Countertops

[Stimw]

I went through the counter top shuffle almost a year ago.
I needed 92 sq ft. 3 pieces. The one that I like would have been $7900.00 installed!!!!!
To me, most granite looks like different shades of Vomit!
I watch the home improvement shows on TV and just pictured the guy with the sledge hammer busting up the granite to replace it with the latest/ greatest in the future!
After a lot of research I got quotes on laminate (Formica), $2500. installed.
I watched utube videos, ordered the laminate, bought partical board and made my own for under $600. including a new Router!
The laminate in the pics has protective plastic that's why it looks dull.
It is easily replaceable if I find I like a new pattern. (just go over top)

 

[tjkubota93]

I'm with you, buckeye. Formica has stood the test of time, easy and cheap to replace, just does the job counters are supposed to do. I hate hard counters and sinks that break my nice coffee cups!! Least little bump, bang, there goes another one of my nice collector cups that I use every day, rotating them around, "Hmmm, which of my cups do I want to drink my java from today?" is how I like to drink coffee. Having lived in Japan over 25 years, I had a small hobby of buying nice cups all over the country. Must have about 100 of them. Love'em!! Granite, cast iron sinks, etc. break my cups! Dagnabbedit. We have two houses, but still rent in another place that had tile and cast iron.

Oh, our formica counters I installed when I built new kitchen in 1998. Look like new. Nary a problem.

Also, for y'all boys who like to follow trends, latest trend is that granite is going out of "style." Heheheheheheeee... dated, as they say. "Ewwwwww, these granite counters will have to go. They are so 2010 era. We cannot have those." Says Mackenzie to Connor as they shop for a house in their $750,000 budget... Whew...

I grew up with formica and had it in 2 houses. I want solid surface now.

But Mckenzie and Connor, that's funny and true. I wasn't sure if those types caused the quartz fad. Sounds like it may be equal to granite. I still have a hard time believing it's better.

 

[tjkubota93]

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.

My buddy that had the same job told me that.

He said they dried slabs with a torch and quartz didn't fare well. Edges got toasty.

 

[tjkubota93]

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.

We got a place like that in mind.

2 straight runs. Apron sink hole in middle of 132" side, cook top hole in middle of 65" side between fridge and oven.

NO BOX STORE!

 

[tjkubota93]

Thanks everyone for the input.

I'm an ask - hole so I picked the responses that supported my pre-formed opinion.

 

[Deere Dude]

Granite has been king for decades. Priced continue to drop, and techniques continue to improve.

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. ....

I consider Lowes a big box store and I had great luck with them. I picked the type of granite I wanted from the store, then I drove over to the granite yard and picked from 50 different cuts of the same stone. They are all slightly different. They then put it in a separate location and put my name one it for the cutting and milling process.

The installers were great to work with and would go back again.

 

[WM75Guy]

We went with granite in 2009. Still looks like new. No issues with stains or chipping.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I consider Lowes a big box store and I had great luck with them. I picked the type of granite I wanted from the store, then I drove over to the granite yard and picked from 50 different cuts of the same stone. They are all slightly different. They then put it in a separate location and put my name one it for the cutting and milling process.

The installers were great to work with and would go back again.

The thing about the big box stores is that they just provide marketing for a local contractor. So your experience is highly dependent on where you are. Somebody 50 miles away could have a completely different experience walking into their local Lowes. Plus you probably would get a better price if you just walked into the granite store on your own, you wouldn't be paying Lowes' markup.

This is basically true with any services provided by the big boxes, they're just subbed out and marked up.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I went through the counter top shuffle almost a year ago.
I needed 92 sq ft. 3 pieces. The one that I like would have been $7900.00 installed!!!!!
To me, most granite looks like different shades of Vomit!
I watch the home improvement shows on TV and just pictured the guy with the sledge hammer busting up the granite to replace it with the latest/ greatest in the future!
After a lot of research I got quotes on laminate (Formica), $2500. installed.
I watched utube videos, ordered the laminate, bought partical board and made my own for under $600. including a new Router!
The laminate in the pics has protective plastic that's why it looks dull.
It is easily replaceable if I find I like a new pattern. (just go over top)

Good job integrating your tractor into the project!

Where did you buy the laminate? I'm considering going this route for a basement scrub room.

 

[Deere Dude]

The thing about the big box stores is that they just provide marketing for a local contractor. So your experience is highly dependent on where you are. Somebody 50 miles away could have a completely different experience walking into their local Lowes. Plus you probably would get a better price if you just walked into the granite store on your own, you wouldn't be paying Lowes' markup.

This is basically true with any services provided by the big boxes, they're just subbed out and marked up.

May be true. I did not check at the stone place. I am near Nashville. But lucky me, I got a military discount and another discount for some other reason.