Nature Boy a little help please

eggaholic

Chris, what did you guys decide on your kitchen counter tops? We are looking into replacing ours. Just wanted to see what u chose and why???

The Naked Whiz

eggaholic,
FWIW, I just remodeled my house and chose granite for the countertops. We didn't like the look or feel (or some of the other aspects) of Corian. Corian looks like Corian. We also rejected Silestone because you couldn't get the look we wanted. So we chose Uba Tuba and so far are very happy with it. I suppose time will tell....[p]TNW

DoverArkansas

eggaholic,
I just built a new home. We went with Quartz countertops. We love them. Nothing will soak into them. You never have to re-seal them like granite. You can set a hot pan on them with no worries. There just isn't another choice in my opinion. Quartz is the third hardest stone on the plant. Happy re-model.[p]DoverArkansas

eggaholic

The Naked Whiz,
We are strongly looking at DuPont Zodiaq. Think we've ruled out Granite because of seams, having to seal, and possibility of not matching doing 75sq.ft.

stike

eggaholic,
we're doing our kitchen this year and are doing stainless counter top. we don't have a lot of area, and we've got a great vintage stainless sink, and we kinda like the patina that stainless gets from daily use (scratches, etc.).[p]it's softer than stone, so we hope to break fewer wineglasses, which can happen when you set them down on granite. not a big concern though., but it can happen.[p]i agre with the comments re: corian. it's barely cheaper than stone, and well, it's plastic. plastic and me just aren't great friends. [p]you should be able to find some really affordable stone, as it's quite popular, and there are plenty of outlets and installers. it'll last forever.[p]another option, which is beautiful and somewhat uncommon, is green or black slate. loooks like soapstone (which is yet ANOTHER option).[p]get something with soul. you'll forget what it cost, but every day you'll be glad you chose it.[p]have fun.[p]

ccbassking

eggaholic,
Being in the granite business maybe I can help. Corian is soft and will scratch easy plus you can't put a hot pot on it. Granite is a lot tougher but does require a little periodic maintenance and silestone and other quartz surfaces (zodiac,ceasarstone) are about the same as granite although you have more color choices and less chance of staining. If you have any questions just let me know.
Joe

Bobby-Q

stike,
Oh my Goodness, we might agree on something. Soapstone is definitely my choice. Cheaper than stone, softer than stone and there is no way to hurt it.[p]Stainless would be my choice as well but it is too expensive for the amount of countertop I have to do. (Basically 60 running feet)

fishlessman

eggaholic,
i dont have any counter tops, i have an 4 foot wide end grain butcher block table. i couldnt imagine not having a butcher block prep area built in somewhere. much nicer than an edge grain board sliding around. when and if i ever add cabinets and counters to the kitchen it will probably be some type of oiled soap stone, i dont like the looks of shiny hard stone as it really shows up crumbs etc on the counter when the sun splashes across it, it would be a cleaning nightmare for me.

eggaholic

ccbassking,
I heard that the zodiac will water spot badly is this true???

fishlessman

stike,
for the stainless, look into having it sanded with one of those dynorbital sanders and see if you like the finish on the stainless, if you get a straight sanded finish like you usually see, the initial scratches look horrid, especially if you or someone cleans up one day with a scotch bright pad. the circular scratches are easily repaired with a cheap dynorbital sander, but you need to see it to know if you would like the looks.

ccbassking

eggaholic,
Zodiac is a good choice but at 75sqft you would require seams and zodiac has to be seamed like granite, unless your fabricator polishes seams(jury is still out on that one)

ccbassking

eggaholic,
I ve only heard problems with the darker colors especially the blacks.

eggaholic

ccbassking,
thinking about chestnut.

eggaholic

ccbassking,
after i typed about the seams i realized that it has seams.

ccbassking

Bobby-Q,
Here in the Northeast soapstone is more than stone. Great choice though

ccbassking

eggaholic,
I haven't heard any problems but will check with my lead fabricator and let you know.

eggaholic

ccbassking,
Great thanks

J Appledog

fishlessman, Our countertops are all planked maple, as opposed to butcher block style. We love them! JCA

Marvin

eggaholic,
Another suggestion: one of our counters is plank-layed hard maple, about 3.6 x 8. Great for carving, prepping, etc. We treat in once a year with castor oil. The other counters are high-fired glazed hand-made tiles, about 6 x 6. The groat lines are permanently sealed, and cleanup is a breeze; just a squirt of windex. Have fun.

stike

fishlessman,
we hit the sink every now and then with barkeeper's friend, that sorta thing.[p]cleans up nice and leaves the scratches which sorta go everywhere and all directions. we sorta embrace the im perfections rather than try to make everything perfect. good strategy for my existence... hahaha[p]mad a butcher block top for the dishwasher,which is taller than the original built-in base cabs. that's our chopping block, aside from cutting boards, i mean

stike

Bobby-Q,
soapstone and stainless are junk, i just offered that to bait the dweebs, and you bit![p]nah. i agree, of course. i'm 'lucky' in that my counter top is only about 12 feet long in all! if i can't have a lotta kitchen, i'm gonna have the stainless i want! thank god we don't have 60 feet. i couldn't afford plywood for that.[p]have a good new year.
...cooking up a mad max/pepin bird, some cheese souffle (ala max and pepin, again) and some roasted squash soup.[p]gonna be a nice simple dinner off the egg.[p](crab and creamcheese ABTs of the egg, too!)[p]

wobin

eggaholic,
Add some wood to your new counter top. Found this link from another site. I've got a free standing maple Boos block[30 years old] that will go to the grave with me.[p]http://www.uniqueblocks.com/[p]Cheers and HNY, Glenn

Unknown

stike,
I had the good fortune to be at the right place at the right time when a huge catering operation I used to work at got a complete refurbishment, I grabbed my trailer and grabbed all the stainless steel tabletops.... they were going to throw them out as scrap iron???!!!
Now its all part of my outdoor cooking catering operation with ceramics being the main attraction of course::!
best regards
thorsten

AlaskanC

eggaholic,[p]We were in NatureBoy's shoes before - our house burned down in '03. We had to do things as inexpensively as possible when rebuilding, so we used granite tile. I did all the work myself, so that saved us a lot of money.
If I could, I would replace it with solid granite, but we're a few years away from that! [p]We used Black Galaxy in the kitchen, Volga blue for the bar in the rec room, and a variety of others for the bathrooms.[p][p]

Car Wash Mike

<p />AlaskanC,
We put in some kind of black in the kitchen and love it. I have a very nice peice left over I'm working into my outdoor kitchen.
Is that dog missing it's twin, be more than happy to ship?[p]Mike

AlaskanC

I dunno Mike - only if he/ she's a risk taker like Logan!
[p]Actually, I think we have our fill of cats right now. My laptop bag can't fit any more in.[p]

Unknown

AlaskanC, Thats not the BEAR that got the brisket is it,???? lol, Happy new year

AlaskanC

J.C in NV.,[p]Nope, I'm pretty sure this is the bear that got it. (Our kitty Tony.....a mere 24 lbs)[p]Happy New Year to you too![p]

stike

thorsten denmark,
lucky man![p]we have a restaurant supply company nearby in boston. they sell used equipment, etc. A friend of mine grabbed some stainless shelves the height of base cabinets, they are open under neath, two or three stainless shelves. got them for a big bargain.[p]we don't have a lot of counter to cover , so we're going to splurge.