[valuemkt]

Have had granite for 20 years.. used in house flips to increase value. Despite the above comments, have never had an issue. The sales pitch about needing to seal it every year is garbage .. it cleans up fine. Yes, it's a natural stone, so every slab might be different, sometimes wildy so.. unless you hit it with a sledge hammer, it won;t crack or disintegrate. I've never done jumping jacks on it, but have certainly stepped on it many times to replace a light bulb in a can .. if it's installed properly, there will be no movement and no cracking worries. With LED bulbs, if you're lucky you won;t have to replace them in your lifetime. Clearly superior in every way to laminate, corian. tile and marble. Quartz is the current thing. Does not have the randomness of granite. More expensive than the cheapest granite, equal to or less than mid and upper grades of granite. It's toss up and personal choice. Unlike looking at slabs of granite, you will look at small samples.. so unless you see a finished kitchen / bath in a showroom, you need to ue your imagination to see how a large piece would look like in your home. Both need a skilled fabricator to install.. DO NOT buy either granite or quartz and have someone other than the fabricator install . PERIOD .. NO EXCEPTIONS

[retiredguy123]

I agree that granite is a good product and that you need an experienced installer. But, I would not stand on any countertop. They set a very heavy, rigid slab on top of a cheap, wood base cabinet. If the top edge of the cabinet is not perfectly flat or has a piece of glue or a nail on it, part of the granite can be unsupported and can crack if too much weight is applied. Just my opinion.

[Uberschaf]

8 Things You Don't Know About Quartz Countertops: 8 Things You Don't Know About Quartz Countertops

[CFrance]

Exquisite Designs- Kitchen & Bath Inc.
Tony- (786) 298-1320

He did a superb job on our designer several years ago. If he's still in business, we will use him again in our CYV.

PM Uptown Girl for further recommendation, or see this thread: Kitchen Countertops Also, I give a description on that thread of Tony's work.

We viewed Uptown Girl's granite installation and used Tony on her recommendation.

[graciegirl]

I love that each piece is unique. I have learned that having very dark granite shows water spots. That rock is amazingly durable and it is millions of years in the making.

Here are some pictures of kitchens with granite. I like it much more than Corian.

granite countertops in kitchens - Bing images

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I love that each piece is unique. I have learned that having very dark granite shows water spots. That rock is amazingly durable and it is millions of years in the making.

Here are some pictures of kitchens with granite. I like it much more than Corian.

granite countertops in kitchens - Bing images

They all have smooth edges. I once went to an open house where the kitchen granite was blue, and had very rough and jagged edges. Now, that was unique.

[2newyorkers]

In our home in NY I had a quartz counter-top installed about 12-15 years ago. At that time you had very few color choices. I got a counter-top that is primarily a light blue color. I cut on it (not good for your knifes but no affect to counter-top), roll pastry on it, stand on it to clean tops of cabinets, and put hot pots on it and it still looks like the day they installed it. Other than cleaning zero maintenance.

[l2ridehd]

Every type of counter top has it's pro's and con's. It's all about what you like the look of and what makes your kitchen look great. I personally like the unique look of natural stone that you get with granite. No two are the same. Concrete makes a great counter top, but for me I don't like how it looks. Quartz, Stilestone, Marble and Corian and others have their own look which for you may be perfect. For me, I like and want granite. And it's a great product.

As for standing on any counter, buy a step ladder. Floors are for walking and not to prep food on. Counters are where I do food prep so standing or using them as a step ladder, forget it.

Buy what you think looks good in your kitchen. Use a fabricator to cut it professionally and install it. I have used and like the finished product from Duncan Stone and would use them for Granite, Quartz, Marble or any natural or hard surface product. They are an excellent fabricator who have been doing it for many years.

[tv2016]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Duncan Stone in Taveras does the best. I have had him do 3 homes for me. All jobs were done excellent. Quality and price. You can go right over here to Rolling Acres and pick your slabs and he will do the fabrication. Be happy to show you a couple of them if you want to see his work.

Agree! 352-253-0499.

Duncan Stones installed granite in two homes. They do a great job and cheaper than most.

[John_W]

I had granite installed in my kitchen in Baltimore in 2008 and we moved here in 2011. We selected Santa Celicia, which was a level 1, that's about $35 a square foot installed with a normal edge. The edge is where they sometimes can get you, I would take the free edge which is usually like a bull-dose, it's nice but not fancy. Sometimes I've seen like a triple edge, very fancy but expensive.

