Granite is the standard spec for the houses my company builds and in about 300 units a year, probably 5% have issues. It’s definitely not bullet-proof and the most common problem is cracking caused by extreme temperature changes. Although tons of people do it, it is definitely NOT recommended to put hot pans directly on it. The edges where the sink and stovetop cut-outs are can also break if people do stupid things like stand on them.
Good info, thanks, I love my granite but I still treat it respectfully.
We have them at work and where the coffee pot sits is all stained. There are also some areas falling off. I think if you have them, you also have to treat them resepecfully, and if you do, they'll probably be fine, too. I lived with white grooved Formica (which I'd picked out and loved) for 20 years before we did our kitchen remodel and they were still in excellent condition (aside from the one spot where my sister cut bagels directly on the Formica grrr).
In my experience, granite does not have to be sealed every year. However, it should be checked at least once a year and preferably more than that. It's so easy to test, all you need is a couple drops of water. But virtually nobody does it. So the first sign they see that their granite needed sealing is a spill. Uh oh......And things get much harder after that occurs. An ounce of prevention in this case is worth 10 pounds of cure. Now if you never spill anything on it, you can go years and years with a granite countertop needing a seal and it will probably be ok. But again, the test is EZPZ and sealing it is not all that difficult. The 48 hours of non use is a pain in the rear. But other than that, it's not too bad So there is no excuse not to be doing it. The way I figure it, you shell out the big bucks for a granite countertop, it's worth a couple of minutes of your time every so often to check it and a couple of hours of your time when you need to seal it.
Yeah, I was surprised that my daughter's entry level house had granite counter tops. And stainless steel appliances. Although when we remodeled our kitchen 5 years ago, the Sharp drawer microwave we wanted only came in stainless steel. The box still showed White and Almond (the color we wanted) as an option, but they had discontinued the two colors.
In my experience the only people that think sealing is a big deal are Corian and quartz countertop salesmen.
Same here. The home we now live in had just had the kitchen reno'd when we bought it. The laminate was brand new and OK looking and I just couldn't bring myself to trash it. We would like granite at some point though and it will increase the re-sale.
No granite was one of the reasons we went in with an offer under list. We visited a marble quarry when we were in Italy and it was fascinating!! Of course you should have what you want, but the salespeople aren't crazy. If any of our customers want to select natural marble, they have to sign in advance acknowledging the nature of the material and waiving warranty on cosmetic wear-and-tear. It scratches unbelievably easily and the glossy finish wears very fast.
Laminate is still a viable lower cost option and they're making it in much better colors these days.
Bingo. A countertop, no matter how durable, is not a cutting board. It's a great way to ruin a knife and possibly the expensive countertop as well.
Yeah, common sense is don't use your countertop as a cutting board.
Teen boy and common sense are mutually exclusive.
