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Thanks for all the input everyone, sorry I did not respond sooner, busy week. The pit is outside and sits on a ring of concrete wall pavers built up about 4 layers high. The customer is going to let us cut it into 4 sections. Any suggestions on what to seam it with, I was thinking a black silicone to allow for flex, but will it withstand heat?
Randy,
that is the issue, even the “safe” granite carries with it some risk. Till the DOE low level studies are completed, all we have to go on is ALARA.
No getting around it, I can sell Class A granite at .3 mSv/yr, , but it will never be risk free. One of the things ot consider when chosing a countertop.
Like Lenny said, a blend of commerce and consumer safety. Just don’t call it risk free, call it what it is.
Hello Jim,
Nice column by the way. You’ve been one of the guys in the industry defending solid surface all along.
U S uses 17 million barrels per day, European 14 million, Russian 2.5 billion barrels per day, so your figures are right on. Would think that we use a lot more per capita. A big part of the problem wouldn’t you say? Still our lack of fair trade (same labor laws, enviromental, and social laws) leaves us at the mercy of the countries that will dirty their land and sicken their citizens all to gain work for their poverty stricken masses.
That was the only way forward for tthe Chinese govt, and it might work out in our favor eventually. There have been some good stories in the Journal about rising inflation overseas, rising food prices and fuel prices mean wages have to rise as well. One of these days, if the capitol market doesn’t search out cheaper labor, land, and friendlier govts (they already have, right Lenny?) If so, this could turn into a boom and bust cycle like mining towns in the old west.
And my idea of indexing food to oil is base on reality, it takes oil to make fertilizer, plant, harvest, process, and ship. That along with the ethonal production took enough excess food or grain out of the system to create higher prices for the US farmer, the market’s way of indexing a commodity with what ever is needed to produce that commondity.
Good point on France having a highly profitable, compact export. Licquor has always been just that, farmers would distill their excess into a more valuable, easily transported, compact product that sold quickly and most importantly, could be stockpiled far easier and safer than a bin of grain. Harvest time in developing countries to this day suffer from huge price drops when harvest time approachs, too much will be available with no where to go unless there is a grain/commodity market and the means to ship and store till better sale conditions.
Look at it this way. Take a closed market, kill off five percent of the production of widgets and the price of widgets go up. Take the same market, set up five percent more market than can be locally supported and watch the prices tank for widgets. Then have all widgets be harvested in one month each year.
Or just go to stoneadvice.com and read what is happening to some of the major stone markets, even places like Arkansas is hurting from too many shops for existing demand. They won’t admit it isn’t just the housing slowdown, it is the granite slowdown.
France exported a little less than 14 billion of wine this year, quintiple I believe of previous years. U S Grain exports including feed grain hit 27.5 billion last year, so you weren’t that far off. Go back a few years and you would have been way off. The U S exported 56 billion in farm products., down from record 62 billion or so in 04.
What can I say, Dad was a cattle rancher, I still follow the markets.
We are importing 240 billion in oil each year. And are exporting 240 billion in dollars to pay for it. Printing dollars to pay for oil is not a good thing, or selling bonds.
Ron Paul has it right. This is not going to work long term.
High polish looks great. And is ok in very limited applications. Just be careful of the customer who actually uses theirs for cooking. Wet bars ok, bathrooms still ok. Kitchens,, sell them a service contract cause you’ll be going back.
Here is a good quote from a stone website
Is it true that granite countertops are bacteria resistant?
Yes it is! Researchers measured the bacteria resistance capacity of six common countertop materials and granite and stainless steel performed significantly better than four other countertop choices. If you are concerned about bacterial contamination of your kitchen countertops, granite is the way to go.
Boy, these guys aren’t going to let the truth get in the way of feeding their families.
