Granite Kitchen Work (Orange: sale, buying, cabinet)

[TerryDactyls]

Can anyone recommend someone who can reattach a sink to my new granite counters? It's coming loose on one side. The clowns that installed it a couple weeks ago do such crappy work that I don't want them involved again (a very long story that just pisses me off when I tell it). It should be a fairly simple task for someone that is knowledgeable. Thanks.

[achtungpv]

Not a replacement for getting it fixed but when I had my under the counter sink installed, I cut two 2x4s that fit right up tight against each edge of the sink and the boards stand flush against the edge of the cabinet walls so they aren't even really noticeable at all. When they were installing it, I was shocked at how little is holding up a 70+ pound cast iron sink.

[EasyTyler]

Hi TerryD

Did you source the Granite yourself? I have been considering upgrading to granite and might go straight to Caesarstone. 1) I'm worried about cost 2) if I end up with someone like the guys you've used, they may devalue the investment.

Care to share any of the details?

[scottsheehan026]

Quartz V's Granite

If you are looking to replace your counter tops from an investment perspective. I would go with Granite over Quartz. The only reason I can think of going with Quartz over Granite is if you don't like the way Granite looks. It is to busy for some people. With Quartz you can get a all one color look that you typical can't find in Granite.

As far as the products go they are neck and neck. Quartz would be considered harder than Granite but it does not really matter. Both are plenty hard enough to handle most anything that can be found in a kitchen. Quartz is non porous so for the most part you can not stain it. But now Granite (depending on the company you use) comes with a 15 year sealer warrantied for that same amount of time against staining. So the porosity doesn't much matter any more.

I personally just like the look of Granite. I like it's uniqueness. I like the way the natural colors move around in it. To me Quartz is just to boring. To me it is just one color with some dots in it. You can get some Quartz that looks like they have done a better job with the color mix to make it mimic Granite. But by then you are at the top of the price range (around $75-85). With that kind of money you can get some Granite that will down right drop the jaws of every visitor you have in your home.

Another thing, try to stay away from companies that sale granite and quartz in groups. This will not be easy. Most companies sale it this way it is the norm so to speak. But there are transparent dealers out there. I will give you an example of one of the down falls of buying in groups. Lets take the colors Ubatuba and Santa Cecilia. Ubatuba costs about $9.25 per foot to buy from wholesale and Santa Cecilia costs $9.50 per foot. But if you were to go to a certain place that likes the color Orange Ubatuba is in group 1 and Santa Cecilia is in group 2. There is a $20 difference in these two groups. So they are taking a color that costs them literally .25 cents more and selling it to you at $20 more because they decided they could get away with putting that color in a higher group.

Also don't deal with companies that change the names of the stone. When you are getting bids from companies you want to keep everything the same from bid to bid. Same color, same edge, same options. Granite is an unregulated market. I could go down and buy Ubatuba and sale it by the name Scott Green. The problem here is when you call my competitors and ask for a price on Scott Green they can't they have no idea what Scott Green is. If a company is changing the names of the granite there is a reason and most likely that reason wont be in your favor.