does anyone have granite counters?

[spu]

We're hoping to move to a new house, and the builder uses granite counters. and I'm clueless...

Do you have granite counters in your kitchen? Do you love it? What colors are your counters? Do they scuff or scratch? Do dark colors show dust? I love the rich dark greens, blacks, etc. but I don't want it to look like an 80s mirror or cheesy disco thing... Is it a lot of work to treat / seal or maintain?

What about corian? Would you do corian in the bathrooms? and for the sink too? Does it scratch if you scrub the sink really hard?

thanks for any advice!!

susan



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nursed for 3 years!
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charlotte + else

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[JBaxter]

I just put granite in our existing house over the summer. Mine is a lighter color and I love it. Ask if you can go to the warehouse and pick out your "slab" Thats what we did and the differences in the same colors were huge. I thought I would want dark but after I saw the slabs of our current counter tops I changed my mind quick. I havent had any problems at all. I dont have corian so I cant give you an opinion.





http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32229.jpg

[mshen]

I've got Corian in my kitchen, and I LOVE it!!! And since I have it for the countertop and the sink, it is just 1 piece. No joints or anything, love the clean line look.

It's also super easy to take care of. Uses Softscrub and Comet cleanser on it. Still looks new after 9 years! Any minor scratches or ink marks comes out with a little scrubbing (with softscrub). and if you ever get a chip or big dent, they can fill it in easily and nobody would be able to tell.

Mine is a solid white colour, but you can get it in any colour you want. Can't recommend it enough! :)

HTH
________
Buy silver surfer (http://www.vaporshop.com/silver-surfer-vaporizer.html)

[almostamom]

We have granite in our kitchen. We have a darker color (tropic brown, I think). I've never regretted it for one second. I think it's really easy to take care of. I use a homemade solution to clean it - my MIL told me about it and it works well. (The stuff the installers told us to use left the counters looking "foggy" and I didn't like it.) We've had ours for just over 3 years and no scratches yet. My mom has Corian and she does have a few scratches (although I believe those can be buffed out and she just hasn't done it).


http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32232.jpg

~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[cmo]

Nice counters! Would you be willing to share your homemade cleaning solution? :-)

Thanks,
Chris

[emily_gracesmama]

Me too, I would love to know your recipe, my professional cleaner leaves mine foggy too and it drives me nutso!

Thanks!

[Tracey]

We are going to be building a new home as well. Look into quartz countertops. That is what we are going with. Quartz is non-porous so it does not need sealing or special cleaners. It is also a harder stone so it is scratch resistant, stain resistant, and heat resistant. It's beautiful and I'm totally sold.

[Marisa6826]

I have Ubatuba (dark green with gold/black specks) and love it. My most recent 'magic' way of cleaning the granite is with a *hardly* damp microfiber cloth. Just water. And it is amazing at how nice they come out.

If you do a search for granite, you will find several threads.

I say go for it!

-m

[nfowife]

We LOVE our granite. It's venetian gold light (also called venezia ornamental). Anyhow, it's very easy to take care of. Our granite guy said that instead of resealing, we should polish it with pledge every week or so and the silicon in the pledge will keep it sealed. It cleans up beautifully and you can put a hot pot on it! I like that it is a natural stone. I know some love corian, but to me it looks a bit plastic-y. Here's a pic of our granite from when our house was built (sorry for the mess but this is the pic that shows the color of the granite the best!):


http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32233.jpg

[almostamom]

Here's the cleaning solution:

Add to an empty gallon jug:

1 pint rubbing alcohol
1 tsp liquid soap (such as Dawn)
1 cup sudsy ammonia

Fill to top with water.
Put in spray bottle to use.

**MIL also uses this to clean windows.
~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[nupe]

I have tropical brown as well in the kitchen. The only problem i have is that it is hard to see crumbs/spots unless you feel the granite, due to the coloring. So they look clean even when they are dirty. Many may not see that as a problem, but I do. I hate when there are crumbs or sticky spots on the granite, which means the other folks using the kitchen have not cleaned up after themselves after making toast, sandwich, snack, grinding coffee, etc. Which they certainly would have had they seen the crumbs or drips or whatever.

I too have belabored what to use for cleaning, and was told to avoid ammonia (like Windex) by some and told to use it by others. It makes more sense to me to avoid ammonia. I have been using a spray bottle with water and a *little* palmolive and it has worked okay.

I have granite in several other places too and it has not been a problem (bathrooms) for me and has been so beautiful.

