Ceramic for rentals are ok especially you could really dress it up on the back splashes. I'm beginning to put 3/4" solid granite sheets on my rentals as a follow landlord turn me on to it a few years ago. I didn't understand why she put new oak cabinets and solid granite tops for her rentals until she told me it only cost her $4,000 installed. That was about three years ago.
Concrete countertops are nice!
Tile counter tops do look dated, but now that "everybody" has granite, it won't be long before it (and stainless appliances for that matter) looks dated, too, because.....once upper management finds that the cubicle dwellers have them, they will have to find something new and more exclusive for their kitchens....and everybody's quest for the newest and most fashionable will start over again.
Large (12 inch) granite tiles can be used to create a really nice countertop -- all the benefits of granite at much lower cost than custom fabrication from slabs.
In terms of bang for the buck, it's hard to beat, IMO.
Use minimal grout lines and a sandless grout. You will need to decide how to finish the front edge -- options include such things as special tiles or a hardwood molding.
Corian and its clones are seamless.
Corian can be installed with no seams. Granite cannot unless you have the right layout.
Light colors of corian do not show scratches but dark colors can. Visit Lowes or Home Depot and bring a key...
"Art" wrote
What's the objection to seams? If they're done right, they're hardly noticeable, and if you get someone who knows what they're doing, you can get long runs with no seams.
Steve
'fraid you're too right. What's the carbon-footprint of fashion?
Where you have 8 mos to a year and a half why dont you look into polished concrete. You have plenty of time to even do a mock up in your basement/garage and run some tests to see if you could do it yourself. There are plenty of resources on the net and at the bookstore/library about concrete countertops and with a modest investment in some fairly basic tools you could have some great countertops AND some tools to put in the garage when your done.
Just an idea, Mark
Hear hear. Unless you're fixing to sell (in which case why invest in granite), that something looks "dated" is a dumb reason not to do something, if you really like it otherwise. All this stainless-appliance/cherry cabinetry/dark granite/wood floor/stainless hardware look in the kitchen is just gonna scream
2000-ought decade in just a few years. And it's gonna be "dated".I went for granite for several reasons (I just plain love stone, the primary reason), but tile is fairly practical if the grout is chosen right and is sealed, and gives certain looks, like country or Spanish/Mexican that others don't. Disadvantages like chipping, advantages like price and DIY friendly. Don't pick a light grout. I picked chocolate brown grout in my terra-cotta colored procelein kitchen floor tile and my beige bathroom floor has dark grey grout. Seal it, wipe up spills right away for good measure, enjoy it, take a vacation with what the granite would have cost if you're not really into the granite.
If you like it, do it, but do what you can afford. Houses are for the living.
Banty
If you install a granite countertop it should look great and last for years, if not forever.
But that won't be good enough for some people. I can just picture a woman on one of those home improvement shows looking at a kitchen in the year
2015: "Granite, how creepy. If I want to look at granite, I'll go to the cemetery." And: "Stainless steel. How tacky. I don't go into those places, but people tell me that McDonald's uses it in their kitchens."
appliances
this is why i posted this topic....i've been away from construction and the service end of home improvements for a while now and never heard of concrete counter tops. it could be an option if i liked the results.
mike...........
Check the two books and the how to DVD video by Fu-Tung Cheng on concrete countertops:
We looked at all the different surfaces. Each has it's good points and bad points. While we were making up our mind I bought a maple work bench top from Grainger so we could use the kitchen. I put several coats of poly on it and we are still using it 4 years later. I laid up one of my own for the other side after I saw it in place. We do look a little commercial since the sink top, cooktop surround and backsplash up to the uppers is stainless but we cook here. It is not a "walk through" kitchen. I haven't been able to hurt the maple. I did have some left over to make a couple decent cutting boards tho.
I spec'd on in a custom house a couple of years ago, and depending on the level of finish expected, it can require a very experienced artisan, like the guy who did this one:
If rough, blotchy and stained is ok, then a DIY project it could be.
God made Granite... (pretty much) everything else is man-made. That says it all for me... we chose Verde Peacock granite (see pic I found on a web page)...
One tip... BEFORE you go to Home Depot and request a quote, find out who THEIR supplier is, and go directly to them. If you wait until after the HD quote, they won't be able to help you because of their partnership with HD... the HD markup adds a lot. Our supplier was in the same (big) shopping area near St. Louis.. just a little shop, but they run a big warehouse about 15 miles away where a zillion big granite slabs are stored with overhead crane arrangement so they can move them around. We went out and picked out the exact slab that we wanted. They came out and measured after we had the new cabinets in, and then went back and cut everything. Only the faucet hole was cut on site. One backsplash had to be polished on the end to make it fit, but other than being a dusty operation out in the garage, it was fine. It took three BIG husky guys to carry in the largest "L" side. We used black hair-line grout on the little seams behind the range, and a couple of vetical seams in the backsplash. Can't see them unless you know where to look. And they are THIN. Another advantage... it's so dense that the maytag diswasher is VERY quiet. yes, we got one with sound in mind, but it was the only appliance we kept from our old kitchen since it was only a couple of years old, and it's much quieter now than it was under our old builder's grade formica countertop.
We got a black sink make out of ground granite (can't remember the name of it), and had it mounted UNDER the granite, so you don't see any seam. I'll tell you, I LOVE that black sink. Nothing scratches it, and unlike white or other light colors, scraping a utensil or pot against it does absolutely nothing to it. We just clean it ever once in a while because we know it HAS to get dirty, but it sure never looks that way.
In case you haven't guessed by now, I recommend granite.
Steve Henderson
Big understatement.
Good advice all around Steve.
I'd skip HD all together, actually. Just go to a home show in the area. Ask everyone selling granite "Who does your fabricating? Where do you get your slabs?" At a home show I went to recently, there were
12 folks selling granite, 2 were fabricators. The other 10 companies contracted to those 2 fabricators for thier fab work!Also ask if they do their cuts in a fabrication facility, or on-site. Go with the folks working at the fab.
-- Todd H.
Better yet just check the yellow pages. There are lots of small fabricators around.
We've had granite for over five years and we absolutely love it.
I did find out the hard way that it is not impervious to citric acid. Somehow a piece of lime ended up behind the toaster oven and probably sat there for a week before it was discovered during routine cleaning. It actually etched the surface of the granite. Other than that, we've spilled all kinds of things on the counters, placed hot pots and pans on them, and abused them in many other ways. They still look as good as the day they were installed. There are no scratch marks, pitting, dulling or any other defects. And they're very easy to clean.
i just wanted to say thanks for all the tips and info on this topic.....i appreciate all the time people put into their responses.
mike.............
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