Intrinsic factors influencing the decay of the granite as a building stone

The granite used in the construction of a dolmen in Axeitos, northwestern Spain, is taken as a methodological example of the influence that some characteristics of this kind of rock at different scales (e.g., fracture network and alignment of biotites) have on its physical properties (especially on sonic wave velocity). The anisotropic behavior of the granite also conditions its forms of deterioration when it is subjected to salt crystallization tests.