If you are most worried about maintenance then consider corian or silestone. If you are most interested in appearance, consider what you like. I like the look of granite.

Nupe

[neeter]

We have granite and love it! The best cleaner for us is just a tiny bit of dishwashing soap, and water (on a paper towel or cloth towel). And then dry it up with a clean towel. Easy and not foggy!

[Lynnie]

all of the pictures are beautiful ! What would you decorating gurus recommend color wise with white cabinets. We aren't redoing those, but are just putting in the granite. We are going to cut a wall in half (between kitchen and dining room) and make a pass through/bar area with some granite there. our house has creamy white walls, off white tile, and dark brown furiture in the dining & living room (glass table top, but its going to go). So i'd need a color to look nice in kitchen with white cabinets, but also with the dark wood furniture in the dining room.

(dreaming about redecorating can cheer a person up when they are stressed, can't it !?)

any suggestions ??

[spu]

beautiful counters everyone! thank you for sharing!

I'm leaning toward either light maple or natural cherry for the cabinets. I like somewhat of an eclectic feel incorporating a little bit of a 'coffee house' feel with a tecnho, modern, funky feel. (does that even make sense?) We have a bunch of other furniture in the house that's cherry, so I'm thinking it might be odd to introduce a new wood... but maybe that would be nice?? I bet the designer will chuckle with my descriptions when we meet...

so for the counters, I'm trying to decide if I should go dark or light - everything is so beautiful! Sounds like it's easy to keep clean (if you can see it! -- though, I bet DH wouldn't see his toast crumbs... he doesn't see them now on our white counters! hehee)

keep the pix coming!

susan



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nursed for 3 years!
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charlotte + else

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[almostamom]

I love the way white cabinets look with the darker granite. My neighbor has white cabinets, medium-color wood floors, and light counters. She always says that she thinks because both the cabinets and the counters are light her kitchen lacks "warmth" and she wishes she had gone darker.

~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[DDowning]

Lynnie - Here is a photo of what we did in our kitchen when we were in the building phase. Its called Junipera Persia and its by a company called Walker Zanger. Our walls are painted more of a taupe color and I do have dark furniture in my family room where the kitchen is next to. I think you can achieve a similar look with any of the browner tones of granite. It just goes down to what you want to spend. The higher grades of granite will have more contrast/vein lines whereas the lower grades will be more of a neutral effect.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/momtocnc/Oct2005005.jpg

[muskiesusan]

We have natural cherry cabinets with quartz countertops which looks exactly like the tropical brown pictured above. I think it looks awesome!


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[Sarah1]

We have granite and LOVE it. It is SO easy to maintain. I love that I can put hot things out of the oven right on top of it. It hasn't gotten scratched or scuffed and we've lived here six years.

[lizamann]

We have "tan brown" which I thought was very blackish until I tried to find it on the internet and realized that it's actually dark brown. We have dark cherry cabinets, and I think it looks really nice together and not at all like a disco LOL. It's almost 6 years old (5 with the previous owner) and in perfect condition. No scratches or stains (unlike our stainless cook top - UGH!). I think the previous owners sealed it once, and we haven't at all. The dark color would be hard to stain, I think. We use Marisa's cleaning method - use a dampish microfiber cloth with just water - and that keeps it shiny. Though often dh uses a wet sponge which leaves it cloudy and drives me nuts!

I haven't noticed dust on the counters, but they do get cleaned fairly often. Something like cookie or muffin crumbs really do show up, though. as

So I have to give it a thumb's up. Out of all our fancy surfaces, this one is the easiest and the one I worry about least (compared to limestones, stainless steel, wood floors and the darned scratched Jacuzzi, all of which have caused me a little bit of homeowner angst.)

[almostamom]

Deidra,
I love your kitchen! I had white cabinets in my other house. I decided to go with the maple in this house (for something different), yet I really miss my white ones! Your backsplash is really beautiful!

~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[bostonsmama]

