Visions For Kitchens and Bathrooms

A while ago a story was published in a solid surface trade publication about the use of granite countertops and the release of Radon gas. This produced a myth that granite countertops are dangerous. It was quickly discovered that the author of the story worked for a company making laminate countertops. They were trying to scare people away from buying granite.

Once again this is being raised, this time by BuildClean^TM, a Houston-based group that claims to be a “pending not-for-profit organization that educates consumers and the building industry about safe, healthy and environmentally friendly materials.” The organization appears to be funded by Silestone and Cambria, two companies that manufacture synthetic stone countertops. If you visit the BuildClean site at www.BuildClean.org you will see that the organization appears to be narrowly focused on stone countertops and nothing else.

Here are some facts. Some rock contains small amounts of radioactive material. As they decay to a more stable state, they give off radiation (alpha, beta or gamma). Granite and sedimentary rocks and weathering products like clay minerals are all potassium rich. Potassium has a radio-isotope that emits radiation. When potassium decays, one of the bi-products is radon gas, which itself is radioactive.

But there is no danger from granite countertops. Remember your food was grown in clay rich soils or your meat once ate grass that was grown in such soils. Also, many people live in granite areas without any ill-effects.

A university researcher on the geochemistry of radioactive elements for nearly 20 years at Penn State University and the Colorado School of Mines stated,

“I would suggest that a good way to reduce our exposure to the radon present in outdoor air, would be to build an air-tight house out of granite slabs”

Above granite image courtesy of Zoonie.

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File this under tooting our own horn, but our Pedra modular granite countertops have appeared on TV recently. The show is Movin’ Up, which is featured on TLC (the Learning Channel), and of course we’ve got on a clip our News Room. Watch it here.

The couple you see in the clip, figured out what they needed for their project by choosing colors of granite tile countertop kits that most interested them. They sent in their plans, which outlined the layout of their kitchen, and we built an order around what they needed. After that, they completed the installation themselves with little guidance.

Part of what made things easy was the Pedra planning guide, which builds out various pieces of the countertops according to floor space and kitchen cabinets. From there, the guide provides a direction as to how many end sets, intermediate sets, and corner pieces that are needed for a medium to large-seized kitchen installation.

There were actually two couples involved in this episode. One chose the Tan brown granite countertop. The other (featured in the clip) chose Desert Brown.

One of the things which makes this product one which I’m most proud of, besides the fact that it’s patented of course, is that the countertop tiles can be butt joined (no grout line) thus making it look like a solid surface when completed. The seam can be sealed by a thin coat of clear kitchen grade silicon applied on the butt joint sides of the tile. Also, each kit is smartly packed so it is easy to carry to job site without the same risks of breakage, which is a traditional problem with slabs.

So, that’s a little bit of product placement for our Pedra line. But, it’s not every day that we get on TV!

Have any of you seen the program? If so, what did you think of the results of the installation?

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