granite countertops

If you like granite and it makes you happy, you should go with granite Styles come and go and many of the alternative materials used in kitchens are not as durable or impervious to stain or water. Granite will certainly continue to have a large presence in the market for kitchens even if it's market share changes a little.

Just saw a new kitchen with leathered granite. Stunning. Classy. That's what I would do.

In my opinion, natural products never really go out of style. People have been doing wood floors for centuries and, despite trends such as flamed granite and concrete flooring, wood still dominates. Same for granite: Just don't choose a color that's too garish.

I actually was looking at some high-end place, from a few years back, and it had polished granite and I was thinking how dated it had become. I think it was when everyone in the world decided that a kitchen needed to have granite countertops and now the look is dated - IMO. I agree that natural products are the way to go, just something a little more subtle. Caesar stone??

Caesarstone is about as natural a product as Formica.

I'm tearing polished granite out of a kitchen and replacing it with soapstone.

The two current "favorites", soapstone and white marble, both stain. So, in a few years, not only will the look be "dated", and "passe", the counters will look like hell

<3 AH's response.

I think soapstone, honed granite, and quartz composites a la Caesarstone are very "now" -- but when you are thinking about a kitchen, don't you want to pick a material you can put a hot pot or a bottle of olive oil on?

Hmmm. I spent the formative years of my career working in a chemistry lab. The soapstone counters there took a beating far beyond even what my cooking skills can deliver yet still looked pristine.

I suppose the only logical explanation is that highly paid maintenance workers came by every night, noted the location of all the equipment and glassware, moved everything off the counters, gently sanded and buffed them back to perfection with the love of a fine craftsman, then painstakingly replaced everything back to its original location before the lab rats got back to work in the morning.

There are several different thoughts on this. I think a lot has to depend on where you are in life. If it is your first home I would not go with a natural stone as it does stain. If it is a home that you are raising children I think going with a Caesarstone or another man made solid surface. If you are going to live 10 years or more in your home then I would get whatever it is you like and just take the proper care of the countertop

Pebbles!

not helpful

alanhart the alkie is deciding what's "not helpful", while trolling me.

There are quite a few kitchen counter top discussion topics on se.

Check out : "Kitchen Counters".
We had a very nice discussion on there, 5 months ago, while alanhart was on his self-imposed exile from streeteasy.
kylewest, Primer and I, along with other, non-alkie comment posters discussed the various names of surface materials, such as "Misty Carrera" caersarstone.
I said I would call mine "Pebbles".

Since then, we were able to have good-natured discussions with the ongoing "Pebbles" joke with
good, non-alkie advice always from Primer and kylewest.

I love our counters, which are engineered stone by Quartzmaster. We wanted something very light (like traditional cararra marble or white granite) but were afraid of staining. This stuff does the trick beautifully, sans staining/etching problems, and looks amazing in our classic white kitchen. It has the most realistic stone look of all the engineereds I've seen.

I am pretty sure that Caesarstone is mined in the Rubicon.

Alan seems to have the best test for durability.

ph41: "The two current 'favorites', soapstone and white marble, both stain. So, in a few years, not only will the look be 'dated', and 'passe', the counters will look like hell"

White marble is not really a "current favorite," it's more of a timeless choice, and a little proper maintenance goes a long, long way. Danby Quarry in Vermont has some wonderful white marble which has lower absorbency than traditional marble and granite, and is quite durable. If you have kids and/or an alcohol problem, I'd probably go with a synthetic, but otherwise, white marble, white marble, white marble!!

"And they're not a fucking pain in the ass to maintain. I can put a lit carton of cigarettes down on it, forget it altogether for an hour, douse it with an entire can of wine, pass out immediately, and still not have to reseal it ever."

The man speaks from hard-won experience.

We have two homes, in one we installed leathered granite. It's beautiful, textured, and I've never seen anything like it. We're relatively careful with it, but not obsessively so; no stains so far. I did give it a slight chip when opening a wine bottle with recoil, but because there's so much "movement" in the pattern, you can't really notice it.

