<p>Here’s something to consider if you are doing a whole remodel or building new: try using the stainless of a commercial kitchen. My husband’s client put it in for less than granite on her perimeter counter tops and sink areas (probably about 25 linear feet), and had a butcher block on part of the island, granite on about 2/3 of that island. It was gorgeous! She even put in a commercial type dishwasher, and of course, mostly stainless appliances. </p>
<p>I think this application would only make sense in a large upscale kitchen, but it was stunning (and no more expensive than granite). Extremely low maintenance. Personally, I thought her commercial dw was the best part. </p>
<p>We have a “kitchen fund” for the future… we plan to move our small 8x14 kitchen into our huge adjacent family room (28x26). Our kitchen is going to become our computer center. Ahh, it is such a nice dream. I wonder if we will EVER get to it.</p>
<p>Fencermother, our contractor mentioned this. He has this in his own home. The downside to all of the stainless steel he told us it that is scratches easily. For him it is not a problem to buff out the scratches. For us, it would be a pain. We did get a stainless steel sink (nice and deep, and large enough to handle larger trays easily).</p>
<p>We finally replaced our 20+ Formica kitchen and bathroom countertops and replaced it with Zodiaq which is composed of mostly granite with some Corian. It doesn’t require any sealing, and it’s basically an updated version of Formica and also Corian, because they both tend to look/be outdated. I also have a Corian sink with a Zodiaq countertop in my powder room, and they both work very well together.</p>
<p>I don’t like stainless countertops…too clinical, like a vet’s office.</p>
<p>There are new products coming out all the time. I like the look of the quartz composite countertops (I think Simplicity is one) but don’t care for the ‘itty-bitty fleck’ look of some of the solid surfaces. I’ll be replacing my white laminate (okay…who couldn’t choose a color?) after the New Year and we’re going with granite. On sale it can be less per sq ft than the composites/solids and the reaction you get from buyers is ‘oooh, is this granite?’ And when you are going to be selling a house, you want the wow factor. It’ll be a while before we sell but I want to enjoy them for a couple of years first.</p>
<p>Northeastmom - Thanks anyway. We recently put a granite countertop as a vanity top in our bathroom with inset sink. We are very happy with it but forgot to buy sealant. You just reminded me; I’ll call the granite yard and see what they recommend.</p>
<p>We put dark granite counters in our kitchen six years ago. They are dramatically pretty, but I’m not sure I’d do it again. I was surprised that accidentally hitting a coffee cup or a plate against the edge will chip the granite, not the ceramic of the dinnerware. Granite edges can be fixed pretty well, but still.</p>
<p>The dark color means that you can’t even see coffee grounds spilled on it unless you look really close. </p>
<p>People seem pretty happy with that Cambria/quartz/Silestone stuff. I think it’s harder than granite. I kind of like Formica – all those color choices!</p>
<p>We have a twenty-two year old bathroom with “cultured marble” counters. That’s the cheap, ordinary stuff, but it sure wears well. Still looks like new.</p>
<p>Sometimes the older, less expensive stuff is pretty darn good!</p>
<p>One reason that marble on bath vanities doesn’t hold up as well as marble in kitchens is that Aemricans tend to a) use harsher cleansers in baths and b) Users don’t do as many quick sponge wipedowns in the bath. </p>
<p>The same is true for the faucets. Bath faucets chip very quickly due to the frequent use of harsh chemicals which breaks down the coating on the metal.</p>
<p>I use epoxy in boat building. The solvent for epoxy is acetone, but it won’t work after the epoxy is fully cured, which usually takes a few days. If you have epoxy grout on tile and get to it in a day or two I’m guessing that acetone would remove it. I have NOT used epoxy grout, but have used epoxy resin in building nine boats. Most epoxy products are based on chemically similar resins.</p>
<p>Most epoxies soften over 150 degrees or so. You might be able to remove small bits of fully-cured resin by heating them and scraping them with a metal paint scraper. </p>
<p>Safety with epoxy: it’s not a respiratory hazard, so don’t worry about that. Skin contact with uncured or partially cured epoxy can cause rashes and rare respiratory problems. I always wear latex or vinyl gloves when working with epoxy products. I always use thick “solvent” gloves and a $20 respirator when working with acetone. It’s not the most dangerous solvent of all, but I don’t like messing with anything that has “solvent” in the name.</p>
<p>We’ve had white corian for 11 years; easy to care for, but perpetually looks dirty unless I want the whole house to smell like bleach. Easy to sand out nicks. I didn’t know granite stains, so that’s good to consider.</p>
<p>I own a decorating store and everyone around here has granite, so I feel very uncool when almost all of my clients have gorgeous kitchens. I would love to replace my countertops with granite, but 16 years of tuition (one and one-half down, fourteen and one-half to go over the next ten and one-half years LOL) are stopping that! Plus, knowing my luck, two years after I invest in granite, it won’t be the “in” thing. But if we decide to sell anytime in the near future, we would have to tear out the corian and put in granite; it’s just expected around here. Same with stainless steel appliances. No one seems to care how well the appliances operate or what brand they are, just if they have stainless exteriors. I don’t quite get that.</p>
<p>FWIW- There are three things in my home I would like to have even if I lived in a one room cottage: central vac, sub-zero frig and my kitchen aid mixer!</p>
<p>We just had granite countertops installed last year and in the process I learned that all “grante” is not necessarily “granite”. The very different “designs” and colors you will see in the differing slabs of granite are actually different types of stone. And these different types can be more or less suseptible to staining and such.</p>
