Granite countertops
 

Did anyone ready Heloise this morning in the Daily Sun? She had an article about granite countertops. We are getting ready to meet with the design team, and we planned to use granite, but from Heloise's suggested care, it sounds like granite is very delicate.....no water can be dripped on it, it must be sealed, you can't clean it with regular cleaners, no lemon juice or other acidic liquids can be on it.

I am afraid that we might ruin the counters! I love the look, but.....

anybody got advice? I know granite counters are really popular!

Help! Connie

Think about Silestone
 

Hi Cquick - I opted out on granite in my past 2 homes for the reasons you stated. Granite, while not overly maintance needy, does need attention. You must seal it annually to prevent stains from seeping into it.

I have Silestone, and LOVE IT. It is maintanance free, I can sit a hot pot on it, cut on it, and it has the look and feel of granite. As it is impervious to absorbing anything, it does not hold germs, or odors...

Something to think about. Cost is about the same as Granite.

Good luck with your choices.

Granite is VERY easy to care for, clean and is virtually indestructible. The only caution is red wine and olive oil and those are only an issue if left over night. And even that can be fixed. The first home that I did in granite, I had them make a cutting board from the sink cut out. Made it 16 X 24 with a beveled edge. I cut on it, set hot pans on it, spilled stuff, cleaned it with soap and water, put it in the sink, everything you are not supposed to do. Had more problems with the rubber feet I put on the bottom then anything else. After 8 years I sold the home and left the cutting board as the people wanted it because it still looked just as good as the counter. Only issue was it was a really heavy cutting board.

counter top
 

I had Home Depot install Silestone and really love it. They did an excellent job and if you research silestone youi will find it is the best
drd

Most places that sell granite also sell Silestone and other counter materials. I would discuss the pros and cons of the different materials from the delaer and then make an educated pick!

Granite IS beautiful! However, we opted for quartz in our home in OH. Naturally antimicrobial - it is a solid, manufactured surface that requires no real care other than an occasional wipe-down. It priced out a bit less than quartz when we had it done 3-4 years ago.

Quartz-based countertops are manufactured under a variety of brand names: Caesarstone, HanStone, Silestone, and Zodiaq to name a few.

Bill :)

:agree:

Granite is pretty much maintenance free. I use Simple Green stone polish in a spray form and the granite gleams! It's as easy as pie! I always wonder why granite got such a bad rap.

Agree that granite is a lot easier than Heloise made it out to be. I loved my granite in Ohio, which I had for 5 years, didn't do anything to it other than clean it. Planning on getting it installed here when our laminate countertops start showing some wear. I have also had Corian in a previous home - scratched and stained, would never get that again.

My issue with quartz products is that I just don't like the look of them as much - the ones I have seen are very uniform, don't have the granite swirls and patterns that make each one unique.

I love the look of granite. And l2ridehd's granite counters here in TV are absolutely gorgeous! When our current counters need to be replaced, we're definitely going with granite.

We have Zodiac Quartz in our Orlando home we are selling and have no issues. No one has mentioned any pro or con that has looked at it.

We are however going with Granite throughout in our TV house. We just like the look better.

I have granite in my kitchen which was here when I bought the house and I am a mess of a cook. I have never had any problem. I will say when I had new granite done for vanities in the baths, the only requirement was to initially apply a sealer. Took me about 1/2 hour to do the three coats. Done. It really comes down to what your preferences are but if you are concerned about mainaining it, don't be.

Boo to Heloise
 

Was Heloise saying that no water can be dripped on granite??? I find that hard to believe. Why would a product be put in any kitchen that can't have water on it? I've never heard of it and have never heard of anyone saying you can't get water on it. As for the no hot pots on it? Would you really put a hot pot on ANY counter top without putting down a hot plate or pot holder? That's just common sense. And so if you have to seal it once a year....not a problem for me. We are putting granite throughout and don't regret it.....yet.

