Granite countertops are expensive. That’s all there is to it. But before you start looking for other options, consider using granite tiles.
When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago, we priced granite countertops and discovered quickly they wouldn’t fit our budget. Never ones to give up, we (well, my husband, David) came up with an alternative. Instead of solid slabs of granite, he suggested 24” granite tiles. I’m not a fan of tile countertops but he assured me there would only be a few grout lines.
David purchased 24” tiles and edge pieces from our local tile shop (Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t currently sell the 24” tiles). He installed the tiles with a minimum number of grout lines and the end result was a beautiful granite countertop for 1/3 the price of granite slabs.
So if you want granite but don’t have enough money in the budget, check out granite tiles.
My parents and brothers previous homes both had these and it was beautiful.
Beautiful. We need to get new counter tops and I will show this to Kevin. We (he) might give it a try!
Kathy
We got our tile at The Tile Shop in Overland Park (on Metcalf next to Joann’s). They have the tiles and the edge pieces. If you go there, watch for sales because that helps, too. If Kevin needs any advice, David can tell him what he did to install the countertops. It was pretty easy and went well.
Those are really beautiful and such a good idea if you want to minimize grout lines! I actually really like tile countertops and installed 6 inch ceramic tiles with dark gray grout in my kitchen. They were cheap and hard wearing and you can put hot pots on without worry. I also bought a good size granite remnant and had it installed in place of the tile counter in the area where I deal with baking so I can roll pastry or knead dough without needing a separate board on the tile. I don’t fuss myself with the grout. The dark stuff never looks dirty and never stains. This has worked very well. I used regular glazed ceramic but next time I’d choose quarry tiles or something porcelain as the glazed tiles chip quite easily when things drop on them. My uncle did granite tile in 1 foot squares and had them epoxy grouted by a professional, which left a non-porous smooth seam between the tiles and worked very well also.
Great idea having a “baking area”. Not many people would have thought to do something like that.