<p>We went to a large granite supply house as cheers suggested. We did not purchase this from our local home center. We are fortunate enough to have a large granite supply center nearby.</p>
<p>Our backsplash is part granite a few inches up on the wall, and then we continued it with a neutral tumbled marble tile, which is broken up by a few small glass tiles.</p>
<p>Twinmom, my H sealed the granite, and to be honest, I don’t know what the brand of sealer was. He probably went back to the granite supplier and purchased it there, but I am not even sure about that. I doubt he would know which brand he bought if I asked him.</p>
<p>dke, that is how I feel about rugs, vs. wall to wall carpeting! As far as kitchen and baths, it is an improvement in your home value. We had no choice. Our kitchen was over 50 years old. We needed to redo. We live in one of those older Northeastern homes! It is a money pit.</p>
<p>I have Corian (kinda an off white) on most of the kitchen and a dark green/black granite on the island. I love the Corian–have been using it for 13 years and it looks like new–if someone gets mustard or wine on it, I just clean it off with Clorox clean-up. A friend got a cigarette burn on hers and it sanded out easily. I too have been setting hot pots on mine for 13 years and have no burn marks. I even have a couple left over pieces that I put little rubber feet on and use for cutting boards and hot plates for the table.</p>
<p>The granite is prettier, but I am always worrying about getting acid juices, etc. on it that will mess up finish. Also am very careful about what I clean it with. So far, no mishaps but I wouldn’t want it all over my kitchen.</p>
<p>A friend put in the composite stone last year and loves it.</p>
<p>What I HATE is marble. Master bath has it and it has become severely etched due to spills on counter and I used DOW bathroom cleaner on it once–really messed up finish (was sealed too). Once you do something to natural stone, there is no fixing it–have had several different tile/marble people come look at it and all say that the only thing to do is replace. Hey, no one really sees it except h. and me, so I’m just leaving it–but would never, ever have marble again.</p>
<p>jmmom - when we built our house, we splurged on the backsplash tiles, and I absolutley love them. They’re solid color art tiles with some 3-D artichoke tiles scattered about. But we did get the laminate countertops because that’s what was in our budget then (also, we installed the backsplash ourselves, saving labor costs) because to get a certificate of occupancy (and we were three weeks between homes, scattered in different people’s houses), we had to have a countertop. So we installed the backsplash down to the top of the laminate self-splash. Once we remove the laminate counter top, we’d have to replace it with something that also meets the backsplash? I guess that’s a question.</p>
<p>I believe so. Since I am looking at 35 year old white laminate countertops right now I was pretty excited to think that they might possibly be coming back in style! (Of course, the article could have been irony and I just missed it.)</p>
<p>Formica is one brand name for high-pressure laminates. There are medium- and low-pressure laminates but you wouldn’t want to use them in kitchen counters. Melamine is a low-pressure laminate. (Actually “melamine” is a particle-board panel covered in melamine resin, but in building it’s just called “melamine.” The particle-board core plastic-surface flat-pack furniture from Ikea is made of melamine panels.)</p>
<p>Most butcher block work surfaces are made from hard Eastern maple (rock maple and sugar maple are other names for the same wood). Western bigleaf maple is softer and has less-interesting grain. It does not make good butcher blocks. My biggest concern about an all-butcher block counter would be its eventual damage by water. I’ve occasionally seen wooden countertops in kitchens and baths and – unless they are brand new – they all show signs of water damage around sinks. Maple is NOT naturally resistant to rot, which is one of the reasons it you don’t often find it on boats. It discolors when it gets wet. I’d gladly do butcher block on a dry island, or away from the sink, but if you think it might get wet, don’t use maple. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned tile countertops. Until the mid-90s, I swear that every kitchen in Southern California had 4-inch ceramic tile counters. They wear well, and are available in several materials and a gazillion colors. The disadvantage and the reason we won’t have one again is discoloration of the grout lines. We simply aren’t diligent enough to keep them looking good. A solid stone or synthetic (Wilsonart, Corian) countertop with a tile backsplash looks sharp.</p>
<p>Let’s see, there’s also soapstone which is a great look, especially for older homes, local stone of other types, poured concrete for the Eastern-European worker’s housing meets SoHo loft look, stainless, and I suppose hammered straw covered in epoxy. Just kidding about that last one, I think.</p>
<p>We are currently planning to gut and redo our kitchen. We are cutting costs (a lot) by not moving plumbing or tearing out walls, but we will probably end up with Silestone or granite for financial reasons. We expect to sell the house in 8-10 years, and at the price range for our house we think this is the kind of material that customers would expect. Otherwise, I might be shopping for a nice design of laminate. It wears well and is really cheap by comparison.</p>