I searched here a couple of years ago and I found the prices were similar to 2008 in Baltimore. Level 1 was $35, level 2 was $45 and level 3 was $55, some places were maybe $5 more and that's the installed price with a normal edge. Universal Granite has a large lot on Rolling Acres Rd. It's where most local dealers buy their granite from, so the best way to select is to go there and find the piece you like and have your installer order that piece.

As far as the granite, I sealed it once when it was installed. I bought granite sealer from Lowes for $20 a bottle and it will last a long time. Never had any problems with cracks, chips, stains. Normally it's marble that will stain, which is why it's not recommend for kitchens. You can find granite that looks like marble, it is probably a level 3 grade.

Here's Santa Celicia, it's sort of a goldish brown with black specks and is the cheapest grade. I found it goes with just about everything. We had white cabinets and it looked great with that.

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Duncan Stone in Taveras does the best. I have had him do 3 homes for me. All jobs were done excellent. Quality and price. You can go right over here to Rolling Acres and pick your slabs and he will do the fabrication. Be happy to show you a couple of them if you want to see his work.

Hi, I have an appointment with Duncan Stone on Tuesday. He no longer refers people out to the place on Rolling Acres since they have gone into the installation business and are direct competition. He seems like a straight shooter.

Has anyone here used Ultimate Granite (on Rolling Acres) for installation? I also have an appointment with them to get a quote.

I also priced out Home Depot so I should have a pretty good idea what the job should cost when I'm done.

[Kevin and Luci]

We used Ultimate Granite, they did a great job for us, and were very competitive in their pricing. They did kitchen and both bathrooms in Cambria quartz. Would highly recommend.

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by Kevin and Luci

We used Ultimate Granite, they did a great job for us, and were very competitive in their pricing. They did kitchen and both bathrooms in Cambria quartz. Would highly recommend.

Thanks for the information. They are discounting their "normal" prices right now so I am considering them.

[dotti105]

We had a very dark granite (Uba Tuba) in our previous home and it did show spots, smears etc. But I loved it because it was totally maintenance free.

When we moved here we had laminate put in and it was good quality. I probably would have been happy with laminate if I had chosen a different color. But it was a pretty bad choice and I eventually had the kitchen changed out to granite. I chose my slabs on Rolling Acres, but "StoneRise" did the fabrication. The are wonderful!!! My installation was perfect. But there was a natural flaw in the slab that would have trapped food, so I called them and they actually took out the entire slab and put in a new slab for me at no cost. I mention this because Granite is a natural stone with natural characteristics or defects. The did not have to remove my slab and replace it. They did it because they wanted a happy customer.

My kitchen granite is really a naturally occurring "Quartzite" stone. It is very hard, and needs no sealer ever.

Another great thing about "StoneRise" is that they will do vanities from remnants. I saved over $20 a sq ft for the granite in our baths. They gave me Level 5 granite for the price of level 1 because I could get my 3 vanities cut from remnants.

I do prefer the Granite or Quarzite over the man made quartz. But that is just a personal taste. I love the natural veining etc instead of the man made quartz look. But they are both beautiful and very durable and increase the value of your home.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by dotti105

We had a very dark granite (Uba Tuba) in our previous home and it did show spots, smears etc. But I loved it because it was totally maintenance free.

When we moved here we had laminate put in and it was good quality. I probably would have been happy with laminate if I had chosen a different color. But it was a pretty bad choice and I eventually had the kitchen changed out to granite. I chose my slabs on Rolling Acres, but "StoneRise" did the fabrication. The are wonderful!!! My installation was perfect. But there was a natural flaw in the slab that would have trapped food, so I called them and they actually took out the entire slab and put in a new slab for me at no cost. I mention this because Granite is a natural stone with natural characteristics or defects. The did not have to remove my slab and replace it. They did it because they wanted a happy customer.

My kitchen granite is really a naturally occurring "Quartzite" stone. It is very hard, and needs no sealer ever.

Another great thing about "StoneRise" is that they will do vanities from remnants. I saved over $20 a sq ft for the granite in our baths. They gave me Level 5 granite for the price of level 1 because I could get my 3 vanities cut from remnants.

I do prefer the Granite or Quarzite over the man made quartz. But that is just a personal taste. I love the natural veining etc instead of the man made quartz look. But they are both beautiful and very durable and increase the value of your home.

Do you have a picture of your kitchen granite, dotti?