Advantages
of Kitchen Granite Countertops
By Frederick
M. Hueston, StoneForensics.com
Kitchen granite countertops are created by
nature and fashioned by man are a beautiful, durable and cost-effective choice
for kitchens and baths. The term granite comes from the Latin root word granum,
which means “grain.”
Granite is often imported from Europe, Africa,
Brazil, and other regions of the world rich in natural stone. Granite is an
attractive natural stone that will add color and warmth to your kitchen.
Granite is an extremely hard material that will not blister, scratch or crack.
The hardness of granite is rivaled only be the hardness of diamonds. In fact,
diamonds are used to cut and polish granite.
Over the last 10 years kitchen granite
countertops have become popular with homeowners, after first being popular with
designers for decades. Granite is available in hundreds of colors, from various
shades of white to browns, reds, greens, blues, and black. The most popular
tones are brown and beige.
As well as being hard kitchen granite
countertops can take hot items, like pots and pans, and is very stain resistant
to hot grease and oil if it is sealed with a good quality impregnator. It can
easily be cleaned and cut for a basin. Granite has a cool polished surface that
makes it an excellent surface for rolling out pastry dough. The polished finish
of granite will not wear off easily.
Kitchen granite countertops are unique because
no two pieces of granite are exactly the same, therefore granite provides an
interesting design element and adds certain richness and texture to your
kitchen not found in other surfaces. Kitchen granite countertops can create a
brilliance and elegance that is only found in nature. Granite adds a
personality and character to kitchen countertops that is unsurpassed. Kitchen
granite countertops have a natural beauty that can complement any tone of wood
or style of cabinets.
It does not matter if you are planning a new
home or remodeling an existing kitchen, with granite kitchen countertops you
can be sure that you will add to value of your home.
Kitchen remodelers and home builders have
experienced a boom in the demand for kitchen granite countertops. Although it
can be more expensive to put in granite countertops, they remain the odds-on
favorite choice for more upscale homes, since they keep their value better than
most home improvements
The investment you make in kitchen granite
countertops should pay you back at least three times what you invested. If you
are selling your home, you will find that home buyers wanting kitchen granite
countertops will be willing to pay more for your home than if you have ceramic
tile or plastic laminate.
Planning out your kitchen granite countertop
first involves selecting the right granite color. You should concentrate on the
most popular colors. Even though granite tones are usually neutral, you may
find that a certain color goes well for your kitchen design.
If you are replacing the old countertop material
in your kitchen with granite, carefully diagram all the measurements for the
granite installer. If installing new cabinets is part of your kitchen remodel,
ask the granite fabricator what they recommend for cabinetry.
Since you are using such a superior product as
granite, you should think about the right type of sink to go with your new
kitchen granite countertop. You should definitely consider going with an
undermount stainless steel sink, as opposed to an overmount sink that would be
difficult to clean around.
In addition to getting the right kind of sink
installed, it is also important to select the just the right faucet to go with
the sink. A stainless-steel faucet would go well with the looks of a rich
kitchen granite countertop.
The next important area is upgrading your
cabinet hardware. The handles and knobs should also be of high quality to
provide good accent to the overall look of the kitchen. Even if you are not
replacing the cabinetry having high quality hardware with make those cabinets
and the whole kitchen stand out.
So, in planning your kitchen remodeling, just
remember that kitchen granite countertops will make a provide a world-class
addition and increase the re-sale value of your home.