Kitchen countertops

[nmmom95]

We remodeled our kitchen a few years ago and went with Corian. We have been really happy with it.

 

[Bearvet]

We put in granite countertops 2 years ago and love it. Home Depot ran a special beginning Sept 30 which included a free sink and an edge upgrade. We have a LOT of counter space and the total was around $4500 (included backsplashes). The granite is pre-sealed and does not need to be sealed in the future.

We also made the trip to personally select the slab that our countertops would be cut from - very worthwhile thing to do. Maybe Home Depot is running that special again - can't hurt to check!

 

[arminnie]

I put in granite for the first time 19 years ago. It is still perfect.

Corian has to be babied a lot.

I have no experience with quartz.

I was going to go with laminate to save money with my latest remodel but because it was not a standard configuration it was going to cost MORE.

 

[burnurcomputer]

I have soapstone. Its "sealed" by mineral oil wiped on the surface, every week or so for the first year, and then as needed. I think that granite, corian and other like that are so overdone.

 

[cornflake]

We put in Cambria, which is made from quartz. (http://www.cambriausa.com/) The advantage over "real" stone is the sample you see in the store is exactly what the countertops will look like since the product is manufactured.

Just a strong as granite.

Always, always, go pick your own stone. Pick it, make them label it with your name in front of you. Going by a sample isn't going to get you what you want.

 

[FLCyndi]

We had laminate countertops and were thinking of selling our house. We priced laminate for kitchen-It was about $4k. Got the name of a small business and he priced it out for $4500 with backsplash.

Love the granite-it is beige, chocolate brown and black. The island with the cooktop is black.

I would never buy another house without granite. DH says I am spoiled.

 

[KDIPIAZZ]

I have soapstone. Its "sealed" by mineral oil wiped on the surface, every week or so for the first year, and then as needed. I think that granite, corian and other like that are so overdone.

Hi to another stoner! I also have soapstone and love it. Never bothered to oil it either, but it has darkened up on its own. When we remodeled the bathroom, we used soapstone again for the counters and tub surround.

 

[minniecarousel]

Granite for us. In the past year, we have redone our kitchen and all the bathrooms - all counters in granite. The granite in the kitchen is very dark - called Tan/Brown. DH picked it out. I wasn't thinking to have the countertops that dark. But with the dark cherry cabinets and the oak floor, the dark counter really works. The dark granite didn't need to be sealed.

The granite in the bathrooms are lighter and I sealed them. I knew I needed to seal them when the counters got wet, they darkened, just where the water had been. With the sealer, no water darkening. (it would go back to the original color without the sealant, I just liked the idea of sealing to avoid the absorption.)

We put granite in the kitchen of our previous home and chose a beautiful, dramatic juperana. It looked like sand dunes, with a lot of gold colors and browns.

Honestly, granite is down in price - at least around here (SF Bay Area). You can even buy it already with the bullnosing done. Our contractor needed to hire a sub for fabrication in the kitchen, but his guys installed the simpler bathroom granites.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

I have granite and had it for about 6 years now. It looks as shiny and new as the day it was installed. As for sealing, there are products that clean and seal at the same time. That's all I've used and my granite is beautiful.

My best friend has corian in her house and it's scratched and dull looking. She's tried everything to bring the shine back, but nothing has worked for her. She contacted a corian installer and they told her she would have to have someone come out and sand/buff it to bring back the shine.

 

[mickeysgal]

SOME granites require sealing. The lighter colors because they are more porous. And if you do need to seal your granite, it's a simple wipe on, wipe off process.

I have had my for nine years and it has never been sealed. It looks exactly as it did the day it was installed.

In my experience the only people that think sealing is a big deal are Corian and quartz countertop salesmen.

Very true.

We have a very dark granite - blackish with a random pattern - called Maroon Cohiba. Love it, love it, love it. Hides everything. Had Corian in a house once. It's ok. Granite is easy to take care of and ours got a lifetime sealer. It was sealed when we had it installed 4 years ago and it's still perfect. Granite has come down in price and you can get very lovely patterns at reasonable prices.

My secret love is soapstone though.

 

[Kimberle]

I love love love my corian!! We've had it for nearly 10 years. We also have the intergrated WHITE seamless corian sink. It still looks like new. It is very easy to clean. I'm always dumping tomato sauce, etc in the sink. I just clean it with a little comet and it still looks like new.

With corian, you can have someone come out and "buff" it. It is a solid surface, so if you get any knife scratches, etc., they can easily be buffed out. We had this done once and it wasn't very expensive.

Personally, I'm so bored with granit.

 

[lmiller2558]

This really helped with a project I am working on.

 

[disney junky]

We have quartz. It was the most expensive choice but it's held up well. I believe it's man made, and I liked the fact that it was made partially from recycled materials.

 

[ZZBane]

We had corian at our old house. It was great! We also had cork floors in the kitchen. Bamboo floors in the dining room, living room, and the study. And then slate in the hallway, powder room, and laundry room. Bamboo and cork is amazing if you have kids, but most especially if you have dogs.
The house we live in now....the kitchen is all marble and crap laminate floors. We hate it. The marble is also in all the bathrooms. 100% would not recommend

 

[fla4fun]

The Corian in our house is 28 years old and still looks new. We do not have the integrated sink because we prefer stainless sinks in kitchens. I don’t mind stone counters, but they wouldn’t really go with the design of the kitchen. Maybe someday if we had reason to do a complete gut job on the kitchen I would consider it. I want something extremely low maintenance though, and the Corian has certainly been that.

 

[SueInBoston]

I did quartz 2 years ago and love it. I decided against granite because my neighbor remodeled a year before me and her counter was already showing dullness and had a couple of nicks. Also I have a small galley kitchen and I feel granite needs to be a big piece to show off the pattern.

 

[Searc]

The Corian in our house is 28 years old and still looks new. We do not have the integrated sink because we prefer stainless sinks in kitchens. I don’t mind stone counters, but they wouldn’t really go with the design of the kitchen. Maybe someday if we had reason to do a complete gut job on the kitchen I would consider it. I want something extremely low maintenance though, and the Corian has certainly been that.

My quartz has been zero maintenance. All I do is wipe it after using like I would any counter surface.

 

[Disney Doll]

We’ve had good luck with granite. It’s been about 10 years and it looks like the day it was installed. I wipe it with a sponge and occasionally clean it with window cleaner.

I’ve never sealed it. It’s a darker Gray background with flecks of peach, mint green and lavender. Very tight. Although as a PP said, sealing is basically wipe on some liquid stuff and let it dry.

 

[tvguy]

We’ve had good luck with granite. It’s been about 10 years and it looks like the day it was installed. I wipe it with a sponge and occasionally clean it with window cleaner.

I’ve never sealed it. It’s a darker Gray background with flecks of peach, mint green and lavender. Very tight. Although as a PP said, sealing is basically wipe on some liquid stuff and let it dry.

My neighbor has granite. Put it in 11 years ago. It has cracked three times. But apparently it can be repaired. He's a contractor and he said he knew there was a chance of this happening before they put it in.
We put in Corian 5 years ago. No issues yet, and if there are, nothing that you can't repair yourself with a $25 repair kit.

 

[emer95]

We put in granite about 6 years ago. We’ve done nothing to it. It is so gorgeous, it’s almost like art. We chose butterfly verde, and it has so many flecks of gold and green. It makes me feel happy every time I look at it. The best upgrade we’ve made to our home.