Stone notes
Notes from the shop on picking stone, caring for it, and what we have learned templating and installing kitchens across the Midlands. No sales pitch, just the truth as we know it.
Perla Venata and Taj Mahal quartzite come out of the same mines and the same rock. The difference mostly comes down to how each slab gets graded and priced, not a different stone.
Read the note
Quartzite is tough, but it's still natural stone that needs sealing and a little care. Here's what real upkeep actually looks like.
Read the note
Sealing granite buys you time against spills, it doesn't make the stone stain-proof. Here's what sealing actually does and why wiping up messes still matters.
Read the note
There are two flavors of bad information about silica and countertops: the version that terrifies homeowners and the version that downplays a genuine worker hazard. Both are wrong. Here is the straight line on each.
Read the note
Different stones carry very different amounts of crystalline silica, which matters a lot for the people cutting them and not at all for the finished counter in your home. A straight, brand-neutral rundown.
Read the note
Respirable silica comes from disturbing stone, not from stone sitting still. That single fact explains why fabrication is the exposure point and a finished counter in your kitchen is not, with one honest caveat about DIY.
Read the note
Silicosis gets used as a scare word without much explanation. Here is what the disease is, how someone actually gets it, and why it concentrates among fabrication workers rather than the people who own the countertops.
Read the note
Silicosis from cutting stone is real and serious, and it has a specific cause. Here is the straight version: who is actually at risk, why it is a fabrication issue and not a kitchen one, and what a responsible shop does about it.
Read the note