Bought my first house, remodel/cabinet advise

And the even longer view is that it will cycle back around again. You just have to be willing to wait out the trend chasers.

 

Quartz isn't timeless, either, there David. Nothing is.

Well, except subway tile.

 

This thread has given me some courage to look at doing some of it myself, BUT my bank account negated that feeling fairly quickly.

 

Nope. 10' long all day.

 

I sit corrected. How spendy is it?

 

I didn't say it was. My thought was that in looking over a lot of houses over the past 2 years (that's how long we looked) I saw some awful granite shite. Our counters are white on white with steel appliances and silver/gray backsplash tile. It's so simple and clean/modest that it doesn't stand out. And like I said, to each their own sense of style.

 

Yep greys and silver are in. My wife has over the last few years gradually redone a lot of our house that way.

 

Arc Fault breakers are now a requirement for most all living areas of a house in new and remodel installs. We are all going to have to get over it.

 

I actually didn't know much about quartz till we bought the house. the only seam we have is because of a relatively small (3') L-section on one end of the main counter that sits on both sides of the range. The island that holds our sink and dishwasher is 8 feet.
I was a tad miffed when I notices some faint staining as it was advertised as completely non-porous. But so far, all the stuff is faint, and you can abrade it out. Whether white is timeless or not, it shows defects harshly.

 

We put granite in ours, the color palate is pretty damned extensive on stone. My wife did a multi-million dollar house for a local MD. They had some wild ass stone countertops. One had fossils throughout. Beautiful.

Guy I worked for many years ago wanted marble countertops before they became all the rage. He salvage some beautiful stone that had been used as restroom partitions at NC State (kinda nasty, but whatever) He didn't take into account marble reacting unfavorably to the limes he used for his gin and tonic.

 

I have been told that tile is the worst choice for harboring no-see-ums because of the grout.

 

Some of the coolest counters I have seen were poured concrete. Not cheap though.
I don't really know what the quartz we have cost. (the house, on the other hand...I went from damn near zero leverage to full leverage; but hey I have riverfront property, a pool, and a happy wife. Just need to build the walk-in...)

 

We have a local concrete contractor (Small operation) that is damn near an artist when it comes to concrete. He has done some lightweight concrete items that would be at home in Disney World/Land. He poured a counter for his outdoor kitchen with embedded LED lights that is, while not exactly my mug of beer, a wonderful example of creativity meeting skill.

 

Shit if I know.

All kidding aside, generally quartz is more expensive, because around here, most places will make you buy entire slabs. Haven't a clue as to why, but they'll cut pieces from natural stone all day, which leaves remnants, which are great for smaller stuff like vanities and such.

When we did our kitchen a couple years ago, I wanted an exotic for the island, as an accent, but I couldn't find the exact stone. We used it for an entire kitchen about 10 years ago, but it was too busy. I found something pretty similar, but it being an exotic, I would've had to buy an entire slab. At $8500 for just the slab, I said no way. I'm not paying that, if it doesn't give me a boner.

We went with the same stone as the rest of the kitchen.

About a month later, I walked into the warehouse of another supplier, and a half slab, of EXACTLY what I wanted, was leaning up on a rack. For $2000!

This is what I was lusting after...

 

Yeah, would look great. Durability would definitely be shit tho.

 

Best Countertops for Busy Kitchens
https://www.consumerreports.org/kitchen-countertops/best-countertops-for-busy-kitchens/

 

maybe butcher block counter tops and flat metal backsplashes!

 

Find a good custom cabinet shop and get you some new doors made.. easiest fix for old cabinets

 

The new circuits ain't no big deal. It's the stupid fucking retrofitting requirements that are making people really pissed off.

Thank the fucking Flying Spaghetti Monster I'm doing mostly commercial now. I'll take the four hours x 4 guys to pull a 150' run for a 400A panelboard over explaining to Grandma Moses why her circa 1964 microwave will continue to trip out her new kitchen circuits.