Battle of the Countertops
I am working with a very tight budget for a full renovation with contractors holding very tight pursestrings (money is doled out to them from loan). We have gotten to the countertop stage……and I have wanted stone (either honed granite or Caeserstone/Silestone product) since we began. They are now suggesting I look at “Chinese granite”;…
I am working with a very tight budget for a full renovation with contractors holding very tight pursestrings (money is doled out to them from loan). We have gotten to the countertop stage……and I have wanted stone (either honed granite or Caeserstone/Silestone product) since we began. They are now suggesting I look at “Chinese granite”; from what I understand it is lower-priced granite product. Park Slope Kitchen Gallery, where I purchased cabinets, is suggesting the same, for budgetary purposes. Can anyone shed any light on this? Frankly, I do not want any Chinese-made product (within reason, I am cognisant of modern manufacturing)in my kitchen where I will be slicing and placing food on (yes I use a cutting board).
I so appreciate any of the responses, thank you.
man, after reading through all the posts above, i felt compelled to post again! everyone seems to be speaking from assumption, but no one seems to base their negative response on any actual experience…
for the record, the other Chinese stone guys we used were at E Stone on Morgan Ave. Same deal–absolute black, $25/ft, but this one with a regular bullnose edge. It was about six years ago, and with TONS of daily use and no sealing, it has held up great.
I’ve always thought it funny that anyone would pay double the price for what seems to me the exact same product.
and btw, I had a contractor source granite for an apt once, supposedly from a european dealer, and that sucker cracked right down the middle after a month of use. got them to give me my money back, and i replaced it myself–for half the cost. that was when i used e stone. the guy was an older man who was very professional. my husband speaks mandarin, though, and he handled it that time, so i have no idea if he spoke english well. i am assuming, though, b/c the company has a whole website in english, and i was the one who picked it out at the shop. i would have used them again but had lost the name and contact info when i needed it and didn’t find it until after i’d already used grand marble the next time. (again, i think it was grand marble… see post above.)
anyway, my two cents. saved me a bundle numerous times. i wonder if most of the posters above are applying general prejudice against chinese-made products… if we’re talking kids’ toys or plastic crap, sure, but in this case, i think they are dead wrong.
We’ve used Chinese stone guys a couple times. Fairly recently, we used a guy on 6th ave (or 7th?) at around 63rd St in BK. Grand Marble, maybe? On the east side of the street, just north of the bridge. There are two Chinese stone shops there right next to each other. We used the one on the left (smaller, i think). We did absolute black granite for some apartments, and it turned out great. With the standard edge (which has a little bevel on it instead of a smooth, rounded edge), it was $25/sq foot, installed. That is the same price they all seem to offer. The granite is great–no problems whatsoever, and we never, ever seal it. (I understand the black ones don’t tend to need it like the other ones do. Plus, the absolute black is pretty much solid black, so it is modern looking, with no potentially cheesy granite effect. No offense if that’s your style…) The guy–wish I could remember his name… Ricky, maybe? a young guy who spoke English well, in case you’re wondering–was very fast and professional, and really seemed to know what he was doing. He even advised me well on some crappy work my contractor was doing. For one of the apts. the cut out was a little odd–we had it run along a wall and turn a corner for a little nook, so it was a really odd shape. I was worried that they’d cut it wrong b/c just cutting it from measurements seemed a little tricky. But it was perfect.
As for the ethical questions (how it is sourced, mainly), I have no idea. I probably should have thought about and looked into that first, but I didn’t even think about it at the time… Why else is it cheap? Small company, small profit margin (too small, maybe), they work fast and efficiently, no fancy showroom, they prefer cash (no surprise, but will take a check), and they work their guys (too) hard (for one of the huge slabs, I thought for sure they’d need like four guys to get it up the stairs, but they used TWO. I was terriried someone would get hurt, and at that point realized I had no idea about licensed/bonded/insured-ness… but thankfully it worked out fine)… BIG tip for each guy…
Tell your mama to rest easy; it’s a construction loan in place already and countertops are budgeted in–to a reasonable extent, that’s where wiggle comes in. But I appreciate her looking out for us.
My dead mother says she would like to tell you that if you are borrowing money for this renovation, you can’t afford granite or any fancy stone. Buy some butcher block and start saving.
Say goodnight, Mother.
Brenda, I think that is exactly what it is.
You don’t need this kitchen place for the granite. Go to Stone Depot in Greenpoint and pick something out. It shouldn’t cost more than 50 dollars a foot installed. They come out and measure and install. I got black honed granite which is a more subtle look than the highly polished stuff, but either is nice. Granite is granite. The kinds which are veined are busier in look and also hide spots, though you can take stains off any kind of granite. There are many Chinese stone dealers in Brooklyn, so some of it comes from China but you get a pretty good variety. Find something you like and don’t pay a lot.
Wow. Our idea of a “tight budget” was laminate instead of Corian (a choice I still mourn). We are so last century. I don’t “get” granite, frankly…
and speaking of quotation marks, “Chinese granite” sounds like a euphemism for something unspeakable, like compacted slurry…
Thanks for all the info….I definitely am not considering Chinese granite. As it turns out, contractors told me today they want to wait till cabinets are in and installed and then make template, so I have some time to explore options; probably will go with an aggregate; that story was a little scary. Still looking….
I totally agree with Ringo – we went with Ikea butcher block thinking it would buy us time to get through all of the major reno and assess our funds and also give us more time to explore the options. 2 years later though, the butcher block looks great, we get tons of compliments, and I like them. So in the end, they stay.
And FWIW, I cook a ton and do everything right on the counters, including making pasta and bread, etc. So far so good.