Lava stone is glazed and fired in the fabrication of Pyrolave countertops. The outcome is a very hard, resistant finish that can even be used in laboratories. The material can also be used outdoors, as it also holds up to freeze/thaw and heavy impacts. I've been told that Pyrolave is used in all Paris Metro signs. Although it is durable, it also has a very soft, natural appearance that offers relief from our highly industrialized built environment. -regina
I don't know. As a geologist I always find some of these marketing ploys a bit ridiculous. "Volvic lava" (from their website) isn't lava or rock derived from lava at all, it's a marketing term that generally refers to andesite, a rock that cool underground just like granite.
These guys are just taking rock and putting enamel on it. It's no different than the finish on a tile, except I'd expect that since it is one big piece, it's vastly more expensive. It's probably a very beautiful product and would have the same resistent properties as tile, but without the grout lines.
Again, I'm sure it's pretty, but there is nothing special about the "lava stone" aspect of it. You could apply the same treatment to slate, granite, or any other rock.
We researched this when we were choosing our countertops.
If I remember correctly though interesting, it was signficantly more expensive than even granite was.
Lavastone is beautiful and has incredible colors. I would have loved to have used it in my kitchen. Or anywhere. However, it is extremely expensive.
I think the cost is something in the order of over $300/sf. That took it off my list right away! However, a French house in the U.K. magazine Homes & Gardens (Sept. edition) had many, many feet of it, making me wonder if it is significantly cheaper in France. They used it as a bath surround as well as bathroom counter. It's a nice way to add colour.
These are gorgeous!! The colors have such an interesting quality to them.
The product is made in France, the cost is astronomical, lead times are next to an eternity, and there is NO margin for error.
The finish is similar to what a LeCreuset pot is like. If you are still interested, it is available at select Expo Design Centers.
Although this is probably the best known purveyor of the stuff, I notice that they do not have a broad colour range, and I have seen lots of reds and yellows, which they do not carry. Here is someone else who does, and I daresay there are others out there. http://www.pierre-de-lave.com/enamelled_lava/decoration.htm
If you're gonna pay through the nose for it, you may as well get the colour you want...
Its interesting to read all these comments about us! Clearly theres a lot of mis-information about. You cannot apply a glaze to slate, or granite etc. as it will crack in the kiln. It is real lava from Volvic in France. Its a million miles away from being like a tile - the intensity of colour, the lustre, the crazing - its why designers & architects across the world see it, love & use it. (www.pyrolave.com.au) We can supply it in any colour - just send us a RAL reference or paint swatch. The only thing you all agree on is that we are expensive! Well we do the same work as other stones & then glaze it & then fire it. Hence we have 2 extra process to go through that are very risky. However its good to know that our product is appreciated & that its creating such an interest!.....thankyou
After 12 years of working with Pyrolave, my comments :
- impossible to fire slate or granite with an enamel coating. only the lavastone from Volvic has the properties to fire enamel on a large piece.
- we do ANY colors, standard and custom
- it is an actual lava rock from the Volvic region in France
- expensive, yes. Partly because US$ is weak against the EURO. Exchange rate situation does not help. But definitely a high end craftsmanship material.
- extremly resistant to shock and unaffected by weather
- rich, beautiful colors
- lead time : 6 to 7 weeks
Try it !
Thank you
Any competent Stone templater can work with this material.
Air freight adds to the cost.
The company -Pierre de Lave- mentioned above by Monica does not have the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) cutting tools and scanning lasers that Pyrolave employs, nor do they have a good system for under-mount sinks and joining of strips.I have worked with this company (Pierre) and find that the cost is higher, Company service lower, and the tops fabricated to a lesser standard than that of PyroLave.
I have worked with Pyrolave - templating and installing tops for six years, in the New York Metro region, and our clients love the material.
in response to: Posted by ro at 10/20/06,
I am not a geologist, however I understand that Granites have different minerals and silicas all mixed up making 'pretty' patterns, and if you take an acetylene, or Mapp gas, torch to the surface of a slab of granite (& some limestones) we get small sections of the granite spalling off, which creates what in the stone world we call a flamed, or thermal, surface.
My understanding is that the basalt/ or igneous rock quarried, coated and fired/surfaced to become 'Pyrolave' is a stone thath is very even in composition & so takes the heating process without catastrophic failure.
The other thing about Pyrolave is that, yeah, any one with the right stone & kilns & colors could do it, but in actuality only the French of Pyrolave (& their one small competitor) are doing it. It's like the la Creuset enamelled pots, or any other manufactured item.