granite countertop cost?

[ez]

who loves their granite countertops, and approx how much did it cost?

 

[ccgirl]

I went with Silestone when it first came out. I LOVE it and am so glad I spend the money. I cut right on it, put hot pains down and don't worry about a thing. Mine is man made quartz so it is very uniform. It goes by sq. ft so you would measure the total counter space and go from there. Lowes and Home Depot usually have the price per sq ft on their site.

 

[arminnie]

I just put it in a relatively small kitchen for $2500. Granite tiles would have been about $1600. I had orginally wanted a laminate (I'm tired of granite this is the third time I've put it in) but it could not be fabricated for the odd area I have without some very unsightly seams.

Bigger kitchen - $3500 in 1993 in CA. Not sure of New Orleans cost as it was part of a total gutting of the place for a lump sum.

All of these were for lower end "common" granites. Some of the more rare and beautiful ones can cost multiple times more.

 

[wilderness01]

Love my granite. $5500 for it, solid pieces and upgraded granite.

 

[Bearvet]

We just had granite countertops installed last month and it has totally transformed our kitchen - I LOVE it! We have a lot of counter surface area - approx. 70 sq ft and it cost around $4500. This includes a 4" backsplash.

We went through Home Depot when they had a special - free color upgrade, free decorative edge (4 to choose from) and free kitchen sink.

My biggest piece of advice is to go choose your specific slab(s) before they cut it. The color we chose has a lot of variation in it and I'm so happy we saw it first. Some slabs had large swaths of black in it - some people find that desirable, but I would not have been happy with it.

I have no hesitation recommending Home Depot, but ask about dates they run their specials - that made a big difference to us!

 

[manning]

I cut right on it, put hot pains down and don't worry about a thing. .

What's the difference between a hot pain and a regular pain ? The devil made me ask.

 

[TaraPA]

I love my granite! I cut on it, serve hot pans/dishes right on it, etc. I chose my slabs myself which was a lot of fun. We did a large kitchen, wet bar area, 1 large bath & 1 small bath for around $9K. We went with the Ogee edge which did add quite a bit of cost over the standard edges.

After having it for 5 years my only complaint was that the more effective cleaners that didn't leave streaks on it were expensive. I just started using Windex Multi-Surface cleaner & LOVE IT! It works well on my stainless steel too!

 

[Katieinwonderland]

We just totally redid our kitchen and I love my new granite! It's so much easier to clean and I can take things right out of the oven and put them down on the counter and not worry about it!

We picked two different colors; a light cream colored granite on the countertops and black on the center island. I think my whole kitchen (probably a medium size) was $2500. We shopped around a lot and went with an independent contractor.

 

[donaldduck352]

I know a guy near Ocala Fl that does it for $29 sq.ft. There is a minimum tho and thats for the standard grade/color,prices go up depending on color,holes for siks,corners and such.But at that price,it's almost 1/2 of Depot or Loewes!!

Ormond Beach is in Volusia county.Takes about 2hrs at most from here.If intrested,PM me and I will give you his #.He does travel.

 

[mnrose]

I have a lot of counter, including a massive center island. I also have a full back splash (all the way to the upper cabinets). It's an upgraded granite (Rockville White), and it was $6800. This was about 1/3 less than Home Depot would have charged for a lesser grade of granite, and a 4" back splash.

We used a small mom and pop place (literally in a pole building on their farm...LOL!), but they did amazing work. Very happy with my choice.

You need to shop around. Prices vary DRAMATICALLY.

It's very important that you look at the actual slabs from which your counters will be fabricated. Slabs vary, and what might be an interesting natural variation to one person will be an unsightly blemish to another.

 

[pearlieq]

You need to shop around. Prices vary DRAMATICALLY.

Agreed! When we were shopping we got a range from $43 to $80 per square foot!

I'll also second the advice to go pick out your slabs. You'll also need to discuss how they'll be cut with your fabricator. Ideally they should be cutting them to minimize the number of seams you'll need. We lucked out and got away with none, but if you have long counters that's might be hard to do.

 

[Happy Mom2]

We chose quartz over granite because they are antibacterial, and are easier to care for. Cost was about the same as granite.

Just be sure whatever you purchase is made in the U.S. Lots of imported granite and quartz put off radiation and hazardous chemicals.

 

[pixiewings71]

I went with Silestone when it first came out. I LOVE it and am so glad I spend the money. I cut right on it, put hot pains down and don't worry about a thing. Mine is man made quartz so it is very uniform. It goes by sq. ft so you would measure the total counter space and go from there. Lowes and Home Depot usually have the price per sq ft on their site.