We had granite installed in kitchen and bathroom areas. Only required maintenance is to seal it every 12-24 mos. depending on surface use. When we did our walk through, the builder briefed us on care and provided the required sealer to be used. Very easy "do it yourself" process.

Consider this you want to change colors in your kitchen in ten year and the granite color just doesnt work what do you do. Dont sell Formica short they do wondrous things with it now days. Dont like the color some day pull the skin off and change it. Very inexpensive but durable and it looks good some thing to think about

Bingo.

I agree. Stay clear of black galaxy granite because it shows fingerprints and water marks. I love this granite in new house, and just because I am germ aware, I cut on a cutting board that goes into the dishwasher. Granite is beautiful and cleans with soap and water.

I read Heloise today and she is just wrong. She says not to put a hot pot on granite? Why will it burn or melt? No.
Water does not spot it like she says. Ours has never been spotted by wine or oil. We just wipe off the granite with a wet dish cloth.
Sealing it is very easy, just wipe on, that's it.
Pretty much the only thing that can hurt it is a hammer.
The manufactured stone is great too.
Marble is much softer and and will stain so stay away from marble for the kitchen.
We do use a cutting board and do not cut on the granite, it will really dull a knife.

Granite countertops
 

The secret is to have granite sealed well. We had ours installed and sealed by ARS Granite and Marble, Fruitland Park, and despite my, for ex., allowing soy sauce to sit on the counter overnight, no stains have resulted. Just wipe daily and enjoy, that is my take.

My wife read Heloise and said she was right. since my wife can never be wrong then I will have to say my wife is spot on.

Having said that granite is not difficult to maintain. Sealing it perodically is key and i believe dripping waer at the time of sealing is waht Heloise may be saying as you need to keep water off ofit while the sealant dries.. We seal our granite annually. We have granite in the kitchen and bathrooms. They hold up well

We had silestone i our home in Minnesota. It is great stuff. The only drawback on silestone is that it will show scratches

I may take the sugeestion from the poster who recommended Simple Green

Granite
 

I have granite and it came pre-sealed. I do nothing extra for it. I don't do any of the things Heloise does and mine looks great. This is the second home in which I've had it. I LOVE IT! :pepper2::bowdown::a040::MOJE_whot:

I have been told that the sealers used on granite today are much better and last longer than before. Maybe some of the bad news was from earlier products that were not as effective or long lasting.

We have granite countertops in our 4th home now and I wouldn't have anything else. They are easy to care for and we have had no trouble with water...if you miss a little splash or something it soaks into the stone and disappears. We had them sealed when they were installed and the installer told me to wipe them down with windex and a soft cloth so that's what I do and I've never had a problem. If you do have something soak into the stone there is a product that you can use to pull it out.

Are granite came with a 15 year sealer already applied. We just wipe are spills and have never had any problems.

THANKS! That is exactly what I am thinking of!

Connie

THANKS! I love the options you all are giving me!

So, it's the sealer on granite that makes all the difference. I didn't realize that.

I wouldn't cut on granite, but the article in the newspaper did shake me up a bit, since I planned to put granite in my new house. I am a messy cook, I NEED to clean my counters! Good to know that a coat of sealer will do the trick.

Connie

I think Heloise may be getting a bad rap! I just read the article and didn't see a comment that "no water can be dripped on granite". Nevertheless, this has been an interesting discussion.

Oh, I forgot about a cutting board...

We kind of did the same thing but used a thinner tile that matched our granite and you can put sticky felt on the bottom so it doesn't scratch, we also had a friend make wooden frames around some of them so they looked nice for trivets...you can make matching coasters the same way...but smaller :)

I didn't make one for this house though, I use a flexible cutting mat for chopping things.

We just picked up our new bathroom vanity top yesterday and the second one has to be custom made for the wonky little sink in that bathroom...so, there is no issue with granite and water. Oh, you can actually get a kitchen sink made from real granite too so water can't possibly be an issue...you have to build up under your sink for extra support and they are quite pricey but they sure look nice!

