Granite Worktops - Truth, Lies and misinformation

Alan_M_2

Anne3333 wrote: »

I am off to the granite wholesaler in the morning, so finding this thread was perfect timing. Does anybody know what to look for in granite to check the quality, other than ensuring the thickness is within the acceptable range of within 2mm for joining sections? Is there any way to check the porosity or any standardised grading of granite?

The thickness of the slab is the responsibility of the wholesale supplier and the fabricator.

Mostly, gangsaw slabs are pretty accurately cut so it's unusualy to find thickness variation but not impossible.

The second part of your question about porosity and grading is a bit to vast to answer as it "depends" as this thing always does. With so many types of granite all being natural I can't even give you a generalised rule of thumb.

Always remember, this is a block of stone, cut out of the ground, it's not a man made manufactured article and as such there really is not gaurantee of any kind.

Anne3333

I fell in love with Kashmire Gold today

ukmaggie45

Anne3333 wrote: »

I fell in love with Kashmire Gold today

We did too, and it looks wonderful in our kitchen... At least it does when we can see it for all the clutter and piles of stuff! Really must clear the surfaces and try to take some decent photos of it. But here's one of the kitchen while it was still being fitted.


Kitchen from door by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

cyclonebri1

Anne3333 wrote: »

I fell in love with Kashmire Gold today

So did I, see my posts a page or 2 above. It's been in a few months now and I think it's superb.

Now we aren't folks for wiping down the surface around the sink everytime we turn a tap on, infact quite the opposite which is one reason we went for granite as the top quality laminate tops were showing signs of water damage under the lips.

You have to ask yourself why the hell would the suppliers cut drainer grooves adjacent to the sink if the granite wasn't supose to have static water on it???

Anyway ours show no signs of staining, it's that many different colours that I doubt you would notice any markings whatsoever.

Black on the other hand

Anne3333

Ah, unfortunately the Kashmire Gold was not meant to be, I found a gorgeous very dark piece but it just wasn't quite big enough once I had given them my measurements and all the others I have seen have been very light in colour with a fair amount of 'grey'.
I have now settled on Pretoria granite which is black with very large cream marbling which snakes its way down the entire length. Until I visited granite yards, I had not realised how simply beautiful some of them were and also learnt that you should ALWAYS see the actual piece you are having, due to the natural variations.

docdan

well 'ive just sat and read this entire thread from start to finish .
there are lots of differing opinions Alan m seems to post a lot and recommend many different fitters from different areas , i however don't see him recommending any onsite fitters ! is there a reason for this ?

cyclonebri1

docdan wrote: »

well 'ive just sat and read this entire thread from start to finish .
there are lots of differing opinions Alan m seems to post a lot and recommend many different fitters from different areas , i however don't see him recommending any onsite fitters ! is there a reason for this ?

Yes there is.

There is no such thing as an onsite fitter, an independant that is.

The cost of the "raw" material and the chance of the fitter destroying that is too great for any supplier to absorb.

You get the package, and IMHO that is the best deal for the consumer ;)

docdan

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Yes there is.

There is no such thing as an onsite fitter, an independant that is.

The cost of the "raw" material and the chance of the fitter destroying that is too great for any supplier to absorb.

You get the package, and IMHO that is the best deal for the consumer ;)

sorry to disagree with you .

I have seen onsite fitters that do a fantastic job & can do the granite fit in 1 Day yes 1 Day
they did ours last week would upload a picture of the polished sink & drainers they did ON-SITE (but don;t know how to do it ) they even cleaned up after themselves !

would recommend them to anyone . i wasn't sure about it until i spoke to a previous customer of theirs whom said they were good . I can now also say they are good & will recommend them to anyone !

Alan_M_2

There are occassions with particularly simple fits that an on site fit can be undertaken, these are limited though.

I have a few customers who offer a fit on site service, on the whole they provide a good value for money fit. It simply isn't produced to the same degree of accuracy as a factory made, templated job and the nature of how the manufacture is being undertaken means the material itself is sometimes compromised from the start, mainly due to handling limitations.

Much of the modern equipment available for cutting offers some very accurate on site production, however you can never re create a CNC polished undermount on site.

On the whole, if you have an overmount sink and hob and straight cuts and joins then an onsite fit could save you a bundle.

The moment you start adding detail and complications to a fit then the chances of problems arising with on site fits increases exponentially.

cyclonebri1

docdan wrote: »

sorry to disagree with you .

I have seen onsite fitters that do a fantastic job & can do the granite fit in 1 Day yes 1 Day
they did ours last week would upload a picture of the polished sink & drainers they did ON-SITE (but don;t know how to do it ) they even cleaned up after themselves !

would recommend them to anyone . i wasn't sure about it until i spoke to a previous customer of theirs whom said they were good . I can now also say they are good & will recommend them to anyone !

Actually Docdan, I think I may have mis understood you, I was asuming you meant freelance onsite fitters, ie, fitting your material, hence my comments ;)