Boobala Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 A friend of mine just did his kitchen over with butcher block "sheets" from IKEA. It looks fantastic. I have no idea how much it cost but it sure looks great. http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15576&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=25731&langId=-1&parentCats=15576*16270*16273 or http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15576&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=60908&langId=-1&parentCats=15576*16270*16273 I still think if you can do the granite top with tight joints and avoid the word tile' date=' it will be a good thing. How large are the tiles?[/quote'] What you have there is the makings of a Grade-A Bacteria Farm. I'd say go with Marble, Granite, Corian, or Concrete. (Tile Back-Splashes are okay). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 What you have there is the makings of a Grade-A Bacteria Farm. My wife did a project in college where they analyzed the bacteria on various household surfaces, and the cutting board was definitely the most highly concentrated. The professor was pretty impressed with the uniform coverage on the cutting board. They didn't ID the type of bacteria, but it had a whole bunch, and all over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silicone boy Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Granite tile is out? Darn. I was going to do my dashboard in granite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Uuuummmmm, bacteriaaaaaa [drool]. I've heard that many times and have dealt with wives/girlfriend who freaked at me using a wood cutting board to carve meat. Well, that's what my Mom and Dad used from 1946 on, while raising 6 kids and none of us died from the bacteria laden wooden cutting boards. I don't recall any of us getting food poisoning either. Just wash the things after your done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotfitz Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 I personally have never liked the idea of tile counter tops. I don't care how much sealer you put on the grout, it will get soiled. With the 12x12 tiles your talking about using you wouldn't have as many grout lines, but trying to make a small grout line and keep it all lined up can be a challenge and a small grout line has more of a tendancy to crack from what I've seen. I work for a commercial cabinet company and use to build counter tops ranging from butcher block, solid surface(corian,gibraltar,imax,staron,avonite) and plastic laminate(formica,wilsonart,nevemar,pionite,abet) and have been in more homes being built then I could count with a calculator. As for solid surface scratching, thats the beauty of it. Most are made of acrylic polymers and can be sanding back to the previous finish. Infact, depending on the finish desired, you just take a scotch pad to it and your done. For durability, solid surface has it's cons. It cracks easily and don't even think about putting a hot pan on it without a pot holder under it. I've repair 2 solid surface tops so far THIS YEAR! Most granite tops I've seen have needed atleast one joint in them due to size. The guys that put the tops in think that a 1/4" gap is ok, by their standards. My bonus this year was to remodel my kitchen with new cabinets and counter tops to my liking. I can choose any of the materials listed so far and not have to pay for any of it. You want to know what I chose? What people normally refer to as formica. Plastic laminate is very durable compared to solid surface. In my kitchen layout I could get away from needing a joint if I went granite. Granite scratches and chips just about as bad as solid surface, but the cost to repair it is rediculous. As for resale value, due to the expense of granite, it has a higher impact on resale. If you feel you can lay out the granite tiles to look like a one piece top, then I would say go for it. Something to consider after your done though would be to seal the whole top, tile and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Uuuummmmm' date=' bacteriaaaaaa [drool']. I've heard that many times and have dealt with wives/girlfriend who freaked at me using a wood cutting board to carve meat. Well, that's what my Mom and Dad used from 1946 on, while raising 6 kids and none of us died from the bacteria laden wooden cutting boards. I don't recall any of us getting food poisoning either. Just wash the things after your done. We still use that same cutting board too, but the point was I don't know if I'd want my whole kitchen counter done in that surface. Also we cut up meat on the board, then cook it. Our immune system is there for a reason, but that doesn't mean that we need to constantly probe it for weaknesses... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Granite isn't out over here. Every house we built in the last 5 or 6 years have had solid surface counter tops. Granite, corrian, and concrete have been the norm. The big thing lately has been concrete though. My Dad and I completely remodeled his kitchen a few years ago. It used to have crappy formica counter tops and ugly cabinets, so we gutted the whole kitchen. Ripped the ceiling down, vaulted it and included a couple skylights. Put down uneven edge tile floor in brick-lay pattern. Installed new oak cabinets at uneven levels with crown moulding. Seeing as he wasn't going to spend the money on big slabs of granite for the counter tops, we just used 12X12 tiles butted together and trimmed the edges with oak. It looks fantastic and it's hard to tell at a glance that it is a tile counter top. I took a couple quick pictures for ya: Picture 1 Picture 2 I say do the granite tiles, you'll like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003z Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 In our kitchen, we went for Avanza from Lowe's. Last house was Silestone from home depot. Same stuff, different color choices. It's 96% crushed quartz and 4% resin. Great stuff! But, my sister in law has the granite tiles in california, and they look great, For $300, you should go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToplessZ Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Anyone know where to find more pictures guess Im not that good at searching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boobala Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Here are a few galleries of kitchens with granite counter-tops: http://www.homegranite.com/kitchenphotos.htm http://www.marble.com/gallery.php?t=1 http://www.buschegranite.com/granite_countertop_pictures.asp#kitchens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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