BS ALERT!!! :rant-rave::rant-rave: There are absolutely no problems like this with granite. It's absurd to say granite burns. Stone burns?? We have had granite for 7 years and have had none of these problems. The only precaution we take is to use a granite cleaner. It cleans and seals. We buy it at the grocery store. Our granite is as beautiful as the day we bought it and I set hot pans on it all the time. We have ordered granite for our new home in TV. Black granite will show fingerprints and can be a problem if fingerprints concern you but so will stainless steel. Quartz is very nice too but a little more pricey. I agree with the Villager who said to talk to the professionals in counter tops, ask about the advantages and disadvantages and then make your best decision.

Granite is great...
 

I have had granite for 15 years, two different houses and wouldn't have anything else. You have a simple spray product that seals it every so often like spraying water on it....no big deal. I' ve used it as a cutting board, I've set hot pans on it, I've spilt wine on it... and it looks beautiful...

We've had granite for 3-1/2 years. No problems at all, I guess it came pre-sealed 'cause it looks like there's an epoxy coating or something on it.

I can't bring myself to put a hot pot or pan on it. I grab the new home section from the "Daily Sun". It's nice and thick and if I get food on it I just throw it away.

granite
 

We've had all three--laminate, granite, and now at TV, Corian. I have to say I really miss the granite in our Michigan home. We sealed it once, in 2005. It's fabulous. We use a granite cleaner from Method that smells divine. We've never had a scratch problem or problems with liquid, wine, oil, etc. We bought a spec home here in TV, and I have two wishes: that our golden retriever will destroy the carpet in a year so that we can replace with solid tile, and that we will sell our condo in MI so I can lobby for granite counter tops! Our Corian is very, very pretty, but I can see already after a month here that it is going to scratch.

May both your wishes come true, CFrance!

Corian scratches, as will silestone. To me granite has a natural beauty that none of the others do. And granite is the most durable. Go into a home that has had granite for 10 years and it still looks new. And granite is unique, no two pieces are the same. And care is very minimal. I buy the granite wipes from Bed Bath & Beyond and use one once a week. Use soap and water in between. Have only sealed when new, but that took a total of 10 minutes and I have a lot of granite. It's a personal choice, but it is very hard to beat the look, ease of care, and durability of granite.

We had quartz in our home in VA and wanted it here. The house we bought has granite and we're getting accustomed to it. The more I use it, the more I like it. I still think that if we were to build new again, we would go with quartz.

Yes, I know you love quartz, but I wanted to let everyone know that my friend in Illinois just had quartz put in their bathroom remodel, and the countertops are changing color and getting "splotchy". Now they have to decide whether to spend the money to have it replaced or just live with it. Since it's only in one bathroom, I'd live with it!:-)

I don't have granite. But don't sell Heloise short! I've read "care articles" before regarding granite and they seem to follow what Heloise said. I think the sealing is key to most issues. Placing hot pans on it? I have heard of an instance where someone did that and the granite cracked. I don't remember where I heard about this and the details but something to think about. Corian does require care too. I think I've read where it can be "sanded" every so often to take care of scratches. I for one think I'd do the silestone if I made a change. As with anything...ALL surfaces have some kind of care involved. Maybe the concrete countertops would be something to look into! (????)

Granite counters
 

We bought a spec home in TV 5 yrs ago and it has granite counters. They gave us granite care products and we sealed the counters. I absolutely HATE these granite counters. During the first six months they started yellowing where we use them the most(ours is the brown, cream, black colors). I have tried all different kinds of cleaners (soap & water, windex, simple green, peroxide) and cannot get the yellowing out. I even tried the poultice method, it didn't work! Counters are still yellowing. There are etched spots from who knows what. If I could afford it, I would replace them in a minute! I have a friend who has the black granite and her counters always look greasy and smeared. I would go back to formica; much less expensive if something does happen to them or you want to change decor, and there are so many new beautiful designs now. JMHO

just saw a tv show on countertops, they also recomended Silestone over granite for the same reasons.