School me on countertops. Granite, Corion, Laminate, ???

Can't beat the look of granite, but surprisingly, well done concrete looks very classy.

 

This guy is dead on balls. BUT Silestone, Zodiac and all the maint free stones is the way I would go. How often is your countertop in direct sunlight. Also it takes ALOT of heat to affect it. Granite needs to be sealed. Most people forget that. Then its stained and ruined.

 

Yes it does take alot of heat, I think over 500 degree's.

Not all granite will stain but some will if not sealed. They do make stain remover that does work really well.

 

Like I said in the second post of this thread, Silestone is great stuff! Not as expensive as you would think either.

 

the corian stuff scratches.

 

http://www.brookscustom.com/Zinc/ZinccountertopFAQ.htm
I hear Zinc is the way to go.
It supposedly ages well.

 

along with other problems you can have with it.
granite is way to go.I used to build custom kitchens for years,laminate,corion,tiles,granite.....when I did my I used granite.once a year I run sealer over it.no issues.

 

I put my vise and bench grinder there and put my toaster and microwave on top of the fridge

 

Hate to say it, but my wife was right; granite is way to go. Find a "local" place and negotiate. Never take their MSRP.
.

 

We have granite in the kitchen and master bath and concrete countertop in a second bath. That is where I would stop with the concrete. It is great for washing hands once in a while and that's it. Looks cool and different but it is way too pourous (no matter how many seals it has) to put in a kitchen.

 

Laurie, try this sealer, it really works well.

http://saversystems.com/masonry_saver_20b_water_repellent.php

 

Corian (and similar products) do scratch easier than granite, but they can be easily sanded/polished out.

We have an island in our kitchen with dark granite, but with standard laminate on the other two countertops (big kitchen). Actually looks pretty cool to mix surfaces that match color wise, especially when you have a lot of counter surface. But in reality, it was a more due to a huge cost savings. Wife is happy, so that's all that matters

One thing we don't like out our granite island is that is streaks VERY easily. It's to the point were my wife won't let me put anything on it WTF is the point?!?!?! I think if you went with a non-black color and a stone that has a mix of colors, the streaks wouldn't show.

Granite can be polished as well, but I'm sure it take a lot to damage it.

If you're thinking mainly about resale, be flexible with your color choices, they vary greatly. I'm sure you could run across a dealer that has a stone that hasn't moved in some time, and they need the space.

One last thing, Granite is F'n HEAVY!!! Be sure your cabinets can take the weight. My parents retrofitted their large kitchen with granite and I don't think the cabinets are going to take it. PLus, be sure you have good reinforcement from below.

If you countertops have an L shape, expect to get a seem from granite, but not with man made stone.

 

I'm biased for personal reasons (my Dad is a custom builder of solid surface tops)
It's all I would ever consider. They're non-porus (healthier against germs, salmanila, etc) compared to stone. I think they look better because you can do more to hide the seams, more with the edges and backsplashes if the builder is creative. If they ever scratch you can easily polish them. I like the way you can have the sinks hung underneath seamlessly. It looks good and water never beads up on the sink edge, you just wipe it into the sink and can even have the dish drain slope built right in. Same for bathrooms in having seamless hung slopes.