Granite Contertops

[3d]

We went with quartz. I highly recommend it!

[Fritz]

first off, nice cabs Grateful. That looks like damn fine craftsmanship there. Wish what I dropped looked as nice, but my spouse tells me I'm too picky from years of doing my own carpentry.
Not that the others pictured aren't.

We have granite which we quite like and have had no issues with. It's a very dark black galaxy type.
It is sealed and I redo every couple years.
We have had no issues with hot pots on it.
The one incredibly giant stupid ass mistake we made (though others certainly helped with dis-information) is a seam at the half way point of the big deep bowl Kindred sink. It just looks like .....

It was a lack of knowledge of what order things should be done and contractors who, since they didn't get to GC the whole job, didn't speak up about installation order. Whatever. Get over it, will I?!!

But the front and back of the sink are perhaps an 1" and change.

My specific reason for granite over any other surface was/is baking. I like it for bread and pies over any other surface other than a high quality wood.

We put in a full wall backsplash of subway style tile.
If you're changing sinks, don't get one too deep. Your back will thank you in years to come.

Our experience was an under mount is a better idea. We went with one big bowl. It's a more personal choice that.

I don't think the dishwasher/stove gap is much of an issue because modern ones both have decent insulation.

We clan the granite with soapy water scrunge and TJs green cleaner.

I was wondering about the whole radioactive thing. Now I know why we've been off the grid these last few years and why the AEC keeps knocking.

[Grateful11]

Thanks Ftritz. We had them made at custom cabinet shop, they were about $2K more than cabinets from
Lowe's, we felt it was worth it. They were able to build exactly what we wanted. Lowe's told us we didn't
have enough room for an island but we had plenty of room. The top on the island is Oak butcher block
from Ikea. The Granite is called Yellow River. The seam is in the corner and most people can't see it until
we point it out. Our Kitchen was a complete gut job down to the studs.

[ScottG]

Can I move into your kitchen?
That looks amazing.

cheers

scott

3d wrote:
We went with quartz. I highly recommend it!

[Carm]

Old house came with "granite", we installed an island and used quartz. It was very durable. It did stain with food coloring, but it was bleached out with no other problems.

[Fritz]

Grateful11 wrote:
We had them made at custom cabinet shop, they were about $2K more than cabinets from
Lowe's, we felt it was worth it. They were able to build exactly what we wanted. ...Our Kitchen was a complete gut job down to the studs.

way nicer looking than what I got from a "better" NYC custom show. I'd have been better off with a KraftMaid job. Quality is so hard to find in the NYC area for cabinets without paying twice what we did (which wasn't cheap).
I went to a few of the jobs this guy did. Mine ain't as nice. But the homes came from "better" homes.

[richorlin]

One strong recommendation I can make is this:
IF you are ever planning to replace your cabinets, do it BEFORE installing the new countertops if you are using anything other than laminate. When you replace the floor-level cabinets, you will have to remove the stone countertops and no reputable company will give you a guarantee that the stone won't crack or break.

We replaced our countertops before the cabinets and ended up having to reface the cabinets rather than replace them entirely. We were lucky that the cabinet boxes were in great shape and we found a local company with a good reputation. They did such a great job that unless you look inside, you can't tell that they are still the old cabinets.

[3d]

If you are planning to have undersink pull out garbage bins now is the time to think about space constraints when shopping for a new sink (depth).

[3d]

Thanks! It was a mid/major remodel down the studs when we bought the house. There was a side door to the driveway right where the sink is. And there was a wall where the dishwasher is that separated the tiny 10x10 kitchen with the small 10x10 eating area. We turned it into a rectangular eat-in galley kitchen.

ScottG wrote:
Can I move into your kitchen?
That looks amazing.

cheers

scott


[quote=3d]
We went with quartz. I highly recommend it!