Granite Worktops - Truth, Lies and misinformation

Alan_M_2

Black Galaxy and Star Galaxy is fundamentally the same thing, some suppliers refer to Black Galaxy as a stone with a slighter darker background colour, or at least they used to. But the difference is now a little blurred and it's accepted that Black or Star Galaxy are used for the same product.

I.e. We actually supply Black Galaxy, but as most people understand it as Star Galaxy we use that name, it's a Black Granite with a copper/bronze Fleck.

Absolute Black and Black Pearl are also Granites for the purposes of kitchen fitting.

All of these stones are natural and whilst the technical geological term for each may be different they all fall under the generic heading of Granite based on the fact the are quarried naturally as blocks, cut and polished.

Breaking them down into their individual geological categories would simply be confusing and unnecessary for public consumption, although the information is available to those who are interested.

kittykat23uk

Thank you Alan,

That's really helpful- my fitter seemed to think black galaxy was some kind of composite material, perhaps he was thinking of something similar like corian, which i know he works with and sometimes comes in a similar finish. Saying that, as someone who studied geology I am interested in the difference between these forms of rock.

Alan_M_2

In which case you'll find the following interesting:-

http://stone-network.com/absolute_black_granite.html

We have a problem with Absolute Black at the moment, the problem is peoples perception of how deep black the colour of a natural stone should be. As a result most of the big suppliers in the UK are currently supplying Indian Absolute Black which has been epoxy polished with a colour enhancer....this isn't dying the material, its slightly different.

However as soon as the material is cut and polished the edges appear as a different shade to the surface, plus there have been instances of cup marks being left on the surface of the material as a result of chemical reactions. However in most installations it remains beautiful looking for many years, I'm just not comfortable selling as the market is starting to become educated to the higher quality (and more expensive) products.

We've decided to stop selling this type of product despite it being standard industry wide and we're currently searching for a direct polished (i.e not enhanced) pure black at a sensible price....the trouble is that's hard to come by and whilst we have found a good source of Premium Black material it is terribly expensive, (25% more the Black Galaxy) and we're not sure if the market will pay this kind of money. Everything is about the price in the UK!

kittykat23uk

Thanks Alan, very interesting read.

kittykat23uk

So anyone here got any recent experience (positive or negative) of any of the following granite companies?

Granitefitters.co.uk
mistermarble.co.uk
UKaffordablegranite or
Tiles and tops?

Many thanks,

Jo

ivysoul

Hi Jo

Yes I may have a negative review on one of the companies mentioned. I am hoping this will sort itself out, if not I will let you know.

SHEILA54

Hi

I paid a deposit to granite4less.co.uk 2 months ago to have granite worktops fitted.

My kitchen fitters have told me that I should not use them as they are asking them /me to measure the base units instead of templating which would then make it their/my fault if there are any problems. They are not local but this does not seem to be the norm.

On a search it also appears that their domain name is up for sale, which makes me suspicious.

I live in Greater London, Bromley area.

Please can anyone advise as I have already paid a 10% deposit and they did not send a receipt, as promised.

Alan_M_2

SHEILA54 wrote: »

Hi

My kitchen fitters have told me that I should not use them as they are asking them /me to measure the base units instead of templating which would then make it their/my fault if there are any problems. They are not local but this does not seem to be the norm.

I have to say I agree with your kitchen fitters in this respect.

You're paying a company to install the granite, they should at minimum be doing a site survey for a simple fit and a template for anything more than a simple fit.

It is simply unacceptable to expect the kitchen fitters or customers to measure for this as you'll simply not understand the nuances of the work.

How was the deposit paid?

(In Bromley you have a well established firm that do this very type of work - Marbles Ltd - Speak to Graham there if you'd like a second opinion). Or I know a number of other firms that can help.

Asking a customer to provide measurements (for manufacturing purposes) is so unprofessional. Providing measurments for a quote is acceptable, but not for fitting.

Maidstone_Boy_2

Alan,

I have been following the threads and your guidance is extremely useful. I am due to place an order in the next few weeks and was wondering if I could speak to you concerning a few details? Are you contactable off this site, as I see your advice is limited?

Many Thanks

amanda47

Thank you Alan, :beer: