It would be a mistake to say that granite is a natural stone whose time has come because it never really left. Let’s just say that, for a while, it was perhaps overshadowed by some newer, man-made products. But according to experts, it’s back in a big way.

Granite’s staying power was already recognized thousands of years ago, and there are surviving granite structures dating back to ancient times. The Great Pyramid of Giza, for example, houses a sarcophagus of red granite. The capstone from the Black Pyramid is on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. One can still see the light crimson granite surfaces of the Red Pyramid—the third largest of the Egyptian pyramids. Granite was also used on a smaller scale by ancient civilizations for columns, walls, floors, door lintels and window sills.

Today, granite is ubiquitous on the outside of many buildings of monumental proportions, such as our modern skyscrapers, because of its durability and resistance to fading. However you don’t need to own a skyscraper to enjoy its benefits. New techniques in quarrying and fabrication have made this natural stone more widely available and more attractive than ever to homeowners. With colors galore and new varieties being discovered regularly, granite is here for the long haul.

One of the strongest natural stones on Earth, trumped only by diamond, granite is a crystalline, igneous rock. It is one of the various volcanic rocks that cools and solidifies very slowly from magma deep underground. Granite is the most common intrusive rock (so named because the magma from which it forms often intrudes into the neighboring rock) exposed at the Earth’s surface. Composed primarily of feldspar, quartz and lesser amounts of mica, granite may also include other minerals in much smaller amounts, such as magnetite, pyrite, garnet and hematite.

“The varying percentages and patterns in which the minerals occur create the array of granite varieties we see,” says Massimo Perinelli, owner of Tutto Marmo in San Diego.

He lists the four main contributing factors as:

1.  The chemical composition

2.  The mineral composition

3.  The time it took the magma to cool

4.  The pressure exerted on the magma as it was cooling

Because feldspar is usually the main component of granite, it also most greatly influences the color. Near white, pinks, greens, reds and grays have long been used, but other colors are becoming more common.

“You can find almost any color, now,” says David Snyder, owner of Unique Stone Imports in San Diego, “including cobalt blue, purples, gold, rusts, all shades of green, blacks, grays, silvers and iridescent blue (Labrador).”

Granites are classified in various ways, one way being by grain (the word granite, in fact, comes from the Latin word granum, which means grain): fine, medium or coarse. The size of the feldspar crystals determines the grain classification; the crystal size is generally related to the rate of cooling, so the very coarse-grained varieties took the longest to cool.

Not all granites are created equal, explains Francois Hope, owner of GMG Stone in El Cajon. “The strength of the granite is determined by its density,” he says.

The hardness of granite is determined by its feldspar and quartz content. In general, granite with more quartz is more porous and lower in strength than darker varieties.

As opposed to crushed stones, granite is known as a dimension stone, which means it is a natural building stone that has been cut and finished to certain specifications.

Because granite forms a major part of the Earth’s crust, it is plentiful. It is extracted from the earth in blocks weighing anywhere from 8 to 23 tons, from quarries—described by Perinelli as “big bowls of rock.”

Granite is fairly common throughout the world, but the areas with the most commercial granite quarries are Scandinavia, Spain, Brazil, India, and several African countries, including Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Some also comes from China, Italy, Madagascar, North America, and Russia.

The quarrying process used to involve drilling, pounding, blasting and sawing. But that has been simplified and modernized with the advent of the diamond wire saw—a collection of wires covered in diamond segments that allow pulling entire blocks of granite from the earth in a faster, less destructive way.

“Granite is cut from the mountains in huge blocks (about 7 by 10 by 20 feet), then transported by truck to a mill,” explains Snyder. “The blocks are then put under a gang saw—a wet sawing machine of 70 blades across—and sliced into slabs 2 to 3 centimeters thick like a loaf of bread. Unlike a loaf of bread, it takes about 24 hours to cut through a block. Each slice is then polished by machine. The slabs are then bundled sequentially in groups of 10. Buying in sequence gives the greatest movement and color consistency in that particular bundle.”

If you’re wondering about how stone can have “movement,” Snyder explains that movement is the unique pattern of colors and crystals that “moves” through a piece of granite. What is considered beautiful movement is a matter of personal taste and a client’s creative vision.

Because of increasing customer demand, companies that supply granite are constantly searching for and making huge investments in finding new quarries, Perinelli explains. “They are constantly looking for new colors, and the search for new colors is consumer-driven,” he says.

Perinelli also states that the challenge to quarries these days is not the finding of new quarries or determining how deep the granite runs, but rather figuring out if opening a new quarry is worth the investment. There is currently no way to determine what colors a quarry will yield; and there can be variations in color within the same quarry. “If the color changes, sometimes they just rename the material,” he says.

Experts say the use of natural stone, including granite, marble, slate, limestone and travertine is on the upswing as homeowners are rediscovering its beauty and appreciating its durability. “Whether polished, honed, tumbled or custom mounted, you are sure to add beauty to your home,” says the Encinitas Tile & Stone website about marble and granite.

“About 80 percent of home builders are now incorporating granite,” Hope says, “recognizing that it adds value to a home, especially when used in the kitchen.”

“The most common application of granite is on kitchen countertops,” Snyder says. “Granite used on a countertop will outlast the cabinets it sits on.”

“Granite is also being used more on floors, particularly in contemporary homes and in commercial applications,” he says. “New techniques are being used to make granite slip-resistant: Flaming to create a more crystallized surface, brushing to add undulations, and sandblasting and honing to dull the surface are options that make it a safer material to use on a floor.”

Granite is also finding a home in bathrooms and master bedrooms, and is also a good choice for the great outdoors. Its ability to withstand the elements makes it suitable for cladding, paving and curbing.

“It’s also used a lot in barbecues because of its strength,” Hope says. “Besides being beautiful, it’s also popular because it’s an even surface and easy to work on.”

Granite is naturally bacteria-, heat-, scratch-, and stain-resistant. But, if you’re concerned about staining, a contractor can add a surface sealant to increase stain-resistance and can help you choose one that is nontoxic, which is, of course, important in food preparation areas.

Granite has it all. Durability, versatility and sheer beauty and technological advances in quarrying, fabricating and installation make it a rock-solid choice for inside or outdoors.