Do you have an opinion on what countertop material to use for a kitchen remodeling? Considering quartz, granite, or formica laminate (high definition laminate). I'm leaning towards quartz, but interested in other opinions.
Thanks.
I like granite slabs because I could get it at a reasonable price and have the tools to do it. I also like concrete, and have the tools as well, as you could be creative and go nuts with it but the wife don't like it for her kitchen even after I show her my Fu-Tung Cheng books, DVD and even drove her to his studio for real samples of his work.
I also prefer a natural stone, either Granite, Quartite or Marble (to your taste). Next I might like some of the man made stone (quartz and resin) then the composites like Corian and last by a mile is any kind of Laminate (well, tile is 3 miles behind). Even if it looks great, it will not enhance the value of your home and may even decrease it if the majority of other homes have solid surface tops.
For natural stone, buying a slab and having it cut and installed is the most expensive route but the only way if you have large odd sized islands or unusual features. For common counter top dimentions you will find many prefab natural stone counters and 4" backsplash strips in which only the sink hole and trim to length is required and labor and material costs are much lower. These come with bullnose and cut to counter depth. Lower cost than composite in many cases.
IMO concrete will go out of style eventually. Concrete composites (like recycled galss) are more interesting but somehwat institutional to my taste. People will eventually see it for what it was. Even though the raw matrial is cheap all the formwork and grinding and color treatment can add up to make it expensive as well.
I just went through the same problem. Since I found Silestone (there are others of the same type) to be less maintenance and more durable, I bought it. None of these are cheap, but if you want to do something and leave it alone for years, I think you should consider the Quartz countertop. Mine is beautiful.
buffalo ny: for function, the self-draining one piece old fashioned cast iron counter/sink still serves me better than anything newer, as you can use your rinser to rinse the counter into the sink. deeper sink for your pots and pans.
For simplicity and cost I would go with plain old formica. You can get it relatively inexpensively, and it lasts a long time if it is properly installed.
Of course it isn't very much in style. It is much too simple for the modern home show.
Bill
I've always had laminate, but recently I got a small piece (2 x 3 ft) of granite to try. I haven't had it more than a month or two, but I have my doubts about whether I'd want an entire kitchen made of it. Every time I put a plate or glass down, it makes a terrific clank and I'm afraid I'll break something.
Over time I will probably get used to not banging things around. I think it looks wonderful and I like that it handles heat better than laminate. (The piece I've got is next to the stove.)
Cindy Hamilton
I've always had laminate, but recently I got a small piece (2 x 3 ft) of granite to try. I haven't had it more than a month or two, but I have my doubts about whether I'd want an entire kitchen made of it. Every time I put a plate or glass down, it makes a terrific clank and I'm afraid I'll break something.
Over time I will probably get used to not banging things around. I think it looks wonderful and I like that it handles heat better than laminate. (The piece I've got is next to the stove.)
Cindy Hamilton
In the spot in my kitchen most likly to be used for food prep I have put a large 24" cutting board so most of the time dishes land on wood. I also have a couple well placed smaller plastic cutting mats. The rest is open stone. After a year, all the broken dishes have come out of the dishwasher or from rapid contact with the floor, none due to the hard counter.
I wouldn't want stoneware dishes on a granite countertop though. Too close to fingernails on a blackboard.
re: After a year, all the broken dishes have come out of the dishwasher...none due to the hard counter.
Of course, you might not really know that for sure.
If a dish was cracked by rapid contact with the counter, it could experience a hairline crack that you might not notice. You then put it in the high temp dishwasher, it expands unevenly and the dish breaks in two. You open the dishwasher and exclaim "The d*mn dishwasher broke another dish."
Think about it...what inside the dishwasher would cause the dishes to crack? Unless they were banging against each other while being washed, I suspect that any broken dishes found in a dishwasher were weakened elsewhere.
Formica will still be around years from now when the faddish faux stone countertops have been trucked off to the landfill. Just pick a pleasant design you know you'll still like in 2020 and invest the money you save in the kid's college fund.
Joe
"pipedown" wrote in news:PD_Wj.882$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:
We have granite in our new house. It took about a week for putting things down gently to become normal.
It's easy to clean, but it takes more care than laminate--strong chemicals can react with the stone, depending on the stone. Also, some natural stones are sensitive to heat.
My kitchen is stainless and maple. The area around the stove and sink is stainless with a large sliding cutting board (25x25) that works as a prep area and another cuttinbg board for actual cutting. The peninsula and island are maple with poly on them. It was my wife's idea and I wasn't sure about it at first but they have worked out great. I laid up one myself (biscuits and glue) and bought a work bench top from Graingers. The cost was about the same. If it ever does get banged up too bad to live with I have a belt sander that will bring it right back but so far they seem to be holding up to a lot of abuse with minimal damage.
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