Kitchen sink and countertops

We're having a new stainless steel sink put in our kitchen nxt week. We have a white porcelain sink that gets scratched. Now we're thinking about doing granite or quarts countertops. Our kitchen is really small so it shouldn't be too big a job. Anyone know much about countertops? I hear granite can get damaged, but there are some tops that look like granite but our less prone to damage.

We have granite. I love it. Granite will chip especially around the edges if you're not careful. And I think it will "etch" from spilled wine, lemon juice, etc. if you don't wipe it up right away. We haven't had that problem at all.

While I wouldn't recommend it, you can actually cut on granite; your knife blade will dull long before the granite will scratch. In fact, that was one of the reasons I chose granite. I roll out pastry dough, pot pie dough, etc. right on my granite countertop and can cut it without hurting the granite. I knead my yeast doughs right on the granite countertop. You cannot do that with Corian and I don't think you can do that with quartz or marble either, but I'm not sure about that. When I talked to our kitchen designer, I told him what I wanted to be able to do on the countertop and he said, "You need granite." I've never been sorry. (My GF installed Corian in her kitchen. Whenever I go there, all I hear is, "Now be careful! You can't scratch the countertop! Be careful!" That is something I do not want to have worry about!)

Don't believe all you hear about having to seal granite. That's not really true. There are granite cleaners out now that actually clean and seal your countertops as you clean them. That's what I use. I've had people say, "OMG, you have to seal them! That's too much work!" Whenever I hear that, I think, do you never clean your countertops? Do you never wipe them down? Because that's all you have to do to seal them. That's certainly not too much work. I take everything off my countertops once a week and completely wipe them down. Not because I have to, not because it's granite, but because I've done this forever and that's what I do because I like a clean kitchen.

One word of caution: When you place your baked cake or baked item, do not set it down directly on the granite countertop. Oh, it won't hurt the granite at all. But granite "sucks" out the heat and cold from things. So when you place your baked cake directly on the granite countertop, the stone will start sucking the heat out of the cake.....and it does so rather quickly. And your gorgeous 3-inch cake will rapidly fall to about 1-1/2 inches. The lady who worked with me at the granite place told me that. It won't harm the granite at all....it will kill your cake, though. Or load of bread. Or whatever you've baked. Place your baked item on a trivet to protect your baked item, not the granite. And as it takes out the heat, it will also take out the cold. You can place a frozen food on your granite surface and it will start to thaw.

Also, you drop a glass or a bowl on granite, it's gonna break. That's pretty much it. And I've broken my share of glasses because I'm pretty dopic. I drop things. Didn't harm the granite at all.

I love my granite! And if we had to do it again, I would in a second! Rick has already said that when we do the bathroom over, we're going with granite (Black Pearl, I think he said) again.

We looked at all the materials when we did our kitchen over. Ultimately, I went with granite because I fell in love with it. A lot of people think it's cold. It's not. It's really a pretty material. And there are all kinds of granite. I'm sure you would find one you really liked.

i prefer quartz over granite, just my preference. both granite and quartz make very lovely countertops.

are you doing a (new) backsplash? i'm quite taken with the idea of a stone backsplash, which will go well with quartz countertops, wood cabinets, and a hammered copper "feature" wall.

I always have had laminate. Mine are now 13 years old and beginning to show some wear. I have some scratches, a small nick in the countertop across the kitchen next to fridge. I have a place next to the sink where it looks like something hot was spilled there, not noticeable unless you know it is there and look for it. I would love to have new ones. I have a couple friends with granite, but their colors are dark and ugly. I would really have to shop for something lighter. As for quartz, I have never seen that. This conversation makes me want to go to Lowe's. :lol3:

Granite and quartz are both gorgeous but can chip at the edges and corners, or if you're really unlucky and drop something heavy on them they can crack. 

Thanks for the info. We will check this out after we do the sink. My kitchen is tiny (2 people are a crowd), and there is no window, so I want to get something light colored that will hopefully give the illusion of more space. (I'll take some pics of the present counter top and post them ). Don't know if I want a matching backsplash or something contrasting --- mosaic, tile, whatever. I also want to put in a couple of pendant lights. (Ok - where is the money coming from? - can't take it with you so might as well enjoy).

My kitchen is an internal one too and had to look at how to maximise light as well as space for cooking and storage.  Think the lighter worktop but with some patern to it so it doesn't show marks is a good alternative, and the corrian that mine is made from has a slight shine to it but isn't high gloss.  

It's always interesting to see what different people come up with.  A friend of mine has just had a new kitchen fitted and they have opted for wallboard under the units and then have a glass protective panel over the top of that just at the back of their cooker hobb.  I have tiles with a few different coloured ones dotted in for interest as my units are very plain but the tile grout does start to look stained in some areas where the most cooking and stuff happens.

I've had both granite and quartz.  Love both but I have to say the quartz has held up much better than the granite.  The granite does need occasional care, sealing specifically.  We had a darker color - blacks and yellows with some maroon flecks (I think it was called Santa Maria) with a lot of movement so it didn't show wear quite as much.  

My quartz is now about 4-5 years old and looks absolutely perfect.  Just a good wipe down is needed and any kind of spray will work. It's really low maintenance which I like.  We went with a quartz composite sink also in a dark brown which is easy to care for also.  I had a black one previously.  Love this type of material for a sink.

