I recently had a new counter added into my kitchen. Not a big deal, except I’m “lucky” enough to have granite kitchen counter tops. They came standard with the house we bought.
BUT, there are some downfalls to this. The major one being, if you need to add a new granite counter top to the kitchen, or anywhere else in the house, for that matter, you will have to try and match the granite pattern as closely as possible. This isn’t really a bad thing if you have a granite counter in the kitchen, and want to add a granite counter in the bathroom. Because they are not quite next to each other, the granite pattern , color or texture do not need to match exactly. But if you are adding a granite counter to the kitchen which ALREADY has granite counters, then you might have problems.
Here are some tips I can suggest when adding a new granite counter to your kitchen:
1 – Phone a Granite countertop company and ask if they have any cut-offs you could use:
Depending on the size of your new granite kitchen counter, you might get a really good price on a cut-off. They might also have some left over from when they built houses with the same setup (relevant if you are in a new house, and more so if it is in a complex).
2 – Take a photo of you existing granite counters:
Of course, you will need to take the photos with you so that you can ensure you get as close a match as possible to the existing counters. Remember, the closer to the other counters, the closer the match will need to be.
3 – If possible, take a photo of the piece of granite you will use, and compare it at home:
This way you will get to double check to see if you granite matches. Depending on light, etc., the texture of your granite will differ, so be careful.
So, good luck choosing your granite counter tops. If you have any other tips, suggestions or questions, let me know. Granite counters are a really good addition to any home or kitchen.
Do you know of any problems with granite counters and mold? I have heard that granite is porous, absorbs stains, and encourages mold growth. Do you know anything about that?
Thanks
Hi Betty. I’m afraid I don’t know much about this YET… I will do some research, and then write about it.
But, from personal experience with my own granite top, granite is DEFINITELY porous… If you leave water on the granite, you will see a dark stain after a while. But it disappeared after a while once I had dried it up.
We also spilled tea on the counter once it was hot tea which we wanted to make iced tea with. unfortunately it broke the glass, and we didn’t wipe up the counter because of the mess it caused. It also caused a stain, but this went away after about a week or so.
So, we haven’t had mould on our counter yet, but I would definitely recommend granite, because it’s easy to clean.
Any thoughts, please leave a comment…
Hi,
Just want to let you know that there’s a new post on caring for granite. Check it out here: “Caring for Granite Counters“
I have granite kitchen tops and recently noticed a chip on the edge but dont konow how it happened. does granite chip easily and wht can I do about it?
Hi Michele… I’ve noticed that I also have a chip on MY granite, and I have a feeling it arrived like that.
I don’t think it chips that easily because we’ve definitely dropped a few things on the granite, but that also means it’s going to be quite hard without the correct tools to get rid of the chip (if you’re going to smooth it down).
I think the best bet would be to phone a granite supplier and see what they say, like if they can send someone out to smooth it down for you.
Please let us know how it goes, and what happens… Good luck
There is a site called solidsurfacealliance.org that has a bunch of info on granite problems. It is a bit over the top at times, but some of the links it uses to support their views are convincing.
We are remodeling out kitchen soon, hubby wants granite despite some of the stories out there.
I am having the same problem in finding a matching granite countertop to match my existing one. We’ve been debating on a tile bar, a wood bar, a contrasting color granite, etc. What do you recomment????? Thanks!
I want to know about granite. I recently had my kitchen done but I’m hearing conflicting views. one person said that granite is so cold that if you should put a hot pot on it, it will crack. Is this true? Others have said that granite will be able to stand heat. So what is the truth?
I asked my wife this morning, and she says that she has put a hot pot on our granite before, and nothing happened.
I wouldn’t REALLY suggest doing it just in case, but (touch wood) nothing’s happened to ours before.
And it doesn’t get THAT cold. It does keep the warmth of the room.