<p>The other thing to consider is that all the counter tops don’t have to be the same. I don’t really mind the wear and tear on butcher block, but you might not want it in the whole kitchen especially around the sink. Some of the Silestone- like composites are pretty neat looking. There are a few granites I like. Actually most of the green shades - I like that site Cheers, I’m bookmarking it! I may well end up with one and perhaps a butcher block island. Marble is great for pastry. I’d never do tile on a counter, I worked for a woman who had one in our office kitchen and we spent all our time trying to get coffee grounds out of the grout. I love tile on backsplashes though. Actually if I had the budget for it, this is what I’d put on my counters: <a href=“Green River Stone Redirect”>Green River Stone Redirect; It’s just so cool! I’m hoping I can use some in a backsplash.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone for all of the replies. We only want to replace the countertops as the original builder put in a nice stone backsplash and I guess cut corners by using the laminate (which, by the way, does not look bad, kind of looks like concrete). We do have an island, but I don’t think the amount needing to be replaced will be too costly. And, we want to consider doing this because as so many of you have mentioned, it would be good for resale. I would like to enjoy a few years of it before we consider selling! After all, why spend all of the money to update only for someone else to enjoy. Please keep the comments coming–I am learning a lot!</p>
<p>Silestone quartz(?) sounds very interesting at this point–could it be the next take after granite? I know that a lot of homes in our area have granite, but the silestone sounds interesting! And, by the way, I am really not looking forward to the whole process of removal of existing countertops and installation of the new surface. Would like to keep the current sink as well, just replace the countertops. Perhaps anyone has comments on this whole process as well. I assume that I can just replace the countertops and use the current sink?</p>
<p>WashDad, if you like tiles but are afraid of the grout issues, go to Tile for Less in Kirkland (you are in King County, right?), it sells wonderful epoxy grout, which is bullet- and stain-proof. It costs 5 times more than the regular kind, but it is worth its weight in gold! I have never heard of it until we went to a home show and saw a guy spilling red wine on white tiles to demonstrate its stain-resistance. We replaced our white grout in the bathroom with this miracle product, and I have never had any issues with it. We are do-it-yourselfers.</p>
<p>We built a house in 1992 and used a product called “granitech”…all the properties of granite, but 1/4 the price. Everyone asked about it, liked it, thought it was granite. It came in sheets 4’ x 8’. I found it in a bath and kitchen magazine in 1990. It is shown as floor covering at their site, but we used it on counters, sealed it. It is thin, and we put a wood border, but I think we could have paid a lot more for an edge. <a href=“http://www.polymerica.com/design_polymers/granitech.htm[/url]”>http://www.polymerica.com/design_polymers/granitech.htm</a>
It held up fine for hot things, though I was somewhat careful, and there was never a nick. Good luck. Lorelei</p>
<p>Northeastmom, I have it in my shower (walls and floor) and have not seen any mildew on it. I regularly wipe the shower clean with a squeegee (sp?) - helps a lot with soap scum issues, etc.</p>
<p>We put in granite a couple of years ago and have been delighted with it–almost black but I think technically some dark blue pattern. It doesn’t show any dirt with the result that we always have to remember to wipe it down. I assume the installer sealed it; we haven’t done anything to it since. I guess we need to look into that. No sign of any stains or chips.</p>
<p>We did a little research on all of the various stuff out there, but were ultimately influenced by a woman at a cocktail party comment that you could really “go with anything as long as it’s real stone.” We were concerned about resale value and the other products weren’t that much less expensive, so we just went with the flow and are happy we did. We have a big wholesale granite shop nearby and it was extremely easy. There were tons of huge slabs on the lot to pick from, one day to measure and one day to install.</p>
<p>We did have a little trouble picking the tile backsplash to match because of the color and pattern. You need to consider the two together, especially if you already have a backsplash you plan to keep.</p>
<p>bunsenburner, What would be the advantages of putting epoxy grout into a bathroom over the regular kind? </p>
<p>TheAnalyst reminded me that when we went to the large granite store, they took us into the area where they have slabs and slabs of granite. We were able to select the exact sections that we wanted. They drew on the areas that they would cut from for our countertops. Also, they were wonderful in minimizing the one seam that was required. We have a large countertop in one area of our kitchen. They centered the seam where the sink is located. Perhaps with another product you won’t need any seams. All of these products have their positives and negatives.</p>
<p>but you HAVE to clean epoxy grout off the tiles before it hardens, when installing. Our doufus builder used epoxy grout, and didnt’ clean them off right away - eventually we ended up replacing the tiles, because no amount of acid wash would remove the globs.</p>