I went with Ceasarstone.  The color I have is Jerusalem Sand, but it's out of production now.  If you go with quartz be aware if using a honed finish as opposed to the regular shiny one, it will wear differently, and not as well.

I know people with both quartz and granite and of those people, over time, it seems the people with quartz are happier with it than the ones with granite.  At the beginning they are equally happy but the quartz seems to hold up better.

From what I've seen, quartz does hold up a lot better than granite. A lot of people don't seem to be aware that granite needs regular maintenance and don't look after it properly.

kookycats would love to see pictures!

Granite countertops emit radiation and radon. How much is emitted depends on where the stone was quarried. Some pieces have been tested to show extremely high, unsafe levels, and others show low emissions that are considered acceptable. You don't really know if you have a hot piece of granite or not until you test the radon levels in your home. 

Since there is radiation all around us anyway, low-level granite in the home is considered safe because of ventilation in the house. But it's impossible to know if the granite is safe until tested. There are stories of people shocked and horrified to find their granite emitting large amounts of radiation, and as the resulting radon (2nd cause of lung cancer after smoking) is off the charts.

It's also suspicious that low levels in granite are considered "safe" since a safe level of radiation has never been established.

I'm not a fan of granite anyway (no offence to anyone) but hearing about the possible radioactivity and radon made me decide to never have it in my home. I don't mean to scare anyone, but it's a good thing to research and have tested if you are concerned.

We researched it and talked to different people, including people at universities and such. We discussed it with our kitchen designer and with a quartz person. They and we are satisfied that this is not an issue. Interestingly, the whole thing about radon in granite was started by the developer of a rival material....already mentioned in this thread and I won't mention it again. Suffice to say that we're fine with our granite counter tops. YMMV and that's fine, too.

As for regular maintenance, I think I covered that in my first post above. It's simply a matter of cleaning the counter tops with a granite cleaner and sealer. As simple as removing everything from the counter tops, spraying, wiping down and putting the items back on the counter. I've always done that anyway--every week even when we had our old laminate counter tops--and I see no great maintenance change in caring for our granite. I really don't understand all the hoopla about granite maintenance....it's simply not that difficult to understand.

Interesting to read all the comments. We're having the stainless steel sink put in tomorrow, and then will start checking granite vs. quartz. definitely going to be one of the two. I want a light color which should help my tiny kitchen look a bit more spacious. A friend had granite backsplash put in, don't know if I want that or just a contrasting backsplash.

Here are some pictures of my tiny kitchen (prior to getting new sink - tomorrow)






As you can, see the kitchen is small. Any suggestions?

Yes, it's tiny but I have seen worse!

Perhaps you might think about painting the cabinets once you pick out a counter material?  A fresh color would go a long way to brightening it up and making it feel *new*.  It's kind of labor intensive and you do need to prep them properly for the paint to stay put but it really could be a dramatic face lift between that, the counter and new sink.  

Are you redoing the backsplash?  I see it's the same laminate as the counter.  You can find really inexpensive nice tile just about anywhere and if you're handy it won't cost you very much at all since the space is limited.

EDIT: New cabinet pulls also.  Also fairly inexpensive fix.

Yes, we will do the backsplash as well. Don't think I want the same granite or quartz as the countertops, just something that will blend -- and keep a light, airy finish. We also want to do 2 pendant lights over the counter between the kitchen and family room.

kookycats said:

Yes, we will do the backsplash as well. Don't think I want the same granite or quartz as the countertops, just something that will blend -- and keep a light, airy finish. We also want to do 2 pendant lights over the counter between the kitchen and family room.

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I agree.  It's a dated look to carry the counter material up as a splash.  When I had my counter installed, by error they gave me a 4" splash against the wall.  I didn't request it so they paid for the error.  In the end, was ok because 4 years later and I still haven't picked tile for the area lol, but I don't care for the look at all.

sivyaleah said:

 
I agree.  It's a dated look to carry the counter material up as a splash.  When I had my counter installed, by error they gave me a 4" splash against the wall.  I didn't request it so they paid for the error.  In the end, was ok because 4 years later and I still haven't picked tile for the area lol, but I don't care for the look at all.

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Our granite doesn't go up into the backsplash....they were going to give us a 4-inch splash, too, but I didn't want it; Rick wanted it at the sink area, but that was it. I don't like the way it looks. I had planned to put some kind of backsplash up, but I can't find anything! Not something that speaks to me. It's been almost two years now and I still can't find anything. The walls are just painted a Sage Green and I've been satisfied with it. I keep looking, but it's hard to find something that doesn't scream, "WAY TOO BUSY!!!!!"

Lana, what stove is that? It looks exactly like the one that I had before we got the one we have now. I got it used from my mom when she bought a new one. It was really a nice stove....it kept good oven temperature and things baked in it very nicely.

Pam, the stove came from Sears- a Kenmore. Got it when we built the house in 2000.

Right now our guy is in the process of installing the stainless steel kitchen sink, new faucet, etc. Went with him to Lowe's this morning and picked up everything. He does granite also, so we may have him to the work when we're ready.

Where do you eat your meals? What's next to the kitchen, on the other side of that counter? Is it a family room or is it a dining room?

If it's a dining room, I'd blow that counter right out of there and make the kitchen larger, for an eat-in kitchen. That counter looks like it's in the way, more than anything, and doesn't seem to serve an useful purpose, other than a bit of storage inside.  But that's just .