clarionflyer

My wife and I are considering new counters for the kitchen. We have an updated old house (late 1800's). The cabinet's were hand made but look fairly modern with paint. The rest of the house is modern but country. We cook a lot.
What's a good top? There are a lot of choices. Granite it usually tops, but I'm open to recommendations?

woodnthings

So, I opted for Dupont Zodiac, like Silestone, a quartz composite. Hard as "nails" heat proof, easy to scrape clean with a flat scraper and somewhat pricey, but I'd do it again. I'll post a photo. bill
BTW stainess steel, Zodiac and Shaker style hickory cabinets, all my favorites. 6 burners on propane and 5 with electric wanna have a party?

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If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.

woodnthings

Originally posted by ditto, his work bench! ?

__________________
Never stand directly in front of a horse or tablesaw that's running!
If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.

clarionflyer

No Woodnthings,
We bought the house with cheapy formica counters. In good faith, they were installed in 80's and still look half way decent. But we've been considering new counters.
I always figured granite to be a high end luxury. And wondered if they would be appropriate in a quaint old kitchen. But I've found granite to be in league ($) with most of the middle to upper tops.
I'm certainly not a cabinetman, and was wondering what was a good top for the money - and fits with a quaint old kitchen.

clarionflyer

P.S. Woodnthings.

Nice counters....

woodman42

Clarionflyer.
Depending on your budget there are a wide range of surfaces to choose from.
Laminate has come along way in the last 10 yrs. Wilsonart's HD line has some very nice styles and colors with custom edges that look very expensive for a lower end price.
Solid surface is another great choice. Dupont Corian, Wilsonart Gibraltar, Avonite, Living Stone, Formica vary in price range considerably but have a wide range of colors and designs. The great thing about solid surface is that it is repairable and renewable.

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BHOFM

After ten years with ceramic tile counter tops,
I will never have anything else. Ease of cleaning,
toughness and I just like them.

You can have all your modern fade tops. Every ten
years or so something new comes along and every
one has to have it!

Your house was built in the fifty's and had linoleum
counter tops with the aluminum edge. I found this
tile at Lowes for $.54 each and went with it, I have
never looked back. It has backer board under it.

Don't have a real good picture, but here it is:

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firehawkmph

Clarion,
Most of the kitchens I install get granite tops. They always look nice, including three kitchen that went into house build in the early 1800's. There is nothing wrong with the solid surface tops, but anymore I tend to go with the real thing, whether it's a harley instead of a harley lookalike, or 3/4" t & g wood flooring instead of the laminates, etc. That's just me though, everything has its place. I will say I have never had a homeowner be unhappy with their granite. To me it's one of the prettiest things that come from nature. Hard to believe it's just a rock.
Mike Hawkins

clarionflyer

Thanks for all the responses. They helped me make up my mind...
I think .

Just Bill

I prefer the manmade stones(mentioned above) or solid surface(Corian, etc). Neither have to be sealed like natural stone, are usually seamless, and repairable.

frankp

I doubt it "fits with a quaint old kitchen" but concrete and recycled glass makes for great countertops. And it's "green" and relatively inexpensive. Heavy, but then again, so is granite.

__________________
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RLHERRON

Having just been laid off in July selling countertops, appliances might I suggest : Get the one YOU like best. There ate pro's and con's to each product. For ease of maintaince - the man made quartz product, many brands - same product (93% quartz) In most cases priced like Granite.
There are a lot of people selling Granite real Cheap now. You can't beat Granite for beauty, but there are maintaince issues.

SO what did I put in my kitchen ?? Laminate. The reason for my choice was the beauty of the laminates available now. Very durable product. The main reason was price. Did my small kitchen for $400.
Now in 3-5 or 10 years when I want to change the kitchen I want hesitate to throw it out and replace it again. I can do this a number of times and will not exceed the price I would have paid for granite or quartz

The only thing I plan on keeping for ever is the beter half. She's a keeper.

RLH

Conner

Granite is everywere: check into soapstone. I like the look and it is appropriate for an older country kitchen. You can even buy slabs and fabricate them yourself using regular power tools if you are ambitious. This site has some pictures:

http://www.soapstones.com/soapstone_countertops.html

cabinetman

I more or less agree with this reasoning. For my personal kitchen I used crushed bison hooves and pulverized and pressed sharks teeth. Definitely looks different. Scroll down.
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Hey...just kidding. When LOML and I decided to get married, we had a problem with a place for the wedding and reception. So, we decided at the last minute to have it at our house. Our kitchen was not up to 65 guests, and besides it was 50 years old and never had been upgraded.

I had two weeks to build and install a new kitchen. Did I do it? Yeah, about 99% done. The night before the wedding I was up until 2:30 AM hanging doors. The countertops are HPL (high pressure laminate), with abrasion resistance. LOML picked out the pattern and loves it. I've installed quite a few solid surface and granite tops and for some reason LOML doesn't get excited about them. At the time, we might have picked another media, but time wasn't on my side.

Cody

I would go with quartz. It looks great and has no maintenance. I have Corina, we put it in less than a year ago and it is already scratched up. I think its still looks better than laminate but I wish I would have spent the extra money.