granite worktops

[sm_jamieson]

OK, new kitchen is nice but the only thing spoiling it is the laminate corn er joint right next to the sink, which is starting to fail already. It is i mpossible not to get pools of water there and not even a perfect joint can survive standing water for long. So we a looking to replace the worktops already. Granite is the obvious thi ng. Worktop to be replaced is an L shape 3m x 2.5m, tiled with 5mm sealant join t. New worktops plus any underlay such as ply must total 40mm to meet up wi th the tiles. Cutouts for a job and a sink (I'm don't care about an under-slung sink and drainage grooves). Now, granite worktops seem to have a large scope of quality (re-inforced ar ound cutouts or not etc.) and prices, thus rip-off merchants abound.

Anyway, about how much should I be paying for the granite worktop described above, obviously templated and fitted by them ?

Simon.

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 04 January 2014 20:16 sm_jamieson wrote in uk.d-i-y:

might let you get a quote for guidance...

[sm_jamieson]

Got an online quote from planet granite that is local to me. approx 1400 + VAT.

Simon.

[Tim Streater]

Granite is the obvious thing *not* to use, in our opinion:

1) Too dark so you can't see if it's wet or dirty. 2) Too easy to put something on it a little harshly and break it (chipped several things already) 3) They thought they would be cute and grind a draining board into it. Trouble is, there is no slope on the grooves so water doesn't run away. Instead it runs the other way, down the units and onto the floor.

All in all, effing hopeless and we'll both be pleased to see it in a skip. Where the sink is will be replaced by a double-drainer double-sink sit-on stainless steel unit, if we can find one. Fuck this modern shit in kitchens.

[Jim K]

I'll have it:-D Email is valid.

Jim K

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 04 January 2014 22:50 Tim Streater wrote in uk.d-i-y:

What would you like if you could choose anything?

I like wood for a number of reasons but it's a bugger to keep nice when it gets wet. "Regular" worktops just are not that robust, especially with heat and wet.

That was of course a rather silly build error on someone's part.

Whatever worktop I end up with, I have decided on a stainless steel sink. They are kind to glasses, last forever and are easy to clean any amount of crap off.

[Mike Barnes]

We chose a light colour (from Kashmir).

Not a problem here.

We have a stainless unit (one and a half sinks, single drainer) laid onto the granite.

Very pleased.

[tim......]

Am I the only person who hates then :-)

tim

[polygonum]

What I hate about so many is that they seem to have a dark blue/grey tinge. Makes them look so dull and dingy. Whereas our stainless steel cutlery (for one example) is much more the colour of real silver. Indeed, much S/S is lighter than many sinks.

Some that look a bit lighter seem to have a slightly rough surface that attracts sale out of the water and ends up with a slightly chalky look.

[stuart noble]

The trendy domestic kitchen is no use for cooking. Most families only need a dedicated unit to throw pizza boxes into.

[Mike Barnes]

No.

But if you give me a good reason why, you'll be the first to so so.

[Tim Lamb]

My wife dislikes them. I suspect this may be a ploy to acquire the ceramic butler sink she yearns for. Why is it that people who have no knowledge or financial involvement in funding a supply of hot water have this yen for elbow deep suds?

>

[Tim Watts]

On Sunday 05 January 2014 11:02 Tim Lamb wrote in uk.d-i-y:

God no!

Find a 30cm or equivalent number of smaller heavy tiles. Place it in a plastic bowl on the kitchen table.

Take one of her favourite glasses and drop onto tile from a height of about

6". That should knock that idea on the head...

[David J]

When I asked a kitchen fitter about a granite worktop when changing my old laminated one, he advised that the existing cabinets would not be strong enough to support it. So check that out.

[tim......]

I just think SS sinks look cheap and tacky -and a lot of them are :-) (though I agree, not all)

tim

[Tim Streater]

Well the double-drainer double-sink one we saw in a farmhouse a few months ago certainly looks 1950s. But so what. It *works*, thass the point.

The trendy sinks these days seem to be of two types (ignoring the butler crap that you see in trophy kitchens):

1) offered up from underneath (like ours was), which leads to there being a crap-collecting rim below counter-top level and a problem if the sink mounting allow the sink to sink (as ours did) 2) dropped in from on top. Good luck sweeping water off the counter top into the sink - it has to go over the lip, where there's another join for crap to collect in.

[Gazz]

Is the worktop at the drainer end supposed to be raised a little to allow the drainage to work?

I've got normal laminate worktops, and put in one of those round bowl stainless sinks with a drainer tray attached, went to great pains to get the worktop installed nice and level, but the drainer part of the sink is perfectly flat, so the water just sits in pools until it overflows all over the worktop and onto the floor.

Only way to sort it is to raise the drainer side (or lower the sink side) and as the sink material is thun, it'd have to be the worktop that has the slope on it, i guess it's my fault for buying a cheap shit sink, but it was the other half who wanted this style and found the cheapest one she could, saying 'they are all the same, just different sellers rip you off more'

[alan]

I'll bet the love for a butler sink doesn't last for long.

[Tim Streater]

I just looked at the one we had installed in the utility room, a one basin with one drainer. It came from Howdens. The drainer part has a built-in slope. So you just install it horizontally. Being a sit-on sink/drainer, it completely covers the unit it sits on, with no extra worktop being needed.

One thing about it which I will bear in mind for next time: it seems to be made of pretty thin stainless, so it flexes all over the place. Glueing some bracing to the underside before installation may have been in order.

Well now you can tell her they aint. You have to do your own research on this stuff.

[alan]

Cheap doesn't have to be shit. My cheap stainless sink with drainer has a built in slope.

I posted a month or so back that when looking at sinks (for someone else) I noted that some of the more expensive designer type sinks came without a hole for the overflow.

I'll bet that most of the sinks you will find in the sheds have been designed by someone that has never fitted or used one.

It's much the same with a lot of bathroom ware. It may look stylish in the glossy catalogues but it's never shown being used with real water! Water from that shallow bowl is going to end on the chipboard surface that its balanced on.

5 years down line how do you get to replace that tap that was fitted to the bath BEFORE the bath was installed or installed before tilling etc.?