Countertops
 

Tell me about your countertops - granite, quartz, solid surface.

What did you go with?
What do you / don't you like about them.
What would you do different?


Go!

I'll be listening to the input too. I'd like to do granite and I also saw somebody say something about "granite veneer" to save on cost? I mean if that is cheaper and looks basically the same what difference would it make?

We've had granite in the kitchen since 2003 and I'd never buy granite again. It's difficult to maintain, there are seams and overall, it's just a bitch.

In 2005, we renovated the master bath and used a brand of quartz. It's seamless, looks great, feels great, doesn't stain and doesn't require any maintenance. Some day soon, we'll re-do the kitchen with quartz.

Good luck!

granite veneer is a thin slice of granite on top of some other(existing) material......it should look feel and perform fairly similarly, i believe..should be cheaper than whole slabs and doing a full treplacement

I'd recommend going into a counter top shop, a higher end one and looking at a bunch of really nice setups just to get an idea of the different products...

they have so many engineered/formica and other options with a crazy amount of colors and patterns

I have concrete counters. They're awesome. But I made them and they're expensive. Not for everybody. If I were a general consumer, I'd buy quartz all day long. If I were a consumer on a budget I'd buy granite. I wouldn't ever do laminate, not even in a rental. Especially not in a rental.

I really want stained concrete...
Posted via Mobile Device

spoken like someone who owns zero rental property

I can paint your counters to look like granite..or marble..or limestome...


:doh!:

Yeah, that's probably fair. Renters would probably destroy good counters too. But if I had to install today, the price of granite has fallen far enough that it's affordable even for those who were candidates for laminate.

had a buddy who made his own concrete counter tops, **** they were heavy

i might consider it but i can go to home depot , grab a formica counter top for like a hundred bux off the shelf, throw it in my truck, cut it down to size myself, cut the sink hole out myself with a 30$ jig saw, and install it myself easily and the apartment/house rented tomorrow

all without caring if they wreck it....which is still pretty tough as the new formicas are probably actually harder to **** up than many other options