Granite worktops: any advice please?

[Andy Hall]

Quite.

Another few tips.

For the granite, you will also find that the price is affected by the blend of colours. We found one which is predominantly black but with crystalline silver-grey and quite subtle but rich blue under certain lights.

Try to borrow pieces of your chosen type and put them in the room for a bit, together with a cupboard door to get an idea of the final effect.

For the floor, it is worth buying a few pieces of slate of different types - two of each should be enough. It is worth looking at different sizes as well, but do try them in the room. We wanted something that would work for the kitchen and adjoining conservatory and settled on 600x400mm. This allows you to have fairly wide grouting which looks better with the uneven slate but without being massive.

We also played around with different floor finishes. I don't like highly glossed floors because they look like plastic. On the other hand, a matt or satin finich can look quite dull. Eventually we settled on products by Lithofin which are excellent, albeit a little expensive. However you don't much at all so it is likely to be something like one £30 container. We found that two coats of a silicone sealer (which dries just above matt) and a colour enhancer produced rich colours without making the final result look artificial.

.andy

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[The Natural Philosopher]

Go to local grave maker (monumental masons) and ask them. Often a lot cheaper.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I looked at that and it was more expensive than granite...

>

[The Natural Philosopher]

Cos they like McDonalds?

[Noel Hegan]

Found myself in a similar situation earlier this year. It was "decided" that our kitchen "needed" a revamp. And a granite worktop was "specified". Ended up for about 4.5 metres of 30mm x 600mm anthracite coloured granite £500. Not bad I thought and I actually like it. No fathing about with mats for saucepans straight off the cooker,hardly ever even use a chopping board. Guy came to measure up once the new units were in, made a 6mm MDF template. Couple of weeks later came back and fitted the granite, glueing it down with adhesive and filling the joint with black silicone. All in all a great job.

Rgds

Noel

noel dot hegan at virgin dot net

[Richard]

Got Granite worktop this year. Great. Used local supplier (Norwich) Half the price of other quotes. They did the template,and supply and fit. Essential in my view.

What no-one else has meantioned here, but you should NOT overlook, is that Granite is HEAVY. Your Kitchen units must be well constructed. Good carcas, and potentialy supporting braces.

Granite woortops tend to be half the depth of Laminate tops. To make them look the same depth a nose is glued on at the front. Ask them for options how this nose is cut. It does not have to be square, nor rounded. In my case i went for ~~~~~~~~\ | | / Front Edge ~~|~~~~~ \ | | | | |______/

With the join hidden in the nib in bit.

To help support the worktop, and to provide a tempoary top whilst it was being cut etc the units were topped with half inch hardboard coming right up to the edge of the units. The granite being cut and designed to overlap by about 50 mm and the hardboard thus being hidden by the nose.

The unit drawers and doors should be hung such that they do not hit the granite when fitted. A couple of mine had to be lowered 1-2 mm when the granite was put in place because they just caught it.

Also if you have a big kitchen, expect to wait more than a couple of weeks between template and fit.

Finally, when they come to create the template, agree with them where the joins are going to be. There are always joins, granite joins are less visable but still irritating if in the wrong place.

Richard

[Noel Hegan]

Ooops, may have had a slight memory problem with the granite worktop price. We are still waiting for the bill (after 6 months)and the figure may have been nearer £750 or so. I do recall that the granite was £500 more than the ordinary laminate worktop. Still good value and was chamfered and cut on the draining area beside the sink.

Rgds

Noel

noel dot hegan at virgin dot net

[Andy Dingley]

Have a read of "Concrete Countertops"

Highly recommended for anyone considering a major kitchen worktop project. Concrete is an interesting option and some of the techniques apply equally to any extra-heavy worktop material.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[PoP]

Because when they get home after a hard days work they want to pop in the kitchen and order a ready meal on demand from SWMBO?

PoP

[PoP]

Not having had experience of granite worktops a couple of questions are in order......

Presumably, being granite, the surface could be a bit cold during the winter months. How does granite stand up to having a hot pan stood on it?

And I would guess that you buy the granite worktops for a specific size. Can't quite see my router trimming one down...... ;)

PoP

[Christian McArdle]

Granite needs serious equipment to make the cutouts and chamfers etc. You pretty much have to get the supplier to do this, which is very expensive. A long straight slab of granite is much less than a complicated one with a Belfast cutout and integral drainer.

Christian.

[usenet]

... er, don't your knives get blunt?

[usenet]

My wife's sister also finds that she has broken quite a bit of crockery on her granite worktop, especially glass. It's very unforgiving if you drop anything on it.

[fred]

In article , The Natural Philosopher writes

Esp if you don't mind a few typos . . . . "In loving mammary . . ."

I used to know one and he said that they did do a lot of on the side extras, fireplaces etc [any puns, if present, not intended]

[Dildron Maldin]

Plus not forgetting that some types of granite worktop are quite radioactive. A friend of mine suffered severe headaches after having granite worktops fitted to her new kitchen, and had to have them replaced with granite-look post formed tops after being hospitalised.

Mal

[Andy Hall]

In reality it acquires the temperature of the surroundings. It does feel slightly cool to the touch because of being a better conductor than wood and for food preparation works well.

There's no real problem, although not something we often do.

That would be a challenge......

.andy

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[Andy Hall]

I'm not sure. I can't say that we have broken more things on a granite worktop than the laminated one that preceded it. Neither surface will flex if you drop a glass on it.

.andy

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[Andrew Gabriel]

Not sure how granite compares with thick slate, but my father made their dining table ~25 years ago, and had the slate top custom made from large sheets of polished slate from the slate mine at the top of Honister Pass in the Lake District. He liked the thought of it being completely heat proof (came out of a volcano, and plates and dishes don't get that hot;-) so no need for table cloths or place mats. However, the first time a hot plate was put on it, the plate cracked in half, and we had a couple more such incidents before having to return to place mats. The slate top has survived perfectly over the years without any damage appearing on it, in spite of constant use.

[ANt]

Try these guys..

had them make a Fireplace hearth for me a while back and were very good and I'll be using them for my kitchen in January. They supply loads of types of granite and are willing to travel pretty much anywhere. They're based nr Leeds but will come down, do the template, go away and do the work then fit the tops for you when completed (about 2 weeks in general).

mention my name if you speak to them as I'm looking to contact them soon also !

thanks, Antony Cook.

[Colin]

So... what is the name? How competitive?

Colin