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Kitchen Counter Tops
Not wanting to hijack the Kitchen Cabinet Thread I started this one. Our formica counter tops are getting kind of ragged and we're looking at replacing them with something new. We're looking at something like Granite, Marble, some of the man made stuff, ect. The cabinets are custom made and only the tops will be replaced. So, what do you have? What do you know about counter tops? What do you suggest? We are looking for something not only attractive but durable. This is a working kitchen as my Wife cooks a lot, and they will get stuff spilled on them. Thanks for the replys!
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I have granite, it is durable and low maintenance. prices are good depending on what selection you choose on colors and edge detail.
-quartz is another option and looks about the same, but more money than granite.
-Real marble kinda miserable, looks good but likes to stain and scratch a little easy.
-cultured marble is some sorta man made resin. scratches easy and dose not look real.
-soild surface is a polymer of some sort, glues up nice and sand seams out, more money than granite and quartz usually have not priced in a while. not a DYI project
- concrete is taking off also, expensive. I don't know much about it other than that.
Prices vary by locations but granite is mostly likely the best price when you step up from formica.
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I had access to corian, a division of our company had a license to sell and install and I was able to buy the stuff wholesale and DIY. we went right over the old tops and it raised the counter by a half inch, did the whole job in a day
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We went back in with laminate tops. They are pretty cheap and look good for quite a while. We did this because I can do the work myself and it is relatively inexpensive. When they start to look bad in 10 years or so I will replace them, if I am still here, as part of "redecorating" the Kitchen. We will be tired of the color anyway by then.
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Most of the man made counter material will stain or rot. Wood moves and can be a pain to keep sealed. It's tough to beat granite. Most popular colors I see are Saint Cecilia or Uba Tuba both from Brazil with a leathered finish to hide water spots. Both are very durable and I've seen them used commercially. Stainless is pretty good too.
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We cheaped out, and had the formica butcherblock counters recovered. Bad move. We should have saved the $$$$ and done a full upgrade to either granite or a man made equivalent.
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We had granite tops made. Something I learned the hard way.....
Make sure your sink will work with the existing plumbing. We went with an under mount sink that was about an inch deeper than the old sink. Under mount makes the bottom of the sink sit the thickness of the counter top lower to start with. Add an inch deeper sink and the drain now sits about 2" lower than the old sink. I ended up having to remove exterior siding and lower drain lines to get the sink to drain properly. If we had picked a shallower sink all would have been good.
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A friend just bought a kit to refinish her formica countertops that were looking pretty old. She did the work herself, and the countertops still look good after almost two years. As I understand, you sand down the countertops, put on a special primer, when dry put on a special topcoat, then let it dry.
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Within the last year we had quartz countertops installed as part of building a new kitchen in our very old home (85+ yrs old.) We looked at everything from laminate to stainless steel. We chose the quartz (Cambria) over granite because we felt it will stand up to our kitchen lifestyle. We cook an awful lot and didn't want to have to worry about burning, scratching, melting, eroding the countertops. Quartz is not absolutely impervious to everything but we felt it was better than granite for resisting stains from foods and resisting etching from acid in certain foods. Quartz is not perfect either. We were told not to use bleach based products for cleaning. Quartz is NSF approved. It is less porous than granite or marble. We have had the quartz for a year and are very happy with it. We would buy quartz again today if we had to do it over. We installed an apron front stainless steel sink but had it flush mounted as opposed to under mounted. It is a deep sink and didn't want to have to bend over any further to reach the bottom of the sink.
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We are in the process of renovating our kitchen as well. We are replacing the existing quartz counter tops with a white/marble looking quartz. The demoed existing quartz I get to use for my new reloading bench top and the remainder for a future outdoor BBQ area.
Unfortunately we require 65 sf of quartz so that make us require (2) slabs. Of the (2) slabs we will only use about 1/2 of the 2nd slab so I will have a partial slab left over. I got (4) quotes and they all where within a couple of hundred or so....still expensive stuff but I plan to not ever replace.
Take note that most granite and quartz is about 1-1/4" thick. My current CTs are 1-1/8" thick so I had to remove the tile backsplash so the new CTs will fit as they go under the tile. Fortunately I was planning on replacing the tile back splash so it was no big deal, but if you have one and was not planning on replacing, it can cause a fitment problem.
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PM Gtrubicon...Nobody on Earth fabricates & installs finer Granite Counter Tops. He can advise you which granites to avoid also how to prep for the Granite installation.
I'm not prejudice just because he did mine...;)
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I would recommend the Corian counter tops. For a couple reasons one if you do damage the surface it is easy to sand out. Two colour selection. Plus it is extremely durable. Granite is nice but a couple of the downside is it can crack and it is very heavy. I think in some cases cabinets have to be beefed up. I am not sure if they still make it but SSV was a material that just had a thin Corian type surface and rest of thickness in wood. It's only advantage was price. FB
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You can cut the corian yourself with carbide tipped saws, and router bits. The backsplash on our guest bathroom counter top was a plain 3/4"x3"x60" length of white corian. All edges were square. I used a carbide cove mold router bit to dress up one edge, and had no problem whatsoever.
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Went with granite in this house after having corian in two previous houses. You cannot beat it for clean up, it is always slightly cool, no problems to set a hot pan on it as far as cracking and it looks great. Because we did our bathroom sinks were included as they were joined scraps. Disavantages to both are things break when you drop them on it.
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As a ceramic tile contractor for 30 years I have some experience and opinions. Granite is far and away the most durable and affordable upper end countertops currently available. It has always been available but was very expensive in years gone by. Many slabs now come pre-sealed and require little maintaining. Marble is very soft in comparison but offers a look completely different. The man made products are good but I think overpriced. Don't cut corners and hire a good fabricator/installer. I've always discouraged people from using trendy products unless they planned on selling soon and select finishes that will stand the test of time. But ultimately it's your money and your house. Good luck and make sure momma's happy!
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We had granite counter tops installed in our last house. Loved them so much we are planning on doing granite when we redo our cabinets and counter tops in the new house.
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Leathered granite for the counter tops and marble for the island. The granite is a textured black and the marble is carrera. We had them mitered with an edge piece 2" wide attached. Looks like he tops are 2" thick.
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Concrete tops can be done yourself. I helped a friend pour 20 feet of it. 1/2" ply bottom, reinforcing mesh wire held up 1/2 inch, then a lip around the edges and for the back wall we just layered up tape and poured up tight to the wall then cut off the exposed tape when it was dry. That was 10 years ago. His house is as old as mine and settles and moves and no cracking yet. Some stains now but that is a part of a concrete tops character... he reseals it once a year.
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Thanks for the reply everyone. Planning on going to look as soon as the weather clears up. I've drawn a sketch with dimensions for pricing purposes.
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In one of my rental houses I have the original 1953 counter tops. I'd really like to know what material it was made with. They don't look new but whatever it was made from has definitely stood the test of time.