Countertops

[mikeyis4dcats.]

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!

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

I have black quartz countertops and love them. My brother has granite and hates the staining and maintenance.

Yep, it's a pain in the butt. I'll never purchase granite again.

[shitgoose]

I have copper countertops in my kitchen. They look great but are kind of a pain in the ass. I don't know if I would do them again. But they look really cool

[mr. tegu]

So what will happen to my granite if I don't care for it? What exactly am I supposed to be doing?

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

So what will happen to my granite if I don't care for it? What exactly am I supposed to be doing?

apply clear sealer on it every 6 months

[headsnap]

Soapstone FTW!!!!

[dtebbe]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

... Anyway, they installed the cabinets and they looked great. Then came the time to install the pulls (handles). Well, the drunk guy did them and on every single cabinet and drawer, they were crooked! Every stinkin' one.


Good luck!

This crap drives me nuts. I mean, I've done pulls maybe 2 times and I bought a $7 plastic jig that makes it full-proof. How someone who supposedly does this for a living doesn't have the tools to make it idiot-proof (especially considering what drawer & cabinet faces cost) just boggles my mind.

And for anyone with 1/2 a brain you can make one right on site that would at least insure you mounted them all the same...

DT

[tooge]

Originally Posted by Phobia

If I knew then what I know now, I'd have heated the **** bench too. I still love your bathroom. When you're old and start wintering in Florida, I want to house-sit for you. That's one helluva master suite.

Thanks man. Of course you did all the work. We love it.

[Iowanian]

Interesting.
I threw up a flag a while back because I'm building a house and looking for counter tops, flooring, tile and a few other items/services and crickets.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with counter tops right now. It seems like place to trim now to something cheaper to keep the house in budget and then upgrade at a later date with what I really want...when I figure out what that is. If I had my way, I'd probably go with concrete counter tops with some in-set fossils.

[Chazno]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Interesting.
I threw up a flag a while back because I'm building a house and looking for counter tops, flooring, tile and a few other items/services and crickets.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with counter tops right now. It seems like place to trim now to something cheaper to keep the house in budget and then upgrade at a later date with what I really want...when I figure out what that is. If I had my way, I'd probably go with concrete counter tops with some in-set fossils.

Make sure the framing in the floor will support you going from something light like laminate to something heavy like granite or concrete

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

apply clear sealer on it every 6 months

Whoops...I haven't applied anything but polish to my shit and I've had it for 6 years. What about marble? I have a ton of italian marble tables and I don't want to get them worn down.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Whoops...I haven't applied anything but polish to my shit and I've had it for 6 years. What about marble? I have a ton of italian marble tables and I don't want to get them worn down.

Think you have to get a sealer on the marble too.

I have marble in my bathroom and we have to spray seal it.

[BlackHelicopters]

Stained concrete or quartz.

[Trivers]

Formica 180FX laminate. Looks like huge slabs of granite.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Always get at least three bids when doing any renovations or home improvements. If there's a local granite supplier/installer, be sure to contact them as well.

Lowe's and Home Depot are great because of the insurance they carry. It's been pretty well documented over the years but I've done a ridiculous amount of renovations to my home over the past ten years. I had a bad situation with Lowe's but because of their insurance, it was resolved to my satisfaction.

In July 2003, we hired Lowe's to install our kitchen cabinets. We had torn out a wall in order to expand the kitchen by 12 feet and I basically designed the room myself. Lowe's came out, took measurements, then put them into their computer incorrectly and had to come out again. The cabinets were ordered (the same exact cabinets at a local business cost $5k more) and they sent our their installers.

I had several crews working that day and was managing everyone. One of the Lowe's guys smelled like he had been drinking, which wasn't good. Anyway, they installed the cabinets and they looked great. Then came the time to install the pulls (handles). Well, the drunk guy did them and on every single cabinet and drawer, they were crooked! Every stinkin' one. So I called Lowe's and they sent out their head contractor.

He checked everything out and agreed they were a mess. So, Lowe's ordered all new doors and drawer fronts, which took another month. So by October, my kitchen wasn't complete. Finally, the cabinet and drawer faces came in November and another crew was sent out in which they were "mostly" put on correctly. So more faces were ordered and I finally had the manager out to my home to check everything out. He agreed that the work was shoddy and offered to refund my entire installation fee, which was $2500 dollars. I agreed and we've had a fully intact kitchen since late December 2003.

I've had some absolutely terrible experiences with contractors, where they don't finish the job or do it so poorly that the work has had to be re-done. But thanks to Lowe's and their insurance, the job was finally done correctly.

Good luck!

The reason you've had so many troubles is because Lowes and Home Depot pay their contractors about 1/3rd of what I need to make on a job. I couldn't survive if I had to live off their labor wages. So, guess who you get working on those jobs? I'm not saying every one of my guys pisses clean but I make sure they aren't using crap on my job site.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Thanks; I'd like to throw some business your way, but A) I'm a few hours away and B) You seem to do higher end work than I care to worry about with this house. Sorry.

Appreciate it. A couple hours doesn't bother me if you have an interesting project with decent margins but I really don't make much on granite. We do low end, high end, and everything in the middle. In fact, we just did about a week's worth of repair to Brando's house in Waldo last week and it sold to the first person who looked at the thing on Saturday morning.