We have Corian for kitchen counters and really love them, although we would have installed granite had we been able to afford the difference in price. In our town it's a one-act deal, so the monopoly drove up the price, otherwise we really liked the durability, scratch & heat resistance, beauty, and value it adds to a home. My aunt & her fiancee just finished an Ante Bellum reproduction home in the heart of Altanta and put in the most gorgeous Shiva Cream granite countertops. They have medium cherry cabinets, yellow walls, chrome pulls, a few stainless appliances and the rest covered by wood panels. It's gorgeous, and she fell in love w/ the pattern when (before building this home) she redid her own kitchen at her condo and used the Shiva Cream granite w/ white thermafoil cabinets...which also looked great! It really is the most beautiful pattern I've ever seen...it almost looks like marble, and their kitchen certainly doesn't look drab and lifeless.
Update: she emailed me the pics, so this is what Shiva Cream looks like.
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32239.jpg


http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32240.jpg


http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32241.jpg

As to the Corian...it'll be especially great in a bathroom...cleans up easily...not much potential for scratches there or boiling hot water melting it (a small concern w/ integrated Corian sinks)...I absolutely love my pattern (Savannah, a speckled creamy tan that looks like beach sand w/ white quartz mixed in), but we also considered Carribean (light green w/ speckles) and Prairie & Tarragon, another bunch of speckled greens...glad my mom talked me out of that one (resale would be atrocious), but I just LOVE greens.

Larissa

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.
~Elizabeth Stone

[teddy]

Target sells an everyday granite cleaner by Method, that company that sells all natural stuff. It doesn't leave my counters cloudy, and mine are shiny black granite with silver and grey (were here when we bought the place).

[DDowning]

Linda, that's funny! It was opposite for us. We had maple cabinets in our last house!

[DDowning]

Hi Linda
By chance do you remember where you got your canister set that's on your island? I really like the look of it. Thanks a bunch if you could point me in the right direction.

[almostamom]

Deidra,
The cannisters were made by a company called CBK Home Decor. Their website is www.cbkhome.com I think if you go to that site you can find a retailer near you. I bought mine from a furniture store near my house that was going out of business. They do have another location in AZ:

American Home Furnishings
1801 E State Route 69
Prescott, AZ 86301
(928) 777-9700

My DH would kill me since we've only lived in this house for three years, but I would love to re-do the cabinets in the kitchen and go back to the white. I did bookmark the thread so I can show him your backsplash. It's exactly what I would like to do with ours (someday).

~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Here is a photo of my kitchen which has concrete countertops which I would not recommend to my worst enemy. I am posting it be because it sounds like our color sensibilities are similar and I do really like the orangey color with white cabinets and dark wood furniture. I love Bostonmama's aunt's kitchen. If I had known a granite that looked that close to marble existed I would have gone for that. It is outrageously gorgeous.


http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/goodtastenomoney/House%20pictures/IMG_0464.jpg


Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04
#2 ETA 05-22-06

[Roleysmom]

Susan, your kitchen is lovely and I always thought I would want either concrete or butcher block countertops in my dream kitchen. Can you tell me what you don't like about the concrete?

Paula
Mom to Roley Julia, January '02

[Lynnie]

oooooh, that is beautiful !!

and it would go great with the rest of the house, too !

Thanks Deidre !

-lynn

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Oh Paula, everytime I look at those countertops I just cringe. Last night I made a roast in the crock pot. Apparently I left three dime size spots of grease over night and now I have three black spots where the greae ate through the wax finish and went into the concrete. We also have hairline cracks at the edges ( have never seen concrete that did not crack somewhere over time). They are just too unforgiving. AND to make matters worse they were poured in place on top of the cabinets so to get rid of them the cabinets would have to come out too, which is just not going to happen. I have limestone counters and some Corian in the bathrooms that I am much happier with. I also love wood countertops but could not talk husband into it.

Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04
#2 ETA 05-22-06

[jenmcadams]

Just wanted to second the loathing of concrete. We moved into a house that had (relatively new) concrete counters. I don't think the sellers did a great job of installing them, but they are no where near as durable as granite. We have the black grease spots where it's eaten through the plastic coating and they never looki clean to me.

[TonFirst]

We have Gold Leaf (I think that's the pattern) in our kitchen and Baltic Brown in our master bath. I love the granite. Like the PP said, it's great to be able to put a hot pot on the counter and not worry about hurting anything.

The sealing does take some time - I seal the counter around my sink every six months, or whenever I start to see rings when I pick up my water glass. The granite in my kitchen is lighter, so it shows rings more easily than the dark granite in the bathroom.

I will say that y'all are much better about the cleaning product you use to clean your granite - I just use 409, Mrs. Myers All Purpose cleaner, or Windex. I have some of the Method cleaner, and while it smells great, it's a little spendy for everyday use - I spray my counters clean at least a dozen times a day, usually with 409.

[emilys_mom]

We had granite installed right before we had the baby, and love it. I was concerned that they'd be hard to take care of, but no problems. I seal about every 2-3 months, and all i have to do is wipe the sealant on. It takes about 15 minutes to clen the counters off and wipe it on. They are usually dry to the touch before I'm done.