Making a kitchen worktop with granite tiles

[Alf]

Is granite porous? Ask Alf :roll: .

Trev.

I am not Alf but I can tell you that granite has a very low matrix porosity but can have a high apparent porosity due to microfractures. This depends on the source and history of the rock. It is more than enough to cause sealants to be necessary in most cases.

See my head? See where all that went? 'Bout 6' over it... :roll:

Cheers, Alf

 

[mudman]

I am not Alf but I can tell you that granite has a very low matrix porosity but can have a high apparent porosity due to microfractures. This depends on the source and history of the rock. It is more than enough to cause sealants to be necessary in most cases.

I'll go with that. Granite apparently is especially susceptible to it when extracted using explosives or where explosives have been used in the quarry. A chap I know from Scottish Heritage was telling me that they can't use the granite from original quarries to repair ancient buildings as every single quarry has had explosives used at some time and ruined all the remaining stone.

See my head? See where all that went? 'Bout 6' over it...

Alf,

Stone isn't porous, but if you fill it with holes, it will let the water through.
It's actually the principal behind cave formation.

 

[Alf]

See my head? See where all that went? 'Bout 6' over it...

Alf,

Stone isn't porous, but if you fill it with holes, it will let the water through.
It's actually the principal behind cave formation.

My head hurts. Someone take pity on me. Either stop trying to make me understand or, using small words, explain what porous means then. Isn't that holes too? :?

Cheers, Alf

 

[mudman]

Sorry Alf.

You are right, porous is just lots of holes.

Granite doen't normally have much space in it due to it being volcanic and not sedimentary and so isn't very porous. But fill it with cracks and you have a lot of interconnected tubes that water can find a way through.

 

[Bodrighy]

Don't know if this helps but we have a 10' worktop in our kitchen that is slate. It is set into a bed of cement that was poured into a form. The cement is approx. 3" thick and the tiles are 1" thick. The whole thing is supported on three brick piers. The grouting is cement that has been treated and sealed in some way. It was done before we moved in and has been there for at least ten years. No problems at all.

Pete

 

[cutting42]

Hiya

I used some 300x500 granite tiles to make a kitchen table top to match our standard granite worktop. Used 18mm MDF as a base and a flexible adhesive. Again butted the tiles tight together but used a little sand free grout with flexible compound to fill the chamfer on the edges and it looks fantastic. It would work well as a full worktop with usual care to level the tiles, got mine from Topps Tiles for 9.99 per tile.