I am thinking of redoing the kitchen and was wondering if anyone has had this done and if they would recommend the company they used.

Thanks yo.

2/12/2009 1:28:55 PM

Noen was making them for a while. I have a concrete top for my island, but I can't remember who made it. iirc they normally charge as much as the low end granite though, so it's not something you would do if you thought it would save you any money.

2/12/2009 1:30:31 PM

yeah, i hate the upkeep/fragility of granite. i'd rather have concrete. i can also customize it to my tastes, so that's another plus.

2/12/2009 1:48:05 PM

Upkeep on concrete is as much or more than Granite. You need to wax ~4-6 months, and be conscious of leaving standing water on the countertops.

The only place in RDU I would recommend is Meld. But they ain't cheap. You are looking at 75-125$ per linear foot, generally not including installation.

We charged 60-85 a linear foot, including install.

-But yes, you can get WHATEVER you want, and IMHO it is the most beautiful solid surface you can put in a house, given the right color, texture, design and finish.

2/12/2009 7:07:29 PM

Quote :

"Upkeep on concrete is as much or more than Granite."

well damn, more upkeep than granite? makes me rethink things. I don't mind the waxing bit, but standing water? I usually wipe the counters down anyway, but there might be the odd moment that I miss a spot and get a real spot in return .

I was looking at a friend's house in FL and it had the most badass counters ever.

2/12/2009 8:16:19 PM

I have lived in/owned 2 houses with granite and have NEVER had a problem. Unless you actually have had a negative experience in the past I would highly recommend going with granite.

2/12/2009 8:40:46 PM

my last house had granite countertops and i had a guy come in every 3-6-12 mos to reseal it. they looked SWEET, but it didn't seem worth it.

now that i know concrete is just as fragile, well, that sucks.

2/12/2009 8:54:51 PM

Meld in North Raleigh
http://www.meldusa.com

2/12/2009 9:32:19 PM

i want sweet looking and tough. i guess that's an impossibility.

2/12/2009 9:56:27 PM

what about epoxy resin?

2/12/2009 10:03:35 PM

epoxy resin on top of wood might be nice. it's easy to touch up and damn near indestructable.

2/13/2009 3:17:44 PM

Go stainless?

2/13/2009 3:48:08 PM

stainless just seems very cold and doesn't look good to me. it's good in the long run though.

very hard choices here.

resin? dunno will do some more research into that. wood would look very nice.

[Edited on February 13, 2009 at 4:26 PM. Reason : d]

2/13/2009 4:25:48 PM

corian? it's a nice solid surace alternative to granite/concrete to save some dollar bucks.

2/14/2009 12:09:33 AM

You can tell the TWW user base is really starting to get older when there are so many of us with opinions and experience with installing multiple types of counter surfaces.

2/14/2009 1:00:28 AM

^ hahahhahaha

so true.

2/14/2009 10:14:58 AM

Quote :

"corian? it's a nice solid surace alternative to granite/concrete to save some dollar bucks."

That stuff looks so cheap to me. I hate it. When I found out how expensive it was I was
It is probably the most maintenance free junk out there, but I actually prefer the look of laminates to be honest.

2/14/2009 1:32:26 PM

Upkeep on granite?

Uhm. . .we have granite counter tops and there is virtually no upkeep on the granite counter tops. I can cut on them and put hot pants on them without any damage. They don't harbor bacteria or stain. They're awesome and still look as beautiful as the day we moved in. Some people never have to reseal their granite and if they do, it's only every couple of years. I don't know what you were doing on your counter tops to need it resealed every couple of months, but that's crazy.

2/14/2009 4:52:08 PM

Different granites will have a different size and number of pores.

2/14/2009 5:49:26 PM

Quote :

"i want sweet looking and tough. i guess that's an impossibility."

Go talk to Meld. They have products that are resin sealed. It's kind of a hybrid concrete counter, I personally don't like the look (it looks a bit too plasticy for me), but they are SUPER durable.

With solid-surface, it's always a tradeoff of surface quality for ease of use. IMHO high-end granite and concrete are gorgeous, but you pay for it in sweat equity.

Next step down is cultured marble, which gives you all the design freedome of concrete, with the durability of corian and epoxy. It can also be a little cheaper.

Then you have value granite (which is what is used in 90% of homes), which is usually epoxy sealed (or otherwise industrially sealed) and just looks like a B grade product.

Below that is all the corian, full composite products that are just different kinds of epoxy+ filler.

Quote :

"epoxy resin on top of wood might be nice. it's easy to touch up and damn near indestructable."

If you use a REALLY hard wood, in a fairly constant humidity environment, this does work out pretty well. Only downside to this, is you really have to go with a butcher-block style, which kind of limits the design possibilities. Lumber liquidators occasionally sells butcher-block countertops for damn good prices.

[Edited on February 14, 2009 at 7:17 PM. Reason : .]

2/14/2009 7:14:13 PM

Quote :

"I can cut on them and put hot pants on them"

lawls.

i just caught this and it is too late to edit.

2/14/2009 8:09:46 PM

Quote :

" Next step down is cultured marble, which gives you all the design freedome of concrete, with the durability of corian and epoxy. It can also be a little cheaper."

I'm down. I've got marble tops in the bathrooms, so that would complete the look. I guess I'll have to trade off custom looks for durability.

2/14/2009 9:03:01 PM

^any form you can make with concrete, you can get with cultured marble. It's a formed surface, made with epoxy and marble dust. A lot of people mistake cultured marble for concrete (it's used a lot in commercial applications now, high end restaurants and such).

2/14/2009 10:32:35 PM

Well damn, that's awesome. I'm down.

