kitchen remodel

We need to replace our laminate counter tops. What are the pros and cons of granite, silestone and quartz? Thank you.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in
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I have granite, and to be honest, I would have preferred Silestone or something similar. For one thing, the granite has little "pocks" in it - it's polished, but the "pocks" ae just characteristic of the stone. That might not be true of all granite, of course. The point, though, is that they're crud-collectors.
Also, although it's nowhere nearly as bad as marble, it *can* stain. And you have to be careful what substances you use on it. Since I sometimes use glass-etching acid, and utility sinks seem to have gone the way of the dinosaurs, I'm stuck with doing things like that over the kitchen sink, and the problem is that the stuff will etch the granite.
*And* you also have to be careful what you clean it with. And so on and so forth.
In my opinion, it's an overpriced pain in the ass.
Now, if you have nothing else to do other than clean and polish your stuff every day, the granite *looks* nice enough, however, as with "stanless steel finish" appliances, if you actually have anything resembling a life, give deep and serious consideration to materials with smooth, stain- resistent, easy to clean, and bacteria-resistent surfaces...

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You still making pomegranite wine right on the counters?

On Jan 2, 4:00 pm, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:
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I remodeled our kitchen last summer and used white corian, $36/sf installed. 10 years ago in FL our new kitchen corian cost $85/sf installed.

On Wednesday, January 2, 2013 1:00:55 PM UTC-8, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:
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It depends on what type of sink you want -- undercount or molded.
I bought a house with black granite tile. I would prefer a solid slab and a lighter color, but it's not worth changing.

Ron Peterson
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Wait til mold materializes in that grout.......

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in
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I hate grout. If I could get away without having it between tile, I'd celebrate. But people seem to see it as "decorative" or something.
The only way I know of to keep grout looking decent, is bleach plus scrubbing. Then seal it.
I once rented a place that had countertops of 3"X3" *white* grouted tile. I had to scrub that sucker at least once a week with bleach and a stiff brush, because the grout was a dirt-magnet.
I've dealt with all sorts of countertop materials in rental places, and FWIW, given my 'd'ruthers, I'd go with solid Corian or a similar product, especially if it could be fitted without grouted seams.
HTH -
- Kris K.

On Monday, March 4, 2013 2:00:52 PM UTC-4, Beauvine wrote:
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I'll echo Don's question: You still making pomegranite wine right on the counters? :) Sounds tasty, although pomegranite juice can be a little woody-tasting, although again, mixed with other juices can add some character.

wrote in
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I wish I was making pomegranate wine, Heh! ;) But nah, I just hate having to keep after stuff, so I dislike materials, finishes, and frou-frou which require anything more than minimal care. ALl in all, I prefer spending my time making things, or heck, even blithering on-line, LOL! Also, of course, simple surroundings don't compete with whatever artwork I've gotten through the years and like to display.
- Kris

On Wednesday, February 20, 2013 12:33:18 AM UTC-4, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:
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What about something like Tilex (brand name), or some other similar chemistry?

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For grout? Bleach works, is cheaper, and usually makes up most of the name-brand things. After a good cleaning, it definitely needs to be sealed.
But to me, all of that is a waste - it's a bit akin to going to New Orleans and building a house of Adobe - you'd spend your life (and income) having to patch it all the time.
A lot of things are like that - it's not that there are no alternatives; there are. But the things that require a bevy of maids to keep up with are considered "luxurious" and "desireable". Which means that, without said bevy of maids, they start looking like crap very quickly.
I'm close to 60 - I always disliked drudgery, and as my arthritis starts getting more bothersome, especially in my spine, it's more than just a matter of dislike.
If I could custom-build a place, I'd emphasize easy-upkeep...

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Clorox and an old toothbrush, or a "Sonic Scrubber", then seal it.
I hate grout, but the above procedure keeps it looking decent for a while. I got some grout sealer that's supposed to last 10 years.
OR, mix your own grout, and use acrylic admix and some Metakaolin, and if you can get it, some titanium dioxide pigment powder (which is used in concrete outdoors to be "self whitening). The acrylic admix and metakaolin will make it fairly waterproof/"seep"-proof.
HTH!

On Wednesday, January 2, 2013 4:00:55 PM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:
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of granite, silestone and quartz? Thank you.
Been about 5 months since installation and I'm pretty happy with the white corian counter tops. Still under the haze of "not wanting to mess up the ne w stuff" phenomenon. Mixing up some suet ingredients in a big ceramic bowl that is kinda rough on the bottom I put a dish towel down on the counter to keep from scratching it, stuff like that. Because water drops and crumbs a nd such are so obvious on a pure white counter I also spend a fair amount o f time cleaning up. I can't walk past a crumb or drop without nabbing it, t hus the kitchen always looks spotless cept in the middle of battle.
Still trying to get used to the GE white glass top convection range. It tak es longer for the convection oven to get up to speed but once its there it gits er done pronto. I think it cuts the bake time by almost half. But not always, mainly on the smaller stuff. A layer cake takes 55 mins while meatl oaf muffins take about 25.
The best part about the glass top is the clean up. It came with a small con tainer of Ceramix and it gets used almost daily, gonna have to get another one before to long. But that stuff works in a jiffy, making the surface jus t like new again no matter what spills over.
One thing I've noticed with the range is the performance is effected by how flat the bottom of the cooking vessels are. They should be perfectly flat and most of our's are not. We have (2) 8" fry pans that get used a lot but they are slightly curved outward on the bottom thus the entire surface does not contact the heating surface and this is inefficient. I have a very exp ensive Faberware 12" pan that is perfectly flat but that mofo is just too d am heavy to use all the time and it's ridiculous to use for just cooking an egg sandwich. So we're shopping around for new stuff.
That new GE dishwasher has a learning curve. Last GE we bought was in our F L house in 2002 and something changed in the industry since then. Now, the dishwasher connects to the hot side of the sink faucet. The old one connect ed to the cold because the dishwasher had a heating element in it, now they don't. I back tracked and found a friend has a dishwasher that was install ed in 2006 and it is connected to the hot side. IOW, the temperature of the dishwasher water is determined by the temperature of your faucet water. Ou r water heater is on a timer so at about 3pm it's possible the amount of ho t water available is minimal and therefore the dishes may not get as clean as they should. However, this new one uses much less detergent than the las t one - just 2 tsp worth.
If I had to 2nd guess something it would have been to eliminate the corian backsplashes cause we are considering installing stamped sheet metal backsp lashes and would prefer them to go from the counter surface to the undersid e of the wall cabinets rather than on top of the corian backsplashes.