans since ancient times.

FLAGSTONE: Flagstone (also called fieldstone) can be any rock—it is a construction term used to describe any rock that can be placed, for example, as a walkway, used to build a wall, or piled up as decoration. There are limestone flagstones, granite flagstones, etc..

JERUSALEM STONE: This is a marketing name. Promoters of Jerusalem Stone have attempted to give any and all the rocks found in and around the Middle East, particularly Jerusalem, a “holy” aura. The actual stone is usually Limestone, and sometimes marble, and occasionally travertine. There is nothing special about Jerusalem Stone. It is likely to be some form of calcium carbonate—with all the limitations of any calcium carbonate stone.

No discussion of natural stone would be complete without addressing the economic issues.

For this, we need to go back in history again—not so far this time—only to the Bronze Age. (The bronze age began 2,000 or 3,000 before Christ and lasted until the Iron Age, about 1000 years before Christ.) The earliest tools made by man were made of stone. When man first made metal tools they were made of bronze. People of that era then had a way to work stone for the first time. Of course, bronze was not a very strong metal, and the early stone carvers used the softest stone—usually travertine. Travertine is very soft, and was found along the rivers of ancient Rome. Many of the buildings and sculptures of that time were made of travertine, although some would call them limestone or marble—but you know better.

As other metals, such as iron, became available, it was possible to work the slightly harder marble—and this became the material of choice, particularly for sculptures. Limestone could be worked now too. Granite was too hard for any of the common fabrication methods of those days.

Entering the 18th century and early 19th century, when many of the government buildings of the US and the various states were built, the tools available would only cut the limestone family. Ergo, most of the federal buildings of Washington DC, as well as state capitol buildings were built of limestone. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, machines began to replace hand labor, and methods to quarry and fabricate granite became economically viable.

The granite industry became a major industry beginning in the early 20th century. Early roads and bridges were built of granite, and more and more buildings were also built of granite. Two things kept granite from completely taking over the stone market. The first was “historical”. Since so many buildings had earlier been built of limestone there was a reluctance to change. Even the Pentagon was built of limestone, but you can be sure there are many people who wish it had been built of granite after 9/11. Secondly, the rapid growth of the automobile required a faster and cheaper way to build roads—and concrete took over as the material of construction for road and bridges.

Granite was relegated to supplying headstones for cemeteries, civic monuments and the like. Then came along the skyscraper, and granite was back in business. Today, granite completely dominates as the skin for high rise buildings. It is the only natural stone material that meets the specifications. In this application, granite has completely replaced marble. Marble still remains a major stone for interior applications—but granite is making in-roads there too.

Marble, because it is soft and porous, requires a lot of maintenance. So, in high traffic areas such as building lobbies, steps etc., granite is often preferred. Because marble emits re-transmitted light and glows, it is often considered warmer than granite, and it still is used where conditions allow.

Over the last decade several things happened that improved the competitive position of granite. More sophisticated quarrying and fabrication techniques were developed, stronger and larger machines were developed, and a large number of colored granite quarries were opened around the world. This reduced the cost of granite and gave architects a much larger pallet of colors from which to choose.

One application that absolutely exploded in the marketplace was granite countertops. Man-made materials, such as Corian, had become popular for countertops. When the cost and availability of beautiful granite countertops became known, they virtually wiped out Corian and other artificial materials in this application. Kitchen countertops are subjected to heated pots and pans, cutting knives, cleaning chemicals, and food acids—and man-made materials, ceramic tile or marble could not stand up to this like granite.

Today, granite products are readily available, at reasonable cost, in hundreds of colors, suitable for virtually any size project. Architects and designers have never had such a wide choice. Further, granite, by virtue of its formation, is able to withstand the rigors of a modern world better than any other stone or artificial, man-made material.

You can see that as technology improved, applications moved toward granite. Lesser, softer natural stones gave way to granite. Man-made substitutes also gave way to granite. Granite is just now coming of age. Granite will continue to replace other stones, and will continue to replace man-made imitations. Why not? It is the top of the food chain of building materials—and it is beautiful, readily available, and the costs keep coming down.

Some of the early applications for granite were lost to concrete—due to economics—but concrete has more problems than natural stone material, and is particularly inadequate when compared to granite. Concrete’s problem is that it does not last. Everyone is familiar with how rapidly concrete roads deteriorate. The only reason they put steel in concrete is to hold the pieces together when the concrete fails. Walls built of concrete have to be replaced before the economic life of the project is completed. Concrete requires high maintenance, just like marble—and for the same reason—it is soft and porous. The economics of granite continue to improve, while the costs of using concrete continue to grow. Today, people are less willing to accept the repair costs, disruption to normal activities, environment damage of disposal, and less appealing aspects of concrete.

These issues become very evident in applications where the product comes in contact with the soil. It becomes doubly evident when there is a freeze-thaw factor thrown in. The easiest example of this is concrete road curb. The curb is exposed on one side to the earth, and all the chemicals therein, and on the other side by salt used to keep the road surface from freezing. Salt eats concrete, but the chemicals from the dirt side are even worse. Most concrete curb fails from the dirt side.

The snow plow is often the coup de grace. The road salt weakens the curb from the street side, and most of the curb is gone (dissolved) from the dirt side. Still the curb may visually look like it is still there—until the snow plow comes along and the curb disappears in one pass.

Road designers and engineers in the northern states know this problem all to well, and most have gone to granite curb as a permanent solution. Granite curb does not fail in this application. In fact, the granite curb can be removed and reset when the road is repaved, or relocated. Concrete curb is always destroyed and has to be replaced in such instances with concomitant waste disposal costs and environmental damage.

