Kitchen granite for dummies

[Aram]

Noob questions for a small condo kitchen. Basically a short run of standard size cabinets, no island. When I say noob, I mean total noob.

For starters, I gather that a properly installed 2 cm stone (supported by ply) will be as strong as its 3cm big brother. Am I right about that? The only difference I can find is that the thicker stuff can take a full round profile, while the thinner stuff needs to be laminated and overhang to create that profile...?

Thanks in advance for setting me straight.

[Bob10]

sink hole? if so installing steel across the opening with epoxy into a slot cut into the bottom can be helpful I have installed several without no issues but you have to be extremely careful when you lay it down as that is when it is most likely to break. A drop in sink is an easy cut and install undermount can be tricky if you do it yourself but if you buy in one of the places in Hayward that will cut the hole it usually runs $100 for the cut.


Oh yeah I found a place out by you that has 16g stainless farm house sinks for $199. If I can find the time I am going to pick up a couple for the next remodels I find myself in

[Aram]

Thanks, Bob. Appreciate it.

[Bob10]

Some of the places sell colors the others don't in prefab counters. There is a place in SF called East Star that has a bigger selection of quartzite than I have seen anywhere else but they don't have much past 9' long. Jerong and Unitile both in Hayward sell a good selection of granite, I prefer Unitile and they will cut for you so all you have to do is take it home and install. For a drop in sink you can probably handle it yourself with an angle grinder with diamond blade

[rschissler]

Yes to your opening post. I have 2cm counters in my bathrooms and 3cm in my kitchen. I prefer the 3cm as I think it looks much nicer, definitely a more high end look.

[meackerman]

you can get granite in precut countertop width or you can buy slabs. when we were looking, you could get slabs in a lot more colors than the precut stuff, but the precut stuff was less expensive.

There's hundreds of different granite colors. Some are more stain resistant than others....some are a lot more expensive than others.

when we bought ours, I couldn't see a reason to buy the 3cm stuff, unless you don't like the edge seam where they laminate it....or you find a