Countertops?

[ToomuchStuff]

Somewhat of a threadjack. For those who have had granite, what is required for maintenance? "Marble" around here, that I have seen, isn't truly marble, but a man made substitute with marble dust, etc. (the bakers I know that use true marble say it isn't the same for their purposes)
Is the granite the same way (man made out of scraps, etc), or is it actually granite. I would think at some price point you could get either.

I don't know what the price point is here, before you get to stone. Most of the homes I have been in, have always used laminate. (people still use pot/pan holders) A few years back, there was a couple of solid surface materials that were popular (don't see them advertised now). One former neighbors house (was a metal worker, died in the 60's) had built a basement kitchen area (hunter) that had stainless steel countertops. I would have liked to get those when the next owner ripped them out. I figure whatever I would do, will be wrong to the next person.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I'm glad many people are keeping their old countertops and not doing the countertop insanity (yea grout is a little harder to clean - there is that shrug - I'm lazy, but even lazy has it's limits, like if I owned this place would I really replace all the countertops because lazy, probably not if they worked, if my whole sink was leaking otoh). Not to mention some granite might more than the normal levels of radon, so much for being trendy:
http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/new...ipe-for-danger

None of the materials strike me as remotely sustainable but surfed the net a little:
"Granites are unique and they are cut out of mountain sites into big blocks, which are sawed into slabs like a loaf of bread and polished and shipped to market [oh lovely lovely mountain side removal! this is what I suspected was going on]. Quartz is unique and its crystal are actually mined, crushed up and mixed with resins, poured into a form of slabs, compacted and heat treated, to give them their slab forms.

Since granite is a natural stone and comes from the Earth, it has fissures in it. Fissures are inconsistencies in stone itself. When you cut a hole in granite, for example for sink or a cooktop, it weakens the stone a little bit. So, those fissures tend to crackle a little bit and over time it could crack the countertop. Quartz on the other hand, is entirely a different product, it is 93 percent quartz and 7 percent polymer [plastics I figure] filler, that is what keeps it all together.

Granite is non renewable; once removed from earth’s crust, it cannot be reused again and as far as quartz is concerned, its mining does have a clear impact in our environment. So, the neither of them are eco-friendly as far as their extraction and manufacturing is concerned."
http://www.ecofriend.com/granite-qua...vironment.html

[JaneV2.0]

I'm going to replace my counters eventually (harvest gold, anyone?) and I'm perfectly happy with formica. It's period-appropriate, durable, and handsome in its own way. Concrete would be nice, but probably won't happen.

[goldensmom]

We replaced our countertops a couple of years ago just because I wanted a change. I wanted concrete but it was deemed too heavy for our cabinets. I priced granite ($3500) and laminate ($450). I found a laminate that resembled concrete and went with the laminate. It looks good and is functional which is good enough for me.

[Kestrel]

Don't know how this will work ... here's a photo of the current owner of "our house" and the countertops:

https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/..._1962369_n.jpg

Let's see ...

[bae]

Well, granite is a renewable resource, it is just that the timescale involved is...wait for it....geologic.

Much of the earth's continental crust is granite, so I suspect we won't run out of it anytime soon.

[AnneM]

My countertops are tile. Yes, the grout can be a pain to clean, but I love how I can take something out of the oven or off the stove and place it right onto the counter.

[puglogic]

At our old house (sold a couple of years ago) we installed a solid surface countertop that was a Corian competitor. It wasn't expensive, it was dead easy to clean, it held up well, and it did --- from a distance -- resemble a very dark granite when polished. We loved it.

Probably would do laminate here, though, something like Bae's. We have a ridiculous amount of counter space in odd shapes, and wouldn't want to put too much into it.

[pinkytoe]

Just got back from all the big box stores. Just finding a dishwasher is a big enough pain and then add all the countertop choices. I was amazed at all the laminate choices but oddly it isn't much cheaper than granite. I asked our potential realtor about laminate and he said any buyer will "wrinke their nose". Counter snobs, who knew? Maybe I'll just live with what we have...

[JaneV2.0]

Just got back from all the big box stores. Just finding a dishwasher is a big enough pain and then add all the countertop choices. I was amazed at all the laminate choices but oddly it isn't much cheaper than granite. I asked our potential realtor about laminate and he said any buyer will "wrinke their nose". Counter snobs, who knew? Maybe I'll just live with what we have...

I don't think that's universally true. I'd just as soon have that as some surface I have to fuss over.