| Author |
Message |
    
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2001 - 11:16 am: |     |
God help me, but I'm doing a small upgrade in the kitchen (yes, during this tax reval). I'm using the existing cabinets and just adding a couple to what's there, but will need to buy a new counter to accommodate the new floor cabinet. So I'm thinking granite.
Does anyone have experience with stone counters, or with fabricators in the area. I'd love to hear some pros and cons before making my final decisions.
BTW, I love to bake fine pastry, so I'd prefer a smooth surface so I don't have to pick up the marble slab all the time. I was thinking of limestone, but I don't think it can be polished to be smooth enough, so I'm leaning toward the granite.
Any help would be appreciated! |
John
| | Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2001 - 1:02 pm: | |
There is a place on RT-22 (I believe it is Hillside) just before the Shop-Rite, on the same side. I don't know the name off hand but I'll look for it and let you know. I've never ordered anything from them. But, when I was looking for a marble slab for my bathroom they were quite reasonable. I didn't use them because the piece I was looking for was quite small and it made more sense to get a cheaper quality at Jasco Tile. But they have a large selection and cut it to fit. It may be a good place to start and they'll give you a quote on what you need. |
Kmk
| | Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2001 - 2:18 pm: | |
Give EXPO a try. They are the "decorative" branch of Home Depot. My parents (in Texas) had them supply and install a new granite counter. They are very pleased with the end result. I am an architect and the absolute most difficult sub-contractor/fabricator to deal with is always the stone guy! The selection of stones at EXPO is not huge but it is certainly enough for the typical home owner.
Limestone can be polished and honed to a beautiful finish, by the way. It is more porous and many neat-niks wouldn't consider it for their kitchen. We just put in gorgeous (and cheap by comparison) wood countertops - I still need the marble work board for dough however. |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2001 - 2:46 pm: | |
Kmk -- thanks for the response! But can I roll out pie crusts, croissants and puff pastry on limestone? I do like the patina it takes on.
(And don't ask when the party is, because the counter won't be installed for 2 mos. or so) ;-)
And what about the stone fabricator makes it so difficult (if you can elaborate a bit...)? |
Jfb
| | Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2001 - 4:46 pm: | |
Try Jersey Marble/Tile in Jersey City on Kennedy Blvd. It's not far to drive and easy to get to.
High tech place. The marble is milled by machine. Very interesting. You go and pick out the actual slab and they tape it off so you can see the actual piece that you will be buying. This is VERY important because of the amazing variations in Granite.
If you buy at the Expo I doubt you will be able to do it. Also, I did not like the granite they had too much. |
Kmk
| | Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2001 - 6:24 pm: | |
NJJoseph - You definitely could roll out pastry on the limestone, but the granite is more "like" marble in the heat retention dept. I think that the more porous nature of the limestone would make the stone slightly less cool than the granite. If I'm not mistaken you need a very cool (if not chilled) stone to do some of that "fancy" cookin'.
I've seen a wonderful detail from a dairy on an old English estate. The marble worktable had a trough cut all around it's perimeter (think maple cutting boards and juicy roast beef). The dairy was built over the estate's spring house and when the pastry chef made desert he would come into the dairy, grab some fresh butter and open a spigot to start the continuous stream of ice cold spring water circulating all around the marble slab. You could make pastry in July!
Have fun with your kitchen and treat yourself to exactly what your heart desires. |
Livinwestwless
| | Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2001 - 6:24 pm: | |
NJJoseph....Try Father and Son on Rt. 46 in Fairfield (actually only about 20 minutes away. You can follow Bloomfield Ave to the end) Anyway, we bake too and got a green granite from Brazil. The owner is a real craftsman but rather prickly at times. He was very reasonable (well, compare to Corian and Swanstone it was just a little more)and I look at the beauty of it every morning and realize it was the best decision. Isn't limestone too porous? You don't want anything that will absorb oils. Granite cleans with soap and water. |
Newurbanist
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 8:47 am: | |
KMK,
I'm curious about your wood countertops. Are they Butcher Block? Where'd you get them from? How much per square foot? Did you get them finished or oil them? Are you happy with them so far? What'd you use around the sink and rangetop? Have you had wood countertops before and found them easy to live with? Is this too many questions?
TIA |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 8:49 am: | |
Kmk, I thought marble would stay on the cool side, but maybe in the summer it would retain some of the heat? I thought it would be cooler than formica or wood.
Livin, I too think limestone might be too porous (which is why it takes on such a nice patina), but maybe Kmk can say if it the polishing makes it less porous or if the sealers really work.
Jfb, I've been hearing from coworkers that it's important to see the slab. I will probably need two slabs to accommodate the layout, so I need to make sure that color and grain are the same, which I believe can only be done with two slabs from the same original stone.
