The stone benchtop is the commonly preferred material for countertops; this is because the stone is more stylish, attractive and sleek. In addition, the stone has excellent resistance and strength as well as resistance on high-temperature variations. This ensures the countertops do not develop any cracks if a steaming utensil is placing on its top. The stone benchtop will not undergo any damage even if you place a bag of ice the benchtop.
A functional quality stone benchtop should be strong and durable. However, not all stones are similar. There are many differences in the quality that arises out of the process the stone is cut, polished thus forming a finished product. For example, a long crack forms a stone block once busted out of the mountain. Because of this, other slabs cut from the damaged blocks of stones have cracks.
The process of extracting stone blocks from the mountain is expensive. Since the quarry owners do not discard damaged blocks, they instead sell them at a low price in the factory over who intern uses them in for camouflage defects. Ultimately, the stone benchtop is destroyed easily during transportation as well as storage.
When choosing benchtop, it is essential to consider the stone type. Otherwise, you will end up making up a poor bargain. Therefore, you need to pay close attention to the quality of the stone. However, the problem is identifying defects in polished marble. This is because the manufacturers use many tricks, such as applications of adhesives in covering the cracks. Therefore, it will be difficult for you to identify if the stone is of high quality unless you are sure of what you are looking for. Here some of the parameters that will help you identify defects in a stone.
Cracks :
During the polishing process, cracks appearing in the stone are covered. However, it is challenging to identify cracks on the sides already polished. Therefore, to determine the breaks, you need to check the unpolished reverse side of the stone slab. When you give the stone a close look, you will see cracks on the opposite side in case there is crack’s present. Hence, this becomes the most basic way of checking for cracks.
Pattern Defects :
Good quality stones have uniform colours as well as patterns. However, the colours and patterns are not usually even. This is because of the uneven concentration of particular minerals within the stone. For instance, the excess quartz content shown in the form of white patches around the slab.
Overall, always be smart when choosing the stone benchtops. You can quickly identify unevenness in stone at the thickness of the slab; it is, therefore, essential to study the side of the slab keenly and along the edges to ensure, the depth is uniform. Most important, you should not buy an uneven slab because its weak links may lead to easy breakage. Hence, you will be required to purchase another pair of stone benchtop. This is the main reason why you should be keen always.