<p>We have a good bit of counter space and I was not interested in a definite “pattern”…wanted more of a basic black look, but not truly solid black. So we went with a type of “granite” called “uba tuba” which is sort of a deep green/black with flecks of silver/gold, to varying degrees. It’s georgeous and has been pretty much trouble free so far. AFTER I compared types and patterns and decided I liked this the best, I read up on it and discovered that uba tuba is one of the more affordable “granites” and also one of the more durable ones. YAY!</p>
<p>This thread is just up my alley. We’re designing a kitchen remodeling job. What are the features you would make sure to include?<br>
We, too, are in the headset of 'as long as we’ll sell in the next 5 yrs, why not remodel NOW so we’ll have some years to enjoy it! We’re looking at granite. Also, a realtor friend says windows are big (so we’re thinking of enlarging one as part of the process). A bar sink is also apparently “hot” as are stainless appliances. Opinions? What would you look for in a new kitchen?</p>
<p>I have had my Corian countertops for 12 years with no problem (and a nice clean look), but if I had to choose, I would go with marble. I have seen some white marble counter tops lately with some dark veins running through them that are gorgeous! They remind me of old European kitchens. I’m not sure about the upkeep, though.</p>
<p>We replaced a tile countertop almost 4 years ago with granite, a light color ("[Vyhara</a> Light](<a href="http://www.easterngranit.com/Materiali/vyhara%20light.htm]Vyhara">www.easterngranit.com/Materiali/vyhara%20light.htm)") and random pattern (although I carefully chose 3 contiguous slabs so as to be sure the patterns would fit well), and I have ZERO regrets. Best thing I’ve ever done. There has been zero staining, zero cracking, zero problems with the countertop: zero problems. It rocks. It is beautiful. It is functional. I can (and do) put very hot things directly onto it without a problem (which is not the case with the Corian countertops of those I know who used that material: eventually a burn mark shows up somewhere). I would not do anything differently. And I mean that.</p>
<p>We also replaced the entire rest of the kitchen, tearing it out to the studs and beyond, and so far there is nothing I would change. Isn’t that odd? You’d think that SOMETHING would be amiss after almost 4 years, that someone who cooks as much as I do (PS: I cook a lot) would find something wrong. Nope. I would not do anything differently.</p>
<p>So back on topic: granite all the way. I am a believer.</p>
<p>^^^ I opened your link mootmom! I really like that!!! It has a nice, warm look to it. What a joy to have your ideal kitchen. I bet the food you cook in it is just as great!</p>
<p>We have a tiled shower, and after 9 years (2 people X once daily each) even with regular sealing, the grout started falling out. We decided to re-grout the shower. It took several trips to the hardware store and multiple rotary tool heads to get the old grout out (in the end, I used hand tools). Epoxy grout was easy to install. It was January, so I opened all windows to bring the room temperature down (to increase hardening time of the epoxy), and started working in sections. For cleaning, I used a sponge dipped in the solution of the powder Laticrete provides with each grout bucket. H was watching from the sidelines. He had a great idea: took a small portion of the epoxy-grout mix, placed it into a sandwich bag and put it in the freezer. The next day, when we needed some touch-up grout, we used the stuff from the freezer (the lower the temperature, the slower the curing time of epoxies).</p>
<p>Epoxy grout never needs sealing and is stain-proof, so it can be used in kitchens.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner, it’s funny, but you’ve recreated a couple of standard tricks used by boat builders to extend working time with epoxy. Another is to sit your container of mixed epoxy in a bath of ice water while you are using it. A plastic bag (a freezer bag is a favorite) with the tip of bottom cut off is commonly used to apply epoxy to corners in boats – you’ve almost reinvented this method! </p>
<p>I’ve never heard of epoxy grout, but it should work great. Epoxy is just about as waterproof as materials get, and if it is mixed with a flexible filler it should do great as grout. I wonder if I could mix my own?</p>
<p>We put in Silestone countertops 2 1/2 years ago, and I LOVE them!! We had laminate before, with overmount sinks. I didn’t like the granite colors–too dark for my cherry cabinets, which are still in good shape. I wanted a “white” look, so we have a Silestone that is a white background, with flecks of black, and some dark flecks that are a little “shiny”. The overall effect is white, and it is perfect with our kitchen! We got an undermount porcelain double sink to replace the overmount one we had–and upgraded our disposal! The upkeep is easy–no problems of any sort (knock wood!) and I would get Silestone again in a heartbeat!</p>
<p>WashDad, I do not know anything about boats, but I know some physical chemistry . The grout comes as a kit in many colors, sanded or non-sanded - check laticrete website. It is pricier than the regular kind, but it is worth avoiding the hassle locating all of the ingredients and making your own. Plus, there is a guarantee from the manufacturer.</p>
<p>To the OP, RE: replacement countertops. I just remembered that a friend of mine did exact same thing: left her tiled backsplash intact while hiring a company that overlays some sort of composite granite crumb material over formica countertops. It was expensive, about 4K for a typical run-of-the-mill L-shaped kitchen, but it looks very snazzy and it included a double undercounter sink. I do not know if there are companies like that in your area. I think I might use tis co. to replace my marble vanity top in the powder room, and I swear not to use marble ever in my house. Looks great, but pain in the rear to clean.</p>
<p>Post # 51: things to put in the remodeled kitchen. We installed a warming drawer, and I love it! It keeps food hot and moist while my family is slowly trickling into the house after their activities. I do not have to nuke my food in the microwave to have a nice hot dinner. As for appliances, there are stainless steel ones that show every little pawprint, and there are stainless steel appliances that are fingerprint-resistant, so be on the lookout for the latter kind.</p>
. The grout comes as a kit in many colors, sanded or non-sanded - check laticrete website. It is pricier than the regular kind, but it is worth avoiding the hassle locating all of the ingredients and making your own. Plus, there is a guarantee from the manufacturer.</p>