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Granite Characteristics
| The 3 main characteristic features of granite rock are: Hardness, Durability and Aesthetics and they are the primary reasons which make granite pavers perfectly suited for architectural landscaping and pavement applications. |
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Hardness of Granite Pavers
The hardness of granite material is determined by the resistance of granite to be penetrated by a different solid rock of higher hardness. The hardness of the granite rock is factored on the location, density, size and overall cohesive value of the mineral grains that make up the granite rock. Hardness is a technical value for granite classifications which is used by stone masons to calculate the technological and labor cost of working with granite material. Resistance to scratching and durability in foot traffic areas are largely dependent upon the hardness of the minerals that make up the stone. For this reason granite pavers are ideally suited and commonly used for residential and commercial pavements.
The main minerals found in granite are quartz and feldspars, making up for approximately 90% of the stone. The hardness of a mineral is determined by use of Moh's Scale of Relative Hardness, developed by the Austrian Mineralogist Friedrich Moh, in 1822. Generally, granite should have a hardness of about 6 or higher based on Moh’s scale.
Durability of Granite Pavers
| The concept for defining the durability of granite material is based upon its ability to maintain it decorative property and polished surfaces during its lifetime in service. Once again, the strength and structure of the mineral components will be factored into its durability rating. It is known that the finer or smaller granite minerals are stronger than larger grained |
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granite materials. Therefore, finer grained granite materials are most durable of all granite materials. It is interesting to compare and know that quartz has the most durable polished surface which can maintain its luster for up to five hundred years.
Granite follows after quartz as having a long lasting polished surface. Granite pavers have been used in Europe for hundred of years and proven to be a very successful pavement material.
Aesthetic Value of Granite Pavers
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As mentioned at the beginning, Hardness, Durability and Aesthetics are the three main criteria by which granite is characterized. Of these 3 criteria, aesthetics or decorative value is the most highly regarded because it has the greatest bearing upon the pricing of the granite material. The beauty of granite is judged by experts who base their assessment on the grounds of color, textural and structural factors. There are four decorative categories. Category #1 is of highly |
decorative value, Category #2 is of moderate decorative value, Category #3 is of lower decorative value and Category #4 is at the bottom of the list and is categorized as being of non-decorative value.
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