ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area granite counter tops

Ann, what do you like for countertops? I'm definitely in the "uses the kitchen" camp.

Congrstulations are in order!

Pics would be nice too, if you have them. I am curious how the 16" slabs look.

I am the kitchen person here and I went with stainless and maple. The "L" between the sink and slick top stove is stainless with a big sliding cutting board and the other 2 counters are maple with poly on it. Very forgiving of dropped stuff and very easy to clean up.

The way I see it done often is to put a substantial bed of plywood down (3/4 -1") and level that, then the stone on top of it. The ply extends over the counters and stabilizes the whole thing. That thickness of ply on a sizable counter may seem expensive until some electrician comes by and break dances on the thing and it cracks.... But that is all after some cool template making with veneer stock strips and a glue gun.

We have some sythetic (rock-hard)tile on the CT's now in our getto phabulous Kit, it too it hard to put things gently on. The wife and I may demo in the near future and she wants butcher block w/ accenting stainless back splash and drawer fronts to match the undercounter fridges. I plan to do the whole thing myself.

You have to be careful not to get the counter too thick or the faucet stems won't be long enough.

In answer to the question posed "what do I like?" My fav surface to work on is a smooth top formica (not heavily dimpled) - these days you can get some pretty impressive styles the only drawback is that you have to be totally anal about sealing any joints and KEEPING them sealed (L-shaped tops etc) otherwise the particle board will expose and will eventually get wet and swell (there is a business opportunity if I ever saw one!). I like stainless - it's forgiving on china etc but I think (personal observation) stainless steel tops and appliances can make the kitchen look commercial and it detracts from the "homely" look if the place looks like a KFC prep area. Ceramic tile is harder on china and glass but not to the same degree as granite and also can be made to look good - the grout always gets stained though and eventually winds up as a dirty ivory color if white or off white was used.

Any opinions on the new quartz composite countertops? I'd heard nothing but great things about it and my wife and I were going to put this in our new kitchen, but if people are complaining that granite and tile are too hard, this stuff could be terrible.

Ann I guess I like the commercial look and it is really easy to clean up. I had the whole "L" shaped counter top fabricated in one piece with welded/polished seams and a backsplash that goes all the way up to the "uppers". If you have something explode on the stove you just wipe it down.
I bought a "work bench top" from Grainger for one of my counters and made up the other counter because it was too long and too narrow to buy as a bench top. The money worked out about the same.

I thought there were no DIY questions allowed

Just no DIY electrical questions. If you are building a nuclear reactor in your basement or doing brain surgery in the garage this is the place to ask your questions. We will give it our best shot ;-)