I looked at Silestone at Home Depot when we were rebuilding (all our material and appliance purchases were thru HD, except the fridge) to be honest I did not like the color choices they had at all, it was all very ugly imo. We went with granite, I cut on it, I put hot pans on it, I don't worry about a thing either.

OP I highly suggest shopping around, we went to several different places and had quotes ranging from $50 a sq/ft to over $100. We ended up finding exactly what we wanted at a granite warehouse many miles from home, we were worried about getting it here and getting it installed, the contractor wanted over $20,000 to get the granite and install it!!!! We said NO way and hired a sub-contractor for the granite & tile work. In the kitchen we got yellow tiger skin (they also have white tiger skin, the same granite only yellow has a yellow base and white has a white base), we have 3 counters in the kitchen area, 1 with the sink (double sink), 1 with the stove and fridge, this is on a diagonal wall so they had to cut some interesting angles and the bar counter as well. We went with rounded edges and we got a tile backsplash behind the stove and along that wall. We also had the sub-contractor do the granite counter in our master bath, 2 sinks, it's a very long counter and they did the tile work in the master shower and they did the floors in the master bath as well. We went with Travertine for the master tiles and floor. The bathroom also has the same diagonal wall so the floors were not easy to do, the shower we did 12x12 tiles up to about 5 feet, then a border and then tiles to the ceiling but on a diamond pattern. The total for all that work, including the granite slab for the bathroom (the sub-contractor couldn't get the tiger skin but they did go pick it up for us, 3-4 hour round trip!), $5500! Definitely shop around, definitely pick your own slabs as well, there are a lot of variations in granite and if you let someone else chose your slab you may not like what you get. It's very very easy to care for, I got a kit at Costco back when we did our rebuild (almost 5 years since the fire now) and I still have that kit. I use water mostly to clean it, sometimes vinegar, sometimes the kit from Costco, it's very easy to care for and the one time it stained (the kids left a popsicle stick from a red popsicle on the counter and it stained) I cleaned the area and just left it, the stain simply faded away and it now completely gone.

 

[Buckalew11]

we went with a standard granite and picked our own slab and all that. I'm very happy with it. Our granite estimate was 300.00+ cheaper than the man made quartz (like silestone) thatshocked me!

Good luck!!

 

[ccgirl]

What's the difference between a hot pain and a regular pain ? The devil made me ask.

HA!!! I don't know...I will have to think about that one. Darn typos!

we went with a standard granite and picked our own slab and all that. I'm very happy with it. Our granite estimate was 300.00+ cheaper than the man made quartz (like silestone) thatshocked me!

Good luck!!

Silestone is now usually more expensive. When it first came out, it was a bit less expensive than granite. Lowes and Home Depot are limited in their colors. I went to a kitchen place that had a plethora of colors. I like the fact it is uniform and doesn't need to be sealed. As a PP pointed out, Windex does wonders!

 

[bicker]

How do folks feel about those solid surface countertops that integrate the sink in? I hate hate hate the lip of the sink. I would love to be able to just wipe crumbs and such directly into the sink and thereby down into the garbage disposal.

 

[walden]

I explored granite while redoing my kitchen, but decided on Cambria (quartz) counters in the end. I love it!

How do folks feel about those solid surface countertops that integrate the sink in? I hate hate hate the lip of the sink. I would love to be able to just wipe crumbs and such directly into the sink and thereby down into the garbage disposal.

I hear you on wiping stuff into the sink. If you hate the lip of the sink you could look into undercounter mounted sinks with any counter material.

The solid surfaces with integrated sinks (like corian) are OK. I have one in my bathroom but really wouldn't like it in my kitchen. The solid surfaces are much more vulnerable to scratches, stains and heat.

 

[bicker]

What about the new concrete based countertops?

 

[LJRJR]

I have Ceasar Stone which is another brand of man made quartz. I love it. However, it is not cheaper than grantie. It is very durable and maintance free. I have it in a dark cream color with a light carmel color in it.

 

[ols386]

I explored granite while redoing my kitchen, but decided on Cambria (quartz) counters in the end. I love it!



I hear you on wiping stuff into the sink. If you hate the lip of the sink you could look into undercounter mounted sinks with any counter material.

The solid surfaces with integrated sinks (like corian) are OK. I have one in my bathroom but really wouldn't like it in my kitchen. The solid surfaces are much more vulnerable to scratches, stains and heat.

We just got a new corian kitchen counter top, and so far we like it. We are pretty careful with it as to not scratch or stain it. If we still had kids at home, we may have gone with something else. Kids are hard on stuff like that.