tow653
Gold Member
Worked fabricating both granite and quartz. I would take granite any day over any of the quartz products,the epoxy used to bind the quartz doesn’t like heat.
Countertops
- Thread starter tjkubota93
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MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 58,393
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
That's formica? Hmmm... I gotta get up on things. Never seen curves and such in formica. When I hear formica, I think flat, square corners.
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 58,393
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that looks very nice, too. :thumbsup:
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Granite has been king for decades. Priced continue to drop, and techniques continue to improve. Since you are not sure of what you want, I tell my clients to go look at the granite in the yard and see what jumps out at them. Get a price. Then go look at other choices and see if you can find something that you like better.
If you are just doing an island, or a basic rectangle, you can go to just about anybody to have it done and pay the lowest price. If you have an L or U shape to your counters, there is a very noticeable difference between different shops. There are two companies where I live that are great. The rest always disappoint. Probably the worse are the box stores. They have a contract with a granite company and they show you a sample of what you will be buying, but you don't actually get to see or pick out the piece of granite that you are getting. Somebody will come out to your house and make a template on your new cabinets. Then they will figure out where to cut it and you end up with what they decided would be best for them, not for you. The two good shops here will have you pick out what slab you want from what they have in the yard. If they have 6 slabs of what you like, but you see a flaw in every piece, they will drive to Dallas and pick through what's there for the best ones, and bring them back for you to look at. When you find the slab that you like, they will mark it as yours. Then when it's your turn to have yours cut, they will lay the template out on top of it and call you in to look at it. They will not cut it until you give them the OK.
If you are just doing an island, or a basic rectangle, you can go to just about anybody to have it done and pay the lowest price. If you have an L or U shape to your counters, there is a very noticeable difference between different shops. There are two companies where I live that are great. The rest always disappoint. Probably the worse are the box stores. They have a contract with a granite company and they show you a sample of what you will be buying, but you don't actually get to see or pick out the piece of granite that you are getting. Somebody will come out to your house and make a template on your new cabinets. Then they will figure out where to cut it and you end up with what they decided would be best for them, not for you. The two good shops here will have you pick out what slab you want from what they have in the yard. If they have 6 slabs of what you like, but you see a flaw in every piece, they will drive to Dallas and pick through what's there for the best ones, and bring them back for you to look at. When you find the slab that you like, they will mark it as yours. Then when it's your turn to have yours cut, they will lay the template out on top of it and call you in to look at it. They will not cut it until you give them the OK.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
20 yrs ago, when i built, there were few granite places. Now they are everywhere.
oosik
Epic Contributor
Two years ago my son and I were visiting a friend of his in the city. Friend had some kind of granite or marble counter top. Top was three years old and had stains all over it. Round stains from coffee cups, splash stains from kids sugary drinks, etc. They were having some company come out and remove the stains. Sure hope it worked.
downsizingnow48
Elite Member
There are many products available to remove different kinds of stain from granite. Obviously fills a common need.
Paddy
Veteran Member
Both are fine with regards to holding up. For me, it's more of a visual point. Natural stone comes in many looks. Some have big patterns while others have a very consistent tight pattern. Quartz will have a tight pattern. So go to a counter top shop and take a look and see what you like.
I prefer a monotone tight pattern, wife likes large patterned. We have large patterned granite, she in the kitchen way more than me : )
I prefer a monotone tight pattern, wife likes large patterned. We have large patterned granite, she in the kitchen way more than me : )
I like Formica. Warm, durable, forgiving if you drop a glass, no stains, no worn areas, no maintenance. We considered everything when we built 15 years ago, but liked some of the subtle textures and patterns of Formica. It still looks like we installed it last month. It's nice to have so many choices from the stones Formica, and everything in between. There probably isn't a wrong decision as long as you get a good installer, like the place Eddie described.
kenacp
Bronze Member
Redoing my kitchen right now. Silestone will be installed on Friday!
