Decorating & Renovating
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Crash course on buying granite please....
I need a crash course on buying granite.
Our kitchen floor that was supposed to get installed this week, but we learned it was backordered for 4 more weeks. We couldn't wait that long and our quartz counter was based on our floor so we had to start from scratch.
We have now decided to go with granite countertops and really need to pick them out on Saturday. It seems what I read online seems to conflict so I'm not sure what I should/shouldn't be looking for in both a stone and an installer. I usually do a lot of research and I'm sure there is more I should know, but dont'
Please share what you know......
Re: Crash course on buying granite please....
my best advice is to get several quotes, at least 3. My ILs got varying quotes on theirs, some varied by up to $1500! We got ours for under $1k but we have a very small kitchen.
skip any of the big box stores
Gretchen Evie, born 7/8/2012 at 35w5d
We are only going to granite yards that we can see the slab - we know that much :-)
If you are in the Philly burbs, try Tropical Stone in Malvern -- excellent. And use Gravena in Manayunk for install.
I prefer honed granite bc I don't like the shine.
Can you please explain? I have no idea what this means. The places we are going to have the slabs and do the installation. Im just not sure what to ask them.
What is the benefit of buying from one place and having a different place install it? We are thinking of going to Stroudsburg (which is just 15 mins farther than Malvern) and they would be able to do both and are one of the largest yards on the east coast.
I'm just familiar with Gravena and they have done work for me in the past -- I'm sure the Tropical installer would have been fine.
We literally just had our granite finished being installed on Monday, so we've been through this process recently.
Go to a couple granite places, and they should have a list of fabricators/installers if they don't do it themselves. Get at least 3 quotes. When you are selecting your granite, make sure you see the whole slab. In most kitchens, you'll need at least 2 slabs. Depending on the grade of granite you get (if it's a small, tight pattern vs a larger pattern with a lot of veins/movement), you'll want to make sure they are book matched.
If you are buying full slabs, be sure to ask what they will do with the remainder. You pay for the entire slab whether it gets used in your home or not, some fabricators will buy the excess from you, some hope you don't mention it and then they keep it to use on other small projects. If you go with a fabricator that has their own stock, they will normally only charge you per square foot that's actually installed, so there's no waste that you have to pay for.
This is good to know. We are only looking at places that have their own stock so we hadn't run into that "extra" part
Ask about what edges are standard and how much more per lf a different edge would be. Ask about if they could semi-finish the bottom if you have a big overhang. Look closely at the quote and make sure they don't have a sink price or mini backsplash unless you want those. Ask how long of a backlog do they have of projects (ie. how long will it take them to cut and install the granite). Ask what sealers they recommend and how often they should realistically be applied (normally every 6 months). Because you are going with a natural stone now you will have to seal it and use only pH neutral cleaners. Ask for a sample of your top choice or two to take home. See if you can keep them or not. If you really want get into it some people do samples of what could stain and etch the granite like this. Some granites will be better or worse than others.
Know what color range you are looking for so they can narrow down your choices for you and only have a pull a few slabs. If you find one you love but it's too much ask for recommendations on a cheaper option but similar look (might be a color that they don't have in stock that you could find elsewhere). The different color levels drastically affect the price.