As I was wrapping up after a particularly trying day at work, one of the things that were nagging at me was the lack of transparency and educational materials in the industry for a prospective user of our products i.e., natural, and manufactured stones. Although there are thousands of blogs and articles out there that claim to know everything there is to know about different surfacing materials, and their care and maintenance, most of those are written by content writers who have never worked with the products in real-time much less, know anything about the industry or how it works. They are usually reading through a few blogs like most of us would and write the content in their words – yes, you get paid for doing that! That is why most blog posts have the same tips in different words.
What I do differently
As I prepare to step into the design world, I have decided to take a slightly different path and share my industry knowledge to educate readers and clients. In my experience, knowing my product and educating the client has always been the best way to ensure satisfaction and I hope to help make those surfacing decisions easier, at least for a few of you reading this.
If you have not already gathered it, you will see that I absolutely loved the products I worked with over the last few years and can talk about them all day and at any time. So, to tame my enthusiasm and make it easier for you to digest the information, I am breaking down the information into a series of fun articles - yes, they are fun for me and hopefully, will be for you as well.
Unspoken attributes of the natural stone industry
First things first, when I say stone industry – I am referring to the natural stone industry which includes granite, and marble which come out of the ground looking gorgeous and not the artificial “stone” countertop materials like quartz and porcelain that have risen to popularity in the last decade. Now that we are clear on what I am talking about, I thought I should shine some light on the peculiarities of the stone industry.
Stone names: If you have ever shopped for natural stone prior to reading this, you might have noticed that the name for a very similar-looking stone was different in different slab yards. This is a very prevalent practice in the industry for various reasons and flows down from the factories where the materials are bought. This is especially seen in stones coming out of Brazil where there are umpteen factories with similar product portfolios and the names become a way of making their products sound unique and exclusive. Since slab yards buy from different factories, they end up either adopting the names set by their suppliers or creating a new one altogether. The most number of aliases I have come across for one stone is eleven – thankfully, I never had to remember all of them.
Stone Colors: This is a quirk I have only come across in the stone industry thus far. Over the years, there have been a lot of stones discovered and one of the first things people try to concur on is the color of the stone. I am not sure if it is the way we perceive light but, I’ve never understood how natural stones especially from India are named with a color that is not in the stone. To make sure I wasn’t the only one not seeing the color in question, I asked my colleagues to check it out, and funny enough, half of us saw the color and the remaining did not. So, the next time you see a product called Emerald Blue and do not see the blue in it, rest assured, you are not crazy.
Stone Classification Misnomers: For those of you who have visited slab yards, you would have noticed that most natural stones are classified as granite, marble, quartzite and if you are lucky enough, you might see soapstone. What you do not know is that you are seeing much more than those categories specified on the tags. For example, the stones below are Schist and Gneiss (pronounced nice).
However, if you were to see either of these in slab yards, it is more than likely that they would be marked as granite. This grouping of stones into one of the popular categories – granite, marble, quartzite is very common in the industry and widely accepted. When done correctly, this simplifies your shopping experience without being overwhelmed or having to learn the pros and cons of ten other stone types like Basalt, Gneiss, Schist, Sandstone, Limestone, Bluestone, Travertine, etc. but, there are downsides to this practice which I will talk about in later posts.
Stone Quality notations: Another common thing you see in slab yards is the quality notations which are commonly premium, standard, and commercial. However, what is unsaid about these notations is that there are no established standards to which a stone’s quality is compared before these notations are attached to them. To further complicate things, few companies have internal standards for the quality of stones they accept to purchase while others do not which could make the latter company’s premium quality stone equivalent only to the former company’s standard quality stone. For this reason, I always tell clients to see the stone in person and choose something they love and not go by the quality notations alone.
Stone prices: This is always a fun point to address with clients who do not understand how one marble or granite can be ten to fifteen times more expensive than its cheapest counterpart. It all comes down to the law of scarcity – most of the super exotic granite and marbles are only found in one or two remote regions of the world where the conditions are quite extreme, and quarrying is not possible for more than half of the year. In addition to these factors, some of these stones also contain semi-precious minerals or carry historical significance which amplifies their values.
End Note
As fun and colorful as the natural stone industry is, not everything within is quite as black and white as it may seem. It is always best to do your research and ask a trusted source about the stone you are considering purchasing. I have discussed some of the most ambiguous and hotly discussed topics in the industry and among clients.
If there are more questions about the stone industry or a specific stone, shoot them my way. I love talking about natural stone and countertops.
Check out my series on countertop materials and make sure to follow On my Lanai on Pinterest and Instagram and subscribe to the newsletter below to get notified when a new post in the series is released.
Until then
U
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