When shopping for granite countertops, you might wonder why a certain piece of granite is considerably more expensive than another slab, when to your observation, they are actually identical in color, shape, and size.

This is because figuring out the cost of granite countertops is not as simple as taking note of the color, shape, and size. There are so many more factors that are involved in determining the final cost of granite countertops. In order to understand all these factors, let us discuss how granite countertops came to be.

First, there are miners called quarry workers, whose job is to dig out blocks of granite from underneath the earth. Granite is found near mountain ranges all over the world, and some of the most popular sources are the Chinese, South American, and European mountain ranges.

The quarry workers locate these pieces of granite by digging deep in the ground. Just the task of removing them from the quarry is very tedious. Blasting is out of the question as this will shatter the granite and render them useless. Instead, the quarry workers use special cutters to take out large blocks of granite at a time. These blocks are so heavy that a single block often weighs as much as twenty cars.

Once the granite pieces are extracted, they are then taken to Verona, Italy. This is where the rough gigantic blocks of granite are converted into the classy, smooth and shiny slabs that the general public is more familiar with. This process involves a lot of cutting and polishing, using massive equipment and machinery.

This process is also not easy. In fact, it takes about a week in order to produce a single smooth-surfaced granite slab from the initially coarse mammoth block of rock. All the expenses from these procedures naturally go into the computation of the cost of granite countertops that we see in interior designs stores everywhere.

This is the main reason why seemingly identical granite slabs sometimes have price tags on the opposite ends of the price range. The cost of granite countertops involves the transportation cost of the granite pieces, as well as the processing expenses.

In addition, the patterns that you find in the stones also affect the final cost of granite countertops. Experts can tell you which patterns are rarer than others, and these naturally cost much higher than common patterns. This also goes for the colors in the stones. There are rare and unique hues that will be heavier on your budget.

Now that you know why the cost of granite countertops vary so much, you must also understand another thing. No matter where the granite block cutter came from, or how rare its color and patterns are, their durability and resilience is more or less at the same high level. So if you don't have the budget for the rarer pieces, go ahead and buy the less expensive ones. You can be sure that you can enjoy the same practicality as you would from the more costly ones.

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