Thanks to all for your input! I guess I have a bit of driving to do in the next few weekends! |
Wilbur
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 9:56 am: | |
Njjoseph, you absolutely must view your slab before settling on a granite. You need to know if there are "veins" or streaks running through it that can dramatically affect the overall look. Some granite, of course, is of a more uniform look without veins and streaks, but even so, take a look at the slab. Do not pick it from a small chunk offered to you as a sample. We almost did that last year, then asked to look at the slab, and the reality of the slab was so different we changed our mind entirely. Good luck and enjoy your granite! We love ours (it's beautiful and amazingly easy to keep clean!) |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 11:00 am: | |
Thanks, Wilbur! Who did you use, and were you happy with them? |
Wilbur
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 1:26 pm: | |
We used a general contractor for our kitchen, who had us go to a stoneyard up in Bergen County where he knew the guys. It was in the Fair Lawn area, I think -- kind of a hike, so if you can find someone closer, I'd use them. On the other hand, they cut the stone very nicely, and it was priced reasonably well, if I remember (it was all bundled into the GC's cost, so I don't remember seeing it broken out separately). |
Kmk
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 2:56 pm: | |
NJJoseph - It's been awhile but here is how I remember the limestone vs. marble vs. granite situation. On your one hand you gotz your "sedimentary" stones like most limestones, on your other hand you have the "igneous" stuff like granite and on yet another hand you have the "metamorphic" stones. Most marble is a metamorphic stone having once been a sedimentary stone and then morphed into something tougher. The trick to limestone is locating the type you like in both color and density. There are hundreds of stones out there from dark green Kirkstone to buff colored Kasota Stone. The trick is to find one dense enough (already on it's way to becoming marble) to polish and keep it's finish. If finish is an issue, obviously stay away from the fossilized stuff.
Have you considered "lab rock". It is a man-made material, sorta like Corian, but designed to withstand acid spills etc. It is typically a solid color like dark gray, black or green with a beautiful matte finish. I don't know of a distributor in this area but it shouldn't be too hard to locate. It's not real cheap - it's cost would be comparable to granite.
TIA - Our counters are mahogany. We pieced together three 8" wide planks to make the 24" deep counters. (They did come from a ecologically managed lumber source.) They were fabricated and installed by our cabinet maker. I would not recommend him at all but it wasn't rocket science. We got most of his work at a discount so I don't know the real cost , but the material cost was a quarter of the stone material costs. We "enhanced" their dark color with a tinted Tung Oil product available through Garrett Wade (NYC.) We then finished them, like a boat, with 4-5 coats of Polymerized Tung Oil. The water just beads up and sits right on top of the wood. I absolutely love them. I am not a perfectionist and I don't mind the occasional ding. I admit that our dishwasher was not insulated properly and the heat cycle has caused the counter on top of it to crack a bit. It opens slightly when it's dry out but stays closed most of the time. The sink is an old farmhouse style number that is mounted under the counter and has an open apron on the front. The faucets are wall mounted.
I don't mind going on & on. You gotta love the room you spend 6 hours out of your day in! |
Wilbur
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 5:52 pm: | |
Kmk, your kitchen sounds beautiful and rather unusual. I don't think i've even seen mahogany countertops in any of the magazines. How did you get the idea? Part of the territory of being an architect? I always thought wood countertops in kitchens were susceptible to warping, molding, etc because of all the moisture, but is mahogany immune to such flaws? or maybe I was always wrong? just curious. i, too, am a kitchen lover (if only I cooked as well...!) |
Wilbur
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 5:55 pm: | |
duhhh.... Kmk, I am ditzy as a newborn kitten. i just reread your above post and noted you sealed the wood with oil, as in boatmaking. so that answers my question re moisture. sorry...chalk that one up to pure lunkheadedness.  |
Kmk
| | Posted on Friday, February 2, 2001 - 9:04 pm: | |
Wilbur - don't get me started on the joys of cork flooring! It's all historically accurate detailing for a house from the 20's and it is amazing to live in such warmth. We did buck up and buy a hulking stainless steel range; the wood and cork are antidotes for all that efficient machinery. Another very attractive, natural floor material is of course Linoleum. It's made from linseed oil and sawdust. The company that still makes it today is foreign however. |
Shh
| | Posted on Saturday, February 3, 2001 - 12:15 am: | |
Kmk, Wilbur & NJJoseph,
Can I come live in your kitchens? |
Peterdsandman
| | Posted on Saturday, February 3, 2001 - 12:41 am: | |
ya just cant go wrong with corian.there are no flaws and no problems.If you scratch it, you sand or polish it out.It's user friendly,thats the key. |
|