2/14/2009 11:32:46 PM

I found a guy in Zebulon do the countertops in my kitchen, including the kitchen sink and fancy edging for about $2300. The upkeep on granite is easy. People bitching about wiping some shit on there 1-2 times a year are big whiners. I think concrete looks pretty cool, but it will probably date itself sooner than granite. I have photos of my kitchen in my gallery.

2/15/2009 12:12:44 AM

I'd like to see some examples of concrete counters. I can only think of a sidewalk like texture.

I'm fairly set on stainless as that's what I had while working as a caterer and it was really nice.

2/15/2009 3:29:40 AM

http://www.meldusa.com/

http://www.linemodern.com/

2/15/2009 3:45:26 AM

^ It all looks pretty ugly still.

2/15/2009 9:48:14 AM

it's not ugly but its a far cry from granite in terms of WoW factor for the counter top novice (read : everyone) .

2/15/2009 10:11:08 AM

RDU concrete in Cary does a good job with stuff like this. call them and ask for Ken.

2/15/2009 12:08:44 PM

cool shit can be done with concrete counters



photo from the restaurant we ate at last night. the bar top had fiber optic lights within it that faded in and out.

2/15/2009 2:20:43 PM

Has anyone had any experience with granite TILE countertops? I heard that it was like a 1/10th of the cost of a normal granite countertop...

2/15/2009 2:28:00 PM

i like that fiberoptic junk.

where can i get a touch countertop that will connect with my home network?

i want to be able to put my wi-fi camera down on the counter and have it upload the pics.

plus manipulate images and type on the counter while i'm cooking.

[Edited on February 15, 2009 at 2:32 PM. Reason : i also want to be able to control my cell phone by placing it on the counter.]

2/15/2009 2:30:58 PM

^^^killer

2/15/2009 3:59:16 PM

Quote :

"^ It all looks pretty ugly still. it's not ugly but its a far cry from granite in terms of WoW factor for the counter top novice (read : everyone) . "

Go see some good installations in person. Especially commercial installs (bars, restaurants etc). There's way more "WOW" than granite. Granite is extremely limited in forms, and good looking granite is expensive as shit.

Quote :

"Has anyone had any experience with granite TILE countertops? I heard that it was like a 1/10th of the cost of a normal granite countertop... "

Ugly ugly ugly. It's 1/10th the cost because you are getting reject granite, cut-offs, end slabs etc. And tile countertops with any material look cheap as hell.

2/15/2009 4:19:01 PM

what about quartz countertops?

2/15/2009 4:21:32 PM

i tend to like the look of quartz better than granite, although they can be pretty similar depending on the style you get

[Edited on February 15, 2009 at 4:45 PM. Reason : i think all quartz is actually composite]

2/15/2009 4:42:26 PM

Meld has a TON of colors and styles. They do a ton of custom work and they are extremely durable after sealed. You can't really get a good feel for all of their colors and styles unless you see them in person. They've done a lot of awesome projects.
Been to A Southern Season? The coffee bar there is Meld.

2/15/2009 4:54:01 PM

check out Brixx pizza at Briar Creek. we did the fit up there and the bar is entirely poured in place concrete. formed from the floor up. it was then stained and sealed. looks pretty sweet.

2/15/2009 8:48:34 PM

hmm... I don't think that the tiled granite look is, "ugly ugly ugly"... I certainly don't think it is uglier than laminate... Its not as nice as a solid sheet of granite, for sure, but are you saying that its worse than all other options?

2/15/2009 9:39:27 PM

Corian scratches really bad, definitely a no go if you have cats, etc.

What about recycled glass?

2/15/2009 9:42:26 PM

You gotta remember that Noen is an elitist know-it-all, and once he establishes an opinion based on what someone else has told him, he can never see it another way. He should really consider changing his name to I.K.E.

I think what's in those pictures looks damn good.

2/15/2009 9:43:11 PM

I think it looks pretty good, too, considering the cost savings... I'm not made out of money bags unfortunately so I can't afford to drop thousands of dollars on my counters.

But to get back to the original question, does anyone know if tiled granite has any special maintenance or other drawbacks?

2/15/2009 9:45:02 PM

Quote :

"I'm not made out of money bags unfortunately so I can't afford to drop thousands of dollars on my counters."

whatever man, i've seen your tax returns...

2/15/2009 10:49:27 PM

I normally don't like cultured marble, but I admit that I put a cultured marble sink in one of my bathrooms. It was a hell of a deal and it is solid white though. When other colors are swirled in (which is done 90% of the time) it looks very 70's to me. I'm just not a fan of it normally.

I can't talk too much shit for now though... My kitchen is straight out of 1975. It is last on my list of renovations just because of the scope of the project. Bright orange laminate counters with mostly orange wallpaper and white cabinets. It looks like I was visited by the Elvis fairy.

[Edited on February 15, 2009 at 11:24 PM. Reason : l]

2/15/2009 11:22:08 PM

^ hah take pics.

2/15/2009 11:28:25 PM

Seotaji: you were supposed to keep that to yourself

Ok maybe I am made out of money bags, but I'm still a cheap bastard

2/15/2009 11:30:33 PM

Here's a dark pic that I already had. I'll try to get some with better lighting before I replace it.

Yes, that is a Harvest Gold oven and vent. I even have the matching sink. The Harvest Gold dishwasher rusted out and had to be replaced

[Edited on February 15, 2009 at 11:52 PM. Reason : l]

2/15/2009 11:51:47 PM

wow.... I wonder if Noen would think that tile countertops are uglier than that

2/16/2009 12:00:14 AM

I actually kind of like the counters. It's just too much with the wallpaper and the gold stove. lol.

In 15 years that shit will be so retro hot.

[Edited on February 16, 2009 at 12:03 AM. Reason : l]

2/16/2009 12:03:28 AM