My concern with granite, or any hard surface, is that I would have to treat my dishes, glasses and anything breakable with kid gloves. The "clang" noise that happens when anything breakable touches the granite surface, makes me cringe.

I have Corian bathroom vanity tops and I put "bumpers" on the bottom of my tumbler to protect the tumbler from breaking. I can not imagine having to worry about all my breakables in the kitchen. I just would not feel comfortable working in my kitchen on anything other than a Formica surface. I've had Formica counter tops in my kitchens for as long as I can remember and it is so easy to work on. I have no worries about breaking anything on Formica.

One of the elements making up granite is arsenic. Granite has more poisonious substances in it than any other countertop material. - per Wiki
Be very sure your countertops are sealed every year and done correctly to prevent contamination.

I agree. I came to hate the granite in my kitchen. Almost every time I emptied the dishwasher I would break something from bumping it on the edge of the granite.
I guess granite has a lot of "snob" appeal. And it is pretty when it's freshly polished. But shows every fingerprint and smudge.
By the way, if you have good knives that you care about, don't ever do any cutting on granite. Won't harm the granite but will ruin your knives.

I was beginning to feel as though I'm an alien being for not liking granite counter tops in the kitchen. Thank you for voicing your opinion and making me realize I'm not alone with the way I feel.

Yikes! That is a greater concern than mine.

That sounds like a flaw from the manufacturer. Your friend should check into having the installer check this out with the manufacturer. Depending on how bad the "splotchy" is, I would probably just live with it too, if the mfr. wouldn't replace them.

We read an article somewhere that granite also releases radon.

Formica is lovely and comes in so many choices.

Granite is just rocks...pretty rocks polished and sealed.

I have to think some of the bad publicity has to be generated by the counter top competitors. This is the second home we have had granite...We are still kickin'.

Have what you like. I like that you can take things out of the oven or off the stove and sit them down on it. I like Formica because it isn't so hard and doesn't break stuff...However, I haven't really broken more than five or six dishes in the twenty years being a granite owner.

I am aware of my food and where it is prepared and use a cutting board that can be sterilized in the dishwasher. That would be true of granite or formica.

Not a germphobe. Just a person who likes my housemates a LOT.

Yes, I have heard that too. I honestly don't understand the admiration for granite counter tops in a kitchen.

Gracie...
Do you find that you have to be a bit more careful placing breakables on granite? I know myself...I'm not a bull in a china shop when I'm working in the kitchen but I certainly do not place everything "gingerly" on my Formica. In fact, there are plenty of times that I have placed a plate or glass down hard on the Formica surface and all I could say is "oops". The items did not break....on granite, they would have been gonners.

Coffeebean.

I like Formica very much. When we would come down to Hadley, our first home here where there was lovely formica, I would leave Black Galaxy granite back in Ohio and that black granite showed every water drop and finger print. Just normal working and moving about the kitchen would show every print and move from the side of your hands or a drop of water. It was a vacation to return to our Hadley house and the pretty Formica. (Which comes in a lot of gorgous finishes)

Our new house in Laurel Valley has granite but a more easily maintained color...but we are back to being careful of bopping the dishes.

There isn't a nickels worth of difference really. I am just glad to be cookin' in any kitchen for people who I love to have sit at my table.

It's all just "stuff".

acrylic dinnerware won't break on granite
 

This may sound tacky but I'm leaning towards buying those really colorful acrylic dishes for my kitchen. Not only are they colorful and will add a lot to my white cabinets, but we can take them from the kitchen to the lanai/pool area without having glass out there. They come in wonderful colors...yellow, blue, green, red, aqua or you can even get patterns of fish, stripes, palms etc. Plus, they won't break if dropped on the granite or on the tile floors. This may be a solution to breaking dishes on granite or tile.

About 5 years ago my husband had our perfectly fine formica taken out and had granite put in to keep up with the trend and make our house more sellable (his opinion). I haven't liked it from day 1. Seems like if it isn't polished all the time when you run your hand over it , it feels dull. We have sealed it also.
We have marble in our bathrooms and the same deal. I am not a fan of it.
I LOVE fruitcake so take my opinion for what it's worth ---just saying !!!

Vote for granite.
 

It's about appearance, coffeebean....and $$$. Formica is certainly more reasonable. I had formica in my townhouse before moving to "Swimdawg North". I have Zodiac Quartz in Swimdawg North...and it's lovely. It compliments that cherry cabinetry beautifully. However, my fav is the granite in "Swimdawg South". It truly has a look that I just love. I would never go back to fomica after having granite or quartz. If I could vote, it would go to granite. Love it, love it, love it!

PS I do think there may be some rumors regarding granite side effects on this forum.

We've had granite for years, we use ceramic coffee mugs, Correlle dishes, crystal glasses and stemware and we've never had one break......I guess it just depends on how hard you're setting things down.

Corelle is great. Have had it for years, even on the sailboat. Never lost a single one until we moved ashore and I dropped one on a tiled floor.

Many different opinions
 

This is an interesting thread. It's amazing to see the differences in opinions. I think there is no right or wrong. What is right for your is what makes you comfortable and satisfied. :thumbup:

Carla B that is so funny. Years ago, a friend received some for a gift and we were amazed how durable it was. Her husband came home and she wanted to show him how amazing it was and kind of tossed it on to the concrete patio. It shattered into thousands of slivers of pieces. It's really good but not on stone or concrete.

Gracie...
You are one of the most positive and upbeat people on this forum. It is such a pleasure to read your posts.

Love your term, "bopping" to describe that you have to be careful when working on granite counter tops. Thanks for being so candid.

Corelle is funny that way. When it breaks it goes into millions of tiny shards, really hard to clean up. However, it does not happen often.

On another note, I did happen to see some really fabulous melmac (is that still what it is called?) in a Fortunoff Backyard Store this past weekend. That would be perfect from dining room to lanai. Patterns were beautiful. Not cheap, however.

Ours is plastic but its often TAKEN FOR GRANITE ...YUK YUK

hard head fumar