Are granite counter tops dated? What are people doing now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the process of buying a house with silestone counters... and I did not even KNOW what they were. They looked cheaper than granite to me, and my realtor kept insisting "No, no, these are a step up from granite!" and she's ESL so I had no idea what that meant. So I think most buyers are still looking for granite.

Silestone is fake granite.
The agent was trying to make the sale.

It is more expensive than granite because it is ground up stone mixed with resin and doesn't need sealing. I wanted to get Sillestone, but didn't want to pay $700 more for something that didn't look as nice as granite. I like the fact it doesn't need sealing.

Isn't resin another word for plastic? So ground up stone mixed with plastic is better than a natural material?

I think most granite countertops are covered with a layer of synthetic sealer to make them impervious. Otherwise, you will have stains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me up the ante to the bat shit crazy level: granite emits radon! Discuss.

Soapstone is also a natural material and can have the same concern, so is marble. When you go for the synthetics, then there are other concerns with emission of harmful chemicals of different kids. You cannot get away from this. Hey, FWIW, you may have more background radiation from your WiFi and other electronic devices. On the other hand, people lived in natural stone construction since the beginning of time. I would think we should have evolved to survive slightly elevated levels of what naturally occurs in our environment. They say basements because they are dug underground are in danger, how about caves, how about stone houses or the granite palaces of the past?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the process of buying a house with silestone counters... and I did not even KNOW what they were. They looked cheaper than granite to me, and my realtor kept insisting "No, no, these are a step up from granite!" and she's ESL so I had no idea what that meant. So I think most buyers are still looking for granite.

Silestone is fake granite.
The agent was trying to make the sale.

It is more expensive than granite because it is ground up stone mixed with resin and doesn't need sealing. I wanted to get Sillestone, but didn't want to pay $700 more for something that didn't look as nice as granite. I like the fact it doesn't need sealing.

Isn't resin another word for plastic? So ground up stone mixed with plastic is better than a natural material?

Er, yes. It's far better to manufacture a material, preferably using recycled components, than to dig massive holes in the earth, excavate the granite, and ship it in giant fuel-guzzling barges around the world. Is this really rocket science? Granite is very environmentally unfriendly. The areas will they mine it will take decades or more to recover, as bad as the mountain top coal mining sites. And this for kitchen counters.

[Anonymous]

With the price of granite going steadily down, you can replace the old granite with a new granite if you like. I did -- the old was kinda pinky/peachy with gray and drove me nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the price of granite going steadily down, you can replace the old granite with a new granite if you like. I did -- the old was kinda pinky/peachy with gray and drove me nuts.

What new pattern did you choose?

[Anonymous]

I'm bored with this thread.

And mind you, I'm going to renovate my kitchen in the coming year, and really need to figure out what I'm going to do.

But the opinions here seem to have ossified. Will have to look at samples, talk to our designer, and just make a gut call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm bored with this thread.

And mind you, I'm going to renovate my kitchen in the coming year, and really need to figure out what I'm going to do.

But the opinions here seem to have ossified. Will have to look at samples, talk to our designer, and just make a gut call.

Well, bully for you. I still want to know what pattern PP chose.

[Anonymous]

What's that stuff called? Decoupage? You could put old family photos, dried flowers, interstesting coins under a layer of resin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the price of granite going steadily down, you can replace the old granite with a new granite if you like. I did -- the old was kinda pinky/peachy with gray and drove me nuts.

What new pattern did you choose?

Crema Bordeaux Granite

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's that stuff called? Decoupage? You could put old family photos, dried flowers, interstesting coins under a layer of resin.

That sounds... like a lot of visual clutter!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the price of granite going steadily down, you can replace the old granite with a new granite if you like. I did -- the old was kinda pinky/peachy with gray and drove me nuts.

What new pattern did you choose?

Crema Bordeaux Granite

Really? I can understand those who like it (too busy for my tastes), but you don't think this looks pinky/peachy with gray? What did you change from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the price of granite going steadily down, you can replace the old granite with a new granite if you like. I did -- the old was kinda pinky/peachy with gray and drove me nuts.

What new pattern did you choose?

Crema Bordeaux Granite

Really? I can understand those who like it (too busy for my tastes), but you don't think this looks pinky/peachy with gray? What did you change from?

HaHa! It does not look like that! That is what the one I removed looked like! Is more cream/white color. Gotta love granite

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's that stuff called? Decoupage? You could put old family photos, dried flowers, interstesting coins under a layer of resin.

That sounds... like a lot of visual clutter!

Yes. I've seen coffee tables from the 70s done this way. It gets old and dated fast.

[Anonymous]

What's that stuff called? Decoupage? You could put old family photos, dried flowers, interstesting coins under a layer of resin.

Nice. I'm going with this. I'm including all the seashells DC brought home from the beach, and all our foreign currency from world travels.

BTW it's not decoupage. Decoupage would be if I scattered and layered all my old concert ticket stubs and posters, then coated them with glue. And if I wanted to go multimedia, maybe I could include the scraps of my old Stones and Dead t-shirts.

[Anonymous]

Crema Bordeaux Granite

God, I love DCUM.