Kitchen Countertop Advice...Which type?

[Mojo88]

I gutted my kitchen about 2 years ago and went with granite. I love the irregularities and natural appearance of the product. Heck, some of the black marks in the stone could be petrified trees or dinosaur bones, who knows? It's definitely NOT a perfectly consistent surface. It's kinda imperfect, like me, lol. I take pretty good care of it, but nothing crazy. I did have it sealed, which is a must IMHO.

A buddy of mine recently did his with quartz, and while it may be more durable and care-free than the granite, it looks boring, very plain, like something you'd see in a Holiday Inn.

Here's a couple of close-up pics of mine, so you can see the imperfections in granite:

 

[RDJ]

I did granite if I had it to do over again I would spend the extra and do quartz

 

[Stanger00]

I had quartz at my first home and the maintenance free was awesome and when we did get red wine stains they disappeared after a day or two.

In my current home we have granite and the first product I bought to seal it didn't seal at all.

Wish we would of went with quartz again.


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[DriftwoodSVT]

A buddy of mine recently did his with quartz, and while it may be more durable and care-free than the granite, it looks boring, very plain, like something you'd see in a Holiday Inn.

Your buddy must have picked a very bland, plain countertop. Ours is not like that at all. But ours was a lot of money...

 

[DriftwoodSVT]

I did granite if I had it to do over again I would spend the extra and do quartz

Wish we would of went with quartz again.

Quartz is good stuff.

 

[IronSnake]

We have granite from the original build of our home. They are about 10 years old and actually pretty good cuts. I would suggest granite as the pop factory is pretty solid. But I don't think quartz is a bad option either.

 

[SVTPete83]

How much does concrete cost?

We just made the forms with aluminum trim from lowes and just screwed it into the plywood with stainless screws. That was about 40 bucks. Concrete was 150. Epoxy that we laid in the concrete was 300. So just under 500 bucks for the whole thing.

Every concrete counter top I've ever seen has been terrible. You're the first one I've seen that is pretty bad ass.

We have granite in our kitchen and quartz in the garage. A counter is a counter IMO, get what looks good.

Thanks man! I thought it came out really good. We were going to go quartz but I wanted to try something different.


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[GT Premi]

Based on your stipulations, OP, granite is your only choice. All the marble that my wife and I have looked at has been over $100/sqft. The quartz that we've looked at has been just as expensive as marble. We "settled" on replacing our old granite countertops with more granite. Just put a good quality sealant on it, and you'll be fine against staining. That or just get some really dark or really busy granite.

 

[DHG1078]

We have granite in the house we just bought. Counters are great, and I don't forsee much of an issue maintaining them, but if I were to redo the kitchen I would go with quartz.

 

[7upstang]

-Must stay under $100 per SF
-Cannot etch or stain if we put red wine or tomato sauce on it
-Must be durable
-We really like something that looks like marble (we fell in love with Cambria Britannica, but they want $120 per SF. Too expensive)

Please post your experiences and even pictures if you have a recent kitchen remodel. Any advice would be helpful, because we are looking for first hand experiences.

Yikes, sorry to hear you are paying $120 for Cambria. My business partner is around $90 a sqft and I know there are other companies below him. Not every quartz is created equal, but Cambria is worth the price (within reason).

 

[Branhammer]

Our last house was 3 cm granite with double-stacked, chiseled edges. It looks bad-ass and we're definitely doing it in the next house.

 

[Zedeater]

For the OP if you like the marble type patterns of Cambria Brittanica but are on a budget Granite is probably what to go with. You could also look into Caesarstone Quartz also as they are a quartz manufacturer that offers several products that are very much like the Cambria Brittanica but it is also a premium brand of quartz and is going to be in the same $ ballpark as the Cambria. You won't find any entry level quartz with these kinds of patterns in them.

 

[rezarxt]

We've been really looking into Cambria Summerhill. Its under our budget, $90 per SF and we like that its irregular, like granite. I'm glad to hear all these good things about Cambria. Maybe we will look at other places and get quotes on Britannica. I was worried it was not worth the money, but everyone keeps having positive reviews of their quartz.

We looked at a bunch of pieces of granite online, and nothing really screams out to us.

 

[Stanger00]

We have granite in the house we just bought. Counters are great, and I don't forsee much of an issue maintaining them, but if I were to redo the kitchen I would go with quartz.

I didn't know how much work was involved with maintaining granite. First clearing everything off of the counters and then cleaning, sealing and polishing. Once every 6 months is sort of a PITD.

Quartz, I didn't do anything to it and it stayed perfect and it didn't discolor when water sat for too long and stains disappeared!

Concrete is a cool especially if you can get a high gloss on it. I plan on concrete counter for the backyard BBQ island under the patio.

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[DHG1078]

I didn't know how much work was involved with maintaining granite. First clearing everything off of the counters and then cleaning, sealing and polishing. Once every 6 months is sort of a PITD.

Quartz, I didn't do anything to it and it stayed perfect and it didn't discolor when water sat for too long and stains disappeared!

Concrete is a cool especially if you can get a high gloss on it. I plan on concrete counter for the backyard BBQ island under the patio.

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I've seen some concrete counter tops that I really liked. My wife doesn't care for them though. Like you said, I think it depends on the color and gloss though.

 

[DHG1078]

The granite counter tops we have aren't my favorite color, but thats honestly the only reason I would consider "updating" the kitchen any time in the future. Well, that and making the spot for our 'fridge slightly larger.

I like them just fine, but they aren't what I would have picked.

 

[CobraBob]

Love it. It's uniform and so easy to take care of. Also, I'm not a huge granite fan, it's pretty, but I've seen irregularities in samples and the installed product. Those were done 14 years ago and still look great with almost zero maintenance.

What Brad says is so true. We had a Cambria Quartz countertop installed last March and have loved it. Maintenance is....nothing. No stain worries. It's heat resistant. Gorgeous finish. We clean it with Simple Green Stone Cleaner & Polish. Spray on and wipe off. My wife and I are really happy that we decided against granite and chose quartz (recommended by my daughter who had just herself installed a quartz countertop).

 

[Troponin]

I have had granite, marble, quartz...and honestly, they are all about the same to me. The quarts is the best bang for the buck, but my granite and marble tops were gorgeous.

Concrete is pretty popular right now too. It's pretty cool looking. That being said, don't be fooled because it's concrete. It's not what I would call "cheap" because of the labor and skill it takes to make the unique textures.

 

[03cobra#694]

Counter tops are kind of like pools. You just don't trade them in like a car if you don't like them. Especially with the under mounted sinks and such.
As mentioned, this my 14 year old Cambria in the busiest area of the kitchen, next to the stove where everything is cut, chopped and mixed. I just took this picture. Did our bathrooms also.

 

[Equalbracket]

Never take your schist for granite.