Countertops

Just came in to add another vote to the - no concrete - tally.

I have silestone currently and am happy with it durability/stain-wise. It's particular about how it's cleaned - basically warm water & microfiber gives you the best result vs chemical (can leave a swirl).

 

Architect here. Do the quartz.

 

Brands for quartz? Look at Vicostone. I might be able to take care of you out of state. Where are you?

only thing on Vicostone, the cost is what it is. I can’t adjust that. Unless…we have had an excess of inventory for a while.

Actually, we have our own line of quartz and it’s good. You being out of state may help that with more of a hook up price.

 

My experience is as long as it’s either granite or quartz it doesn’t matter in terms of value. Even if you have more pieces buyers don’t care that much. Make sure you spend time maximizing your cabinet layout and spend your money there first and foremost. Definitely don’t splurge on super expensive quartz if your cabinets are builder grade.

If you do have builder grade cabinets but you like them then call around to folks you know in the industry and try to get a deal on granite where you might be willing to deal with more cuts to get a better deal. A big part of what you’re paying for is the granite being cut in one big or a couple big slabs. You can save big by piecing together leftovers.

 

I paid extra for a "forever" sealant. Which after four or five years clearly wasn't going to make it to forever, so I wiped it with acetone or something and sealed it myself. It needs redone. t's easy to do but I've got to take everything off the counters and that's a PITA.

The rust stain is from a tin can being left near the faucet for too damn long. Some water made it's way over to it and that was that.

I forgot to add that it also got chipped right at the sink. I bought an epoxy kit to fix it. Supposedly it's easy. As it is now it's almost impossible to see it. Doubt anyone will ever be able to tell once it's repaired.

Ubatuba was the granite to get back in the day. It's still pretty, IMO. Kind of neutral.

Mine is called "vanilla ice." The woman at the granite place tried to talk me out of it, but I thought it was absolutely perfect. It looks date to me now too, lol.

 

Everybody and their mother was getting ubatuba back in the day. lol. I've just stared at it for almost 20 years now and gotten bored with it. I don't want to replace it because I don't want to put a ton of money into this house. It still doesn't look bad, I guess - just bored with it.

I'm going to have to google "vanilla ice". Good Lord.

*EDIT* : I googled it... it looks cool! Wouldn't want to get stains on it, though. lol.

 

Check out quartzite.

 

It is super cool! If I had that countertop and got it replaced, I would get a small piece of the old stuff mounted on the wall as art.

 

Quartzite is cool , some beautiful colors but a lot of people don’t like cutting it. It’s a pain in the ass. Good stuff though.

@Dr of Dunk Uba Tuba still sells like crazy.

@FrontRunner Yiu were duped on the forever sealer. It’ll wear over time no matter what you use.


As far as your rust goes. Akemi has a rust paste that works well. I really like Tenax rust poultice powder. I’ve gotten crazy rust stains to come up with that. I will say, sometimes rust won’t come out. I’d try the Tenax, cheap and I know it works well. If it doesn’t, you can use the paste and cover it with film for about 24 hours and hope it lifts.

 

So I took your suggestion and bought some Tenax. I mixed up a small amount and applied it with my finger and a paper towel. I was able to remove about a third of it within seconds. For the rest of the stain I let it sit overnight. Removed it with ease.

I found another ring-like stain on the other side of the sink. Much fainter. Thought it would come out even easier but it ended up taking three or four treatments. Completely removed it though.

I was unable to remove another cigarette burn sized spot that I believe came with the granite. It might be a little fainter now, but it's probably my imagination.

TL;DR: @mikol13 knows his stuff. Thank you for your suggestions!

 

Anyone including @mikol13 have any tips on granite repair? I had a nice tenant leave me a going away present of hitting the countertops a few times with a hammer. It's not massive damage but it's visible.

 

I hate the color of my granite, on a whim I had the folks at Home Depot come give me a quote and I quickly escorted them out, I knew it would be high but dam. I got talked into hiring a guy to "seal" the granite and that was a complete waste of money, oh well. Its not cracked or anything I just hate the color

I work down by Hempstead Rd and 290 and I see a ton of granite places all over, one day IO will stop in and check prices.........more of a want then a need.

 

Good to hear, really glad it worked for you.

 

What is the exact issue? Chipped granite?

 

Chipped/Dinged. Like a hammer hit it.

 

Sounds like a rapper from the 00's.

 

Countertops are called countertops because general stores and used to count money on them.

 

The stone from China is inconsistent, so we don’t buy from there. I’m not familiar with stone from Thailand either.

Brazil, India, and Italy are our main sources of stone. We also have some domestic quarries.

Have to say, you can probably find some really inexpensive and nice quartz from Indian dealers.