Engineers prefer to use granite curb and never think about it again. Granite is forever.

Retaining walls are another case. Concrete retaining walls fail from the dirt side, and the force of the dirt being held back soon results in either catastrophic failure or at least the leaning of the wall until it becomes too dangerous.

The astute reader recognizes “life cycle cost” when they see it. But there are other economic considerations that owners and architects need to consider too.

They are: maintenance costs, availability of skilled labor, management time devoted to maintenance, economic loss due to something being out of service for repair, and economic loss due to appearance. Add to that list, vandalism and terrorists. Let’s quickly review these issues.

Maintenance costs continue to escalate. Skilled labor is less available, and maintenance jobs are not the desirable jobs of the future. Poor maintenance is worse than none, and liability as a result of on-going maintenance is not going to diminish. In the past, the people designing a building were disinterested in the future maintenance nightmares they were creating. But buildings are ultimately sold (and resold), and as buyers, are you going to value a high maintenance building the same as one done in granite?

As a responsible leader, are you going to saddle the members of your organization with continuing maintenance duties—and divert their time away from doing the job you need them to do for the future of your organization? Can you say “opportunity lost costs”? As a mayor of a city, are you going to obligate future taxpayers to high expenses? As a minister, are you going to require your parishioner to pony up a major portion of their contributions for the up-keep of the church building? Can you say “present value of future costs”? As a bank president, are you going to have your people spending time and being concerned about customers that won’t enter your bank because of all the construction work going on? Can you say “reduced ROI”?

When the time comes to do the maintenance, will it be deferred as long as you can get away with it? Will your citizens accept a run down municipal building or a tattered police stations. Is a shabby looking church where you want to go every Sunday? How many bank customers are turned off by the appearance of your bank building?

Granite is resistant to vandalism, and is suited to deterring all but the most determined terrorist. Granite is strong, and heavy so it is not easily defaced or broken. Repairs, should they be necessary, are usually minimal, and the color of granite goes all the way through so repairs don’t easily show. Intrusion barriers to protect against unwanted access can be made attractive using granite. No prisoner ever used a spoon to cut his way through a granite prison wall.

In each of these cases, the incremental cost of building in granite is not a large amount of money. Concrete would be cheaper, initially, but the cost of doing it right in granite from the beginning is not a large amount of money in absolute terms. Looking forward, the benefits of building with granite in the first place will only become more important.

As an example, NCGC built its current 3-story, main office building from Mount Airy White granite over 75 years ago. We also built all our curbs and walks, parking areas, and retaining walls from Mount Airy granite. After 75 years our location looks exactly like the day it was built, and maintenance costs have been zero. Lucky us.

The point is, smaller buildings, just like skyscrapers, should be built from granite. Granite is the modern building material—the latest and greatest. The ROI is outstanding, and your people get to focus all their attention on those things that matter to your organization, not fussing with trying to maintain an inadequately built facility—and the image of your organization never diminishes. When you build with any other natural stone or man-made material you are accepting limitations that don’t exist with granite.

Small buildings in a park or recreational area, including toilets, can be built once, and last forever. If you are not designing a Wal-Mart, you should be building with granite. And if you are building a Wal-Mart, consider granite chips in the tilt-up walls to improve the appearance, and fit better into the neighborhood.

Natural stone is very popular and will only grow in use. As an architect or designer you will need to be fluent in “granite”. You need to know all about granite building panels, ashlar blocks, granite paving stone, granite curb, and granite landscape items.

There is a far greater use of natural stone in Europe, for example, and Americans are only now beginning to know why. This fact is not lost on the concrete people. They are trying hard to make products that look like natural stone—such as pigmented concrete. Colored concrete is no substitute for the real thing. Colored concrete may look similar when first installed, but it quickly loses it appeal when the colors begin to fade and the surface deteriorates.

Now let’s address image—or more correctly appearance. A church should look like a church, and a bank should look like a bank—because it attracts the proper attention. How about a city—what should a city look like? Most people say the skyline defines a city, but most people are not looking at the skyline, they are looking where they are walking.

Walks, plazas and curbing are what they are looking at. Do your city’s walks and curbs look like crap? Are they broken and missing pieces? They do if you built with concrete. Consider instead the city leaders who insist on granite curbs and walks. These cities stand head and shoulders above the rest. They are the cities that get the attention of the world. New York City and Washington DC are two examples. They don’t have to worry about damage from snow or salt. They don’t have to worry about liability due to falls. They know their city looks better than 99% of the other cities around the world. Their citizens live in a quality town that has class.

If you are doing an urban revitalization project, use granite curbs and walks and see the immediate visual appeal of a modern, quality project. This one feature will frame and enhance the entire project. The curb and walks will set the stage for everything else—a minor cost for a major result.

New real estate developments pop up all over the US all the time. What distinguishes one from another? When the development first opens, there are only a few streets to give prospective buyers a glimpse of what is to come. Their only visual impression comes from the entrance and a few streets. Make the most of that with granite walls, high quality granite curb in various colors, and other granite landscape items. People want to know they are buying into a quality neighborhood which is not going to deteriorate when the builder bails out. They don’t want to look forward to future assessments to keep the place looking great. Different colored granite curb can identify various sections of the development.

Identify yourself as a knowledgeable professional, cognizant of the demand of the future—and pro-actively addressing them. Promote to your clients that you understand the future and why granite will keep your project looking like new. Granite is for “now” and forever—and we mean that.