What types of kitchen counters do you have? What do you like/ dislike.
We are remodeling our home and thinking quartzite. Positives negatives?
I have a large island that is butcher block with an under-mount sink/disposal. Luv the ease of cleanup from prepping, but does require maintenance (regular application of mineral oil/bee’s-wax).
My under cabinet counters are black dyed concrete with flush mount double wide sink and cooktop. Absolutely heat proof, scratch proof, and indestructible. After they were poured, a sealer was applied that I thought might need to be re-applied occasionally, but it has been over 20 years and they are fine.
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What do you use the counters for? I do a lot of bread/pasta/pastry, so my centre island has a wood top. When we redo the rest of the counters, I’m going steel because my kitchen gets heavy use and I’d like something that needs very little maintenance and that I can put hot pots on without worry.
Postives/negatives will depend on how you use your kitchen.
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I installed granite tile. My local tile house had a sale of $2/square foot, so I went with that. I actually liked working with granite tile. The whole project was very affordable (around $350-$400). This included backer board, thinset, granite tile and grout.
It has been (very) easy to clean and I’ve no issues with it whatsoever.
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Forgot to note that, depending on the weight of your counter material, you may have to reinforce the floor beneath to bear it.
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We were probably considering between quartz and quartzite. Currently it seems we are leaning towards quartz. I know you have to be careful about heating but im not usually in the habit of putting a hot pan on a counter top.
The counters will be used for prep work for meals. I cook a lot at home and now that we have more counterspace, pasta, pizza and dough rolling etc.
Any reason you’re not considering polished granite?
Yes… I use a scrap piece of marble for dough rolling. This piece is just long enough for making home made soft pretzels.
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Marble.
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At the risk of stating the obvious, you, my friend, are a much better man than me.
We just left it to the experts. Kitchen and bath.
After decades on this earth, one thing I have learned is knowing what you don’t know is more important than knowing what you do know
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I think these are considered kitchen counters; granite, and they work well mostly for small appliances, meal prep, mise en place, and mail. Very occasional stuffed pasta/dumplings, baking.
Usually wiped down with a granite and stone cleaner, and I think they might be sealed with something. If I am supposed to be doing something else, that would be the part I don’tlike. About 15-20 years old. I will probably do the same in my next kitchen, but will follow and learn about alternatives.
ETA Probably would rather have less counter and more places to hang things on walls. I don’t really need all this counter space to wipe off.
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Silestone, now 20 years old.
Granite is natural stone that has to be sealed and can stain.
That’s what I’ve heard and read at least. What are your experiences with it? Good/bad?
Our kitchen reno starts in a couple weeks, and we have decided on quartz. Easy clean up, no long term maintenance and less $$ than granite or marble.
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Almost none with the exception of a friend’s house and a rental. Just seemed like a really beautiful and robust material, so was just curious why it was outside your consideration.
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I remodeled my kitchen earlier this year and went with quartz. It is very easy to clean up and doesn’t stain or etch. There is no special maintenance required. It is man-made so it doesn’t have the beauty of natural stone. I’m happy with it. I chose it over granite, mainly because I wanted a predominantly white countertop.
Before you go with quartzite, do some searches on the kitchen discussions over on Houzz. You will find some people who have had no issues with quartzite and others who have had many, many problems. The problems convinced me that I didn’t want it.
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Wasn’t there some controversy in the past about using natural stone counters and them off gassing or emitting something undesirable ?
Yeah… Radon. but you’d get that from a concrete slab, and soil under a raised foundation, so unless you have a log cabin built in the clouds I think it is something we all deal with. (c;
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