05/18/2026
"You get what you pay for." Common wisdom, often repeated about many major purchases we make in our lifetime. But does the same hold true for Natural Stone Countertops? Not really. While price and quality of the workmanship in your stone go hand-in-hand, the pricing of the actual stone itself does not. So, why is that?
We will start with the primary factor in what makes one natural stone more expensive than another natural stone.
Entry level Granites generally display a speckled, granular pattern. They may have several colors in them, but for the most part those colors are evenly distributed throughout the slab, giving a very consistent look. So consistent and stable, in fact, that many of them are suitable for use in an outdoor application, even through our Cleveland winters. This consistency indicates that these granites are very stable, solid, easy to manipulate and fabricate, and easier to install in your home.
They are also very common; many quarries in a region may carry the exact same color/pattern of stone, and especially when the deposits are large, supply isn't a factor. This contributes to making these stones readily available and less expensive.
At the other end of the spectrum, Exotic stones often have exquisite veining, wide sweeping movement, unique coloring, or large regions of pure quartz. They are generally limited in supply; in fact, some colors/patterns of granite have disappeared from availability as the deposit where they were quarried has petered out. Unique and rare patterns contribute to the price of a stone, as will unusual colors and particularly dramatic movement.
All this veining and movement means possible discontinuities in the mineral structure--places where two geologically distinct minerals come together. This can cause fissures in the face of a stone. Fissures have the same appearance as a crack, but the separation does not run through the entire thickness of the slab. Can a fissure become a crack? Yes! However, if a fissure is going to open up into a crack, it will happen when the slab is being moved and manipulated, such as in transport, or being moved around in our fabrication shop. Once a slab has been fabricated into a countertop and installed in your home, any fissures will be just that--naturally occurring fissures that can be seen and felt, but do not indicate any structural problems in the stone.
Another issue that can arise with exotic stones is small (or larger!) voids in the actual quarried block of stone. Many times, these are filled in with an epoxy resin filler. This "factory fill" as it's called, is typically a small area (smaller than a coffee cup, and often closer to quarter-sized), which can be felt on the surface of the stone. The fill is generally clear or matched to the color of the stone. In some cases, a larger void may be filled with the resin and pieces of the stone itself added in, to minimize the visual impact of the fill.
Fissures and Factory Fill are both items that can be seen and felt on the slab itself. Stone Solutions will always do their best to inform homeowners of any fissures that can be felt, or factory fill in the slabs being used in their project.
Exotic stones often require special handling, in the quarry, the distributor's warehouse, and in our shop. This takes time, and adds to the cost of the stone, even before it reaches our warehouse. Additionally, Stone Solutions is taking the risk of broken material necessitating an additional material purchase to complete a job.
In short, relatively common, entry level stones tend to have very consistent patterns. As you move up in price, you increase your options in terms of color and pattern, but the very things that make the priciest exotic stone so special, also contribute to some not-so-desirable issues in the stone, that you need to be aware of. In many cases, Stone Solutions skilled craftsmen can work around areas of factory fill by avoiding them altogether, or placing them inconspicuously in your design. Similarly, fissures can be avoided, or rodded (reinforced from the back side) to protect the integrity of the stone.
