When it comes to hard-wearing and attractive stone for use in commercial and residential renovation building or projects, the mountain quarries of Brazil provide some of the most desirable. Called Verde Butterfly granite this surface material is highly favored by designers for kitchen counters, bathroom back-splashes or as luxurious cladding in office corridors, reception areas and elevators.
Granite is a very hard igneous stone created deep beneath the surface of the earth by the compression of molten rock and crystals. A favorite with designers, this type of stone is generally either cut into slabs or tiles or cut thin and bonded to aluminum of other kinds of lightweight panels.
As with all of the stone materials like marble and granite, depth of color can vary wildly from piece to piece. This makes it imperative to physically examine the stone that will be used before it is cut to determine a good match for paint or cabinets. Typically Verde Butterfly is a dark green, course-grained and with notes of lighter and darker color.
This kind of material may also be porous in varying degrees. Sometimes the surface of the stone is sealed with a resin to smooth out small pits or cracks. But some slabs may be uniformly smooth and non-porous and can just be polished and are ready to go.
Although every bit as durable and attractive as similar Brazilian Grade A stones such as Ubatuba and Green Peacock, Verde Butterfly does tend to be a bit more expensive. This may be because its patterns are more exotic and complex while remaining uniform.
As with any home decorating purchase, money can be saved by comparison shopping different dealers and suppliers. Sometime a supplier receives a larger than usual shipment at once and is able to quote a lower price on imported stone. Price cannot be the only concern however. It is very important that once a price has quoted, the stone is examined by the purchaser to check for color depth and flaws. These are things that cannot be changed once the stone is measured and cut.
No artificial surface can compare to the natural depth and quality of natural stone. It is famed for being most durable and Verde Butterfly granite is famed for being exquisitely and uniformly patterned. Cut into large tiles to clad a bath area or vanity or used as a counter-top surface or back-splash in the kitchen, this stone is a magically practical gift from Nature.