The Quarry

This is a stone quarry. It is quite a process to get the large granite blocks out of the mountain. Sometimes the blocks are blasted out and sometimes they are cut.

Block cut from the mountain

The granite blocks are cut from the quarry and ready to be shipped to the blockyard.

Blockyard

We will sometimes search for the right stone before the blocks are even cut. When we do this, we purchase the entire block and have them processed overseas before they are shipped to us.

Carefully Inspected

When we shop for entire blocks of stone, each one is carefully inspected in the blockyard.

Blocks are cut into slabs

The entire block is often cut into slabs all at once by a machine called a gang saw that uses diamond wires. It can often take days to cut through one block of granite.

Resin each slab

Each individual slab that we import has been through a process in which a resin is applied and baked into the slab to fill any tiny fissures and bring out the natural beauty of the stone.

Slabs Polished

Once the blocks are cut and the slabs are resined, they are sent through a polishing bed. Again, we are often on site inspecting the entire process.

Slabs into Bundles

Generally six to eight slabs of 3cm granite or 10 to 12 slabs of 2cm granite are placed into a bundle. These slabs will all have been cut from the same block and will be almost identical in appearence.

Loading a container

A container will be loaded with seven bundles of stone. Each bundle is braced with wood to keep them from moving during their long journey (usually from Brazil, Italy or India) on a ship to a U.S. port.

Loading the ship

Each container of stone will be loaded onto a ship. The ship will be at port for a number of days while it is awaiting all of its cargo to be carefully stacked.

Container Ship at sea

The containers of granite and marble will be at sea for up to 4 weeks.

Unloading at port

When the ship arrives, the containers will be unloaded and custom cleared, then put on a truck for final delivery or taken to a railroad for further transportation.

Train transportation

A train will take the container of granite or marble to its final destination city.

Truck to Triton

When the train arrives at the rail yard, it is loaded onto a truck and delivered to Triton to be unloaded.

Unloading the container

The container is dropped off for only a few hours. The wood protecting the seven bundles must be cut and each bundle will be pulled out individually. Granite slabs can weigh more than 1000 lbs each, so safety is one of our biggest concerns.

Placed into our vast inventory

Once the bundles of granite are unloaded, they will be added to our inventory for the home owner to view.

Template the job

Once you have selected the color and picked a granite fabricator, the fabricator will come to your house and make a template of the job. This allows them to know exactly how to cut the slabs.