When we purchased our NYC apartment, it had that shiny speckled granite, which we hated. It didn't stain, but it just looked AWFUL. We recently replaced it with soapstone. Like flarf, I worked in a chem lab for years and years, and that soapstone never had so much as a scratch on it (nor a sulfuric acid "ring"). Same goes for our apartment, no sulfuric acid rings, no wine glass rings, no water stains, nuttin'. And you can clean it with *anything* --- granite cleaner, windex, fantastic, soap & water, lysol, whatevah. Soapstone is totally non-porous.

I'd do soapstone again in a heartbeat.

I might be wrong, but I think pretty much all chemistry laboratories built in the past 40 years have quartz/epoxy counter surfaces, not soapstone.

Soapstone chunks, by the way, are great to freeze and put in your sidecars to keep them cold.

I will reiterate here that my favorite (probably non-existent) kitchen countertop surface remains Manhattan mica schist.

I just redid my kitchen w Caeserstone countertop - looks amazing and natural. also easy to clean/maintain. And won't damage if you place hot items on it (though I wouldn't recommend doing this).

I dont undersatand flarf's comment above, "Caesarstone is about as natural a product as Formica." You can't even begin to compare the two - it's made from recycled quartz, tons more durable and will never peel off at the sides.

^ Many chem labs are well over 50 years old. Moreover, those that are older than 50 years have been upgraded in terms of equipment, labware, exhaust hoods, those types of things. But not the soapstone benchtops.

Labs with soapstone benchtops don't need upgrades to those benchtops; they'll last till Aremegeddon. The soapstone benchtops can't be beat for durabillity and inertness when attacked by solvents, acids, and other killer liquids.

You are correct, however, that newer labs use quartz benchtops. This is because quartz is much less expensive than soapstone.

just get what you like. don't pboa it.

Pit Bull Owners Alliance

uptowngal, my point was that neither product is "natural." Formica is layers of paper combined with plastic. Caesarstone is bits of quartz combined with plastic.

Okra is natural, but I wouldn't want a kitchen counter made of it.

Kitchen counters are not natural, they are artificial contrivances made for human convenience.

I made a bold decision and went with carrera marble, and love it. It seems very durable, actually, and if I clean up immediately so far no staining. it's purdy. and classic.

people used trivets and hot pads for years. it's not such a big deal.

We strongly considered white marble because it really is such a classic look but even though WE are careful we cannot police every errant red-wine glass during parties. Of which we have many. (Though sometimes I am one of those a-holes who won't serve red wine for fear of messes--depends on what crowd we happen to be having over).

I am a neat freak and will obsess over every possible disaster--it's bad enough that I hyperventilate over the rug and sofa--don't want to be stressing over the counter and bar as well...

i'm no stranger to red wine (or tomatoes or any number of other supposedly marble hurting things) and i have hordes of marauding teenagers constantly in my kitchen. i don't know if i believe him, but the installer told me the seal was good for 10 years.

A little bit of Lysol
will wash away the germies
from your countertop
a little bit of Lysol will never, ever make you stop
hosting parties on top
a little bit of Lysol
will wash away your sister-in-law's fears
a little bit of Lysol
will keep bramstar's parties going on each year...

disruptive

banal

alanhart and aboutready: Drunk and drunker trolls.

Bitch.

White granite gives awesome look and feel to entire flooring. The shiny material is very durable and easy to clean.
kitchen countertops miami

That's what your new black son will be calling you.

We had soapstone counters installed by the Vermont Soapstone Company and had to replace them after a few years because they were such a nuissance. If you oil them, then the oil seeps into any paper or other absorbent material you put on the counter -- both staining the item and leaving the counter looking blotchy so you have to keep re-oiling. If you don't oil them they then the soapstone looks blotchy and any oily substance that gets on the counter leaves marks. So, I've got 25-30 feet or so of counter (and a soapstone farm sink) sitting in the barn if you are in the market . . . .

lol, jaded.

