Granite Countertops?

[gen4sure]

 Help! Need some suggestions of where to buy granite countertops at a discount price. Has anyone had any luck finding such a place in this area and was the workmanship good? Maybe even a referral of a good installer would help?
Thanks in advance!


Betty

[thriftyamy]

I don't mean to offend you - are you aware that granite countertops need to be "sealed" every couple of years? I didn't want to deal with maintenance for my countertops. We went with solid surface aka Corian counter tops and couldn't have been happier. I had them at my previous house for almost 9 years. Corian has since lost it's patent and now there's plenty of other makers of solid surface countertops. The prices are competitve.

[osumom]

Help! Need some suggestions of where to buy granite countertops at a discount price. Has anyone had any luck finding such a place in this area and was the workmanship good? Maybe even a referral of a good installer would help?
Thanks in advance!


Betty

I can't recommend anyone specific for the granite counters because ours was installed through our builder, but I looooooooooooooooooooooooove my granite.  Wouldn't trade it for anything.  I don't think the sealing is a big deal at all.  I had corian at my other house and I personally wasn't crazy about it.  I feel it scratched easily and that the scratches were very obvious.  The way the light hit the corian it really accentuated the scratches.  That drove me crazy.  That's just my opinion. 

[farmerlee1286]

I've been thinking of replacing my countertops as well.  I can't argue that granite looks beautiful, but like tile on the floor...things tend to break very easily if they hit the counter the wrong way. I also am not crazy about having to seal it annually.  Way too much stuff to move!  Also it's a porous surface and can harbour (sp?) bacteria.  Love it for the bathroom but not crazy about that fact for a kitchen.  I've seen corian in a friend's house and it looks great.  It's a light charcoal w/specks of black, grey and white.  I'm interested in a non porous surface.  I think quartz and definitely corian fits the bill.  Has anyone thought about that?

[ffrrggyy]

DS just remodeled his kitchen and put in beautiful granite countertops.  He has his cookbooks on top of the refrigerator.  While we were there we heard a noise and the books had slipped and the bookend landed on the granite.  Yes heavy bookend.  It took a nasty chip out of the new top.

[cheapisgood]

For the person with the chipped countertop.  There is a product that my installer is going to use on my granite to fix a chip on the edge of my counter.  I don't know if you could buy it yourself but it is fixable if you want it fixed.  I love my granite counters however, the granite spray used to clean it is expensive.  Any suggestions on homemade cleaners that can sanitize.  The installer said no ammonia, bleach, abrasives, just soap and water.  I just don't feel that gets the goop from raw chicken and beef off my counters.

[neecey]

For the person with the chipped countertop.  There is a product that my installer is going to use on my granite to fix a chip on the edge of my counter.  I don't know if you could buy it yourself but it is fixable if you want it fixed.  I love my granite counters however, the granite spray used to clean it is expensive.  Any suggestions on homemade cleaners that can sanitize.  The installer said no ammonia, bleach, abrasives, just soap and water.  I just don't feel that gets the goop from raw chicken and beef off my counters.

My mom uses Glass Plus on her granite counter tops.  I don't think there is ammonia in that product; I remember her saying specifically that was the only product she could use.  It does a nice job!