How To Choose Granite Countertop For Kitchen

Granite, a naturally occurring igneous rock known for its toughness and resistance to react, is being widely used for construction purposes. For the fact that it is present in a wide variety of colours and textures, it has become a hot favourite with people who plan to build a home or want to remodel the existing ones. It is used in tiles for special room (say living room), tiles inside the bathroom or kitchen and even countertop for kitchen. In fact, it is increasingly becoming the most sought after stone for making kitchen countertops, due to its resistance to all kinds of materials and for the fact that it is easy to clean and maintain. When it comes to choosing as to which colour or texture of granite slab to use as a kitchen countertop, most people leave it to the hands of construction workers, who may not offer a wide variety, making you settle for something less than what you actually wanted. If you want to avoid that, you must choose it on your own. Here’s how to choose your own granite slab for kitchen countertop.

Choosing Granite Countertops For Kitchen

Here are some things you should know about granite as a material for making a kitchen countertop with, before you go ahead and order one for your own kitchen:

Resilience

Granite is acknowledged to be one of the sturdiest materials known to mankind, which gives ample resistance from staining. However, one must remember that is has a pourous consistency and demands frequent sealing. Also, its density is about the same as that of a vitrified tile and reacts in similar ways to heat and water as a vitrified tile does.

Strength

Most other tiles or countertop surfaces, especially those made of man made materials, have strength ratings written on the packaging boxes. Granite however, does not come with any ratings as it is a natural stone. Its strength often varies and thus a granite piece that is to serve as a kitchen countertop is thicker than the one used to make tiles.

Here are some pointers on how to choose the colour of the granite countertop that you would like to install in your kitchen:

Find out the nearest warehouse that gives you a wide variety of colours and textures. It is quite possible that you may get a granite piece with colour and texture of your choice. Also, ensure they have the exact size of a granite countertop for you to see whether the size fits your need or it has to be altered.
It is important that you match the countertop with the colour of the kitchen cabinets as well as the tiles of the floor. Keep a sample of each ready or else, if you are making changes in your existing house, at least take a picture of the floor and the kitchen countertops to show it to the person at the warehouse. With those in hand, it will be easier for you to match – all you need to do is hold the cabinet sample and the floor tile sample on top of the samples of granite that are shown to you and see which one fits best.
Make sure you settle for the one you like best! It is an investment that you will have made, and you have to make sure the money that you spend goes in the right direction. As you will be spending many an hour in your kitchen, so you must find the colours that make you want to come to the kitchen, not make you stay away from it!
Ask the people at the warehouse to show you five to six slabs of the same colour and texture that you just chose and make sure that they have the same colours, that they do not have any dark and light spots that look ugly or unsightly and are not chipped or broken at the edges. Finally, ask the people at the warehouse if they can provide you with a handyman who could come to your house to take measurements.

How to Cite

Related Articles

See also

More in 'Home & Living'