>>A little bit of Lysol
will wash away the germies
from your countertop
a little bit of Lysol will never, ever make you stop
hosting parties on top
a little bit of Lysol
will wash away your sister-in-law's fears
a little bit of Lysol
will keep bramstar's parties going on each year... <<

Copious use of lysol in this household but never, ever on the stone counter. Tsk tsk. Bad.

"We had soapstone counters installed by the Vermont Soapstone Company and had to replace them after a few years because they were such a nuissance. If you oil them, then the oil seeps into any paper or other absorbent material you put on the counter -- both staining the item and leaving the counter looking blotchy so you have to keep re-oiling. If you don't oil them they then the soapstone looks blotchy and any oily substance that gets on the counter leaves marks. So, I've got 25-30 feet or so of counter (and a soapstone farm sink) sitting in the barn if you are in the market . . . ."

You really can't go wrong with Formica ...

bramstar and I get along here on streeteay. She's good-natured and funny.
We have the same feelings about in-apartment insects and bugs.
Her sister-in-law is even more vigilant about Lysoling than I am.

I have to give it up to bramstar. All props to her.
Every time I tell her story about her sister-in-law spraying Lysol on the mall Santa -
it gets the bigs laughs.

Love you, bramstar.

Matt: I love "Italian Kitchens". They have formica counters and look great.

bramstar: with what product do you clean your counters?
Many things will get them clean but what do you use to kill the germies?

"I have to give it up to bramstar. All props to her.
Every time I tell her story about her sister-in-law spraying Lysol on the mall Santa -
it gets the bigs laughs."

Sad. Every joke has it's pull date. And why do you need to announce your affiliation? Creepy.

On marble you are only supposed to use soap and water.

"You really can't go wrong with Formica ..."

Unless you might need to sell the unit in the next couple of decades.

Oh, here's aboutready with her take on what's "sad".
A drunken, abusive garbage talker. She says it's "Creepy" to announce my "affiliation" with bramstar?!

Have another drink, you drunken slob.

While you "left" se, during that time, bramstar and I had nice discussions here.

Your "pull date" has long past, aboutready.
You are a stale, stinking load of alkie garbage.

aboutready was reading my comments while she was "gone" from se.
bramstar and I get along here. That makes the alkie angry.

Too bad, for the drunken aboutready, who needs to "announce" her "adoption" of "a black kid".
She's a nobody, do-nothing who needs to discuss her new acquisition of "a homeless black kid...." on se.

As if formica can't be taken out very easily and replaced with another surface, Matt.

truth, you're so, so, so very easy.

You will never be me, aboutready. Not even close.
You will never be asked to do the work that I do, with the people I work with.
You don't have the talent and skills to do the work.
You are a drunken loser.

that's ok sweets. just keep thinking those positive thoughts.

fuck you're a mess.

still waiting for dinner companions for another 2am meal in barcelona?

Poor diplomatic bramstar, uncomfortable as to how to handle the sad situation of a crazy baglady sucking up to her. So she drops a courteous reply now and then, and it only fuels the lunatic's mad ranting.

Kudos to you, bramstar, for being such a good sport about it.

aboutready has no friends or business associates who do real work.
The thought of anybody waiting for her to finish work of any kind, especially filming a documentary; is
but a drunken dream for her.

Go check your drunken hole, aboutready. You may find a "homeless black kid" living in there.

It's the start of Labor Day weekend there.
aboutready is here trying to start a fight.
No husband Ralph around.
No "homeless black kid" around.

She's busy trying to fight with mutombo and me about nothing.
"Nothing" is what she does. "Nobody" is who she is.
8:10pm and she has nothing better to do.

My friend Oscar told me that work is the bane of the drinking class. I retorted "hic!"

Gosh and golly gee, trUth -- independent documentaries on mundane topics, never to be seen by anyone whatsoever. The latest hobby "work" in a string of occupational-therapy sessions. Very impressive! At least it keeps you off the streets while minimizing hopeless spending on in-patient psych care.

oh, and ar just put the e-mails out :"help me, Truth is on se and I'm a drunken slob."
"Mundane topics": Documentaries including my interviews with Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend.
Four star reviews of those documentaries. World-wide Press.

