Semi-OT: source for granite countertops

[todd]

Perhaps semi-OT, but these countertops will be going on top of cabinets that I made. I'm in the western Chicago suburbs and I'm looking for a good source for granite countertops. I could, of course, go to one of the big boxes and pay $100/SF, but something tells me their prices are inflated. OTOH, I could go with the $30/SF price advertised by some unnamed person in the classifieds, but that's a bit too unknown for me. I'm hoping that someone in the area here has used someone reasonably-priced that they were happy with.

todd

[Howard]

Like everything else you usually get what you pay for. Earlier this year we had granite countertops added to our home office, about a 30 square foot job that included one seam. We looked at the small samples in the big box store, then we went to a modest countertop company, had a cranky saleswoman and never saw a slab we really liked. Then we went to a better company, had a good saleswoman, they moved slabs for us to look at, etc.

In the end we picked a specific slab with an interesting pattern and color highlights we found appealing. They marked the slab to specify where to cut. The six holes for the computer cables were no charge. The installers spent the time to make the 14 foot long surface level and flat. And the seam is almost invisbile as the installer made it very narrow and mixed the epoxy to match the slab. The office was spotless when they left.

Price, the highest of all the > Perhaps semi-OT, but these countertops will be going on top of cabinets that

[todd]

Great. Where in the Chicago area are they located?

todd

[Leon]

In Houston I have seen several well done jobs done for about $80 per linear foot of counter space. Just a guide to go by although as we all know, pricing varies greatly by location.

[Andy]

I know it's not really the same, but one alternative (depending on the restraints of your budget) is to use granite tile on the countertop - do some googling for pictures. Some look pretty nice - I was surprised (I was initially pretty skeptical about large tiles on countertops). I was pretty seriously considering this option a few months ago when looking at buying an older house that needed countertops. Good luck, Andy

[bf]

Well, if you are really hardcore and want to save money, there's some places that sell the slabs cheap,ship them to you, and then you can use a diamond circular saw blade and cut it yourself. I think it's

or something like that. Never used them but was looking around at options a couple years ago.

[George Max]

You'd probably wanna cut those outside of the house or office since this is going to make a lot of abrasive dust.