All while those drunken slobs were on se, needing to troll and curse people out in order to get attention.
They are both"off the streets" drinking and posting on se right now.

Going to be a long, boring night with those slobs posting their drunken comments.

ooh -- alanhart just fell out of aboutready's hole!

"Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend" ... yes, mundane. There really aren't that many aged afficionados of imported white middle-American suburban "rock" music, you know. And what does "rock" mean? What a stupid name for music. I don't understand you nonagenarians.

When do you get released from Kirby, trUth? How about never? That would be nice.

Yeah, right alanhart.
as if you are better than Eric Clapton, you drunken fool.
Eric fills stadiums with sold out concerts, world-wide.

You only post drunken comments on streeteasy.

Stick your finger up your ass. That's the best you will ever get.

Yes, EVERYBODY is better than Eric Clapton. He single-handedly inspired Rock Against Racism by unabashedly making racist remarks in public. The man is a pig, worse than Archie Bunker.

And I had to look up the other one. It said

"pppppp people try to put us ddown, just because we gget around ... in motorized scooters, Medicare eligible, call now"

LOL!!!
alanhart is better, more talented than Eric Clapton.

Oink, oink you old fag pig and your Miss Piggy drunken gang master.

alanhart and aboutready will be here posting their drunken pig comments all night.
going back and forth between this thread and the other thread they have drunk-hacked.

Adolph Hitler filled stadiums, too. And everyone was better than Hitler. Well, almost everyone.

and I leave you se readers with that alanhart "comment"

and I bid you goodnight, dear readers.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Maybe the doorknob will hit you on the way out and land in the canyon that is your alkie ass.

Of course where you're being held at Kirby on Wards Island (yet again!), there is no doorknob on your side.

Of course, because the "doorknob" is in your useless alkie ass.

and the drunken bullies have slid to the floor.
Lying in the shit they created.

Thanks,bramstar.
They're trying to tear us apart! lol!

I can see why.

Truth
about 10 hours ago
Posts: 3841
Member since: Dec 2009
stop ignoring this person
report abuse

No insult to gays intended.
alanhart is gay and he can't even pay somebody to lick his fat ugly ass.
That's why he's so unhappy.

Stick your finger up there, you alkie drunken slob.
It's the most action you will get.

see, aboutready is right here, waiting.

Nope, it's not going to work, ar.
bramstar can read and she's seen those deleted bullygang comments where you all lied about me, trolling constantly. My comment to alanhart that you re-posted above is nothing compared to that. Or to your other drunken comments directed at others.
That was before you "left" se yet again.
It was very nice and civil on se discussions during that time.
Now you're "back" on se. Trolling me from within the grey zone.

You hate me and I just don't care.

I don't hate you truth. I don't like you, it's true, but you're really not very likable. Mostly I just find you pathetic.

>>bramstar: with what product do you clean your counters?
Many things will get them clean but what do you use to kill the germies?<<

Clear liquid antibacterial soap mixed with water in a spritz bottle. Works like a charm and won't damage the stone.

oh, aboutready doesn't like me. She says I'm "really not very likable".

Too bad I have lots of friends who like me. They even come over to visit me in my living room.

aboutready finds me "pathetic".
Too bad a have a real life that's interesting.

So don't read my comments anymore, aboutready.
Keep me on ignore.

Pathetic.

aboutready is home alone.
Sorry I can't babysit you today.
I'm going out with my friends.
They have interesting work in media, journalism, film-making and the music business.

OYE ma-MEE!

How did this thread devolve so much?

Entropy.

trUth

Not in me nor anybody else.
He prints it out and jerks off with it.

good save

tragic fantasies getting more elaborate, though, Kirby girl

lmao.

Kirby, and aboutready is prescribed paxil. LMAO.

Just print these threads out, mutombo.
You can post the comments after they get deleted.

Wow, it's now 2015, & I'm researching leathered granite. What in Heaven's name happened to this thread/topic? It's been a few years, but cryminy! It sure started out good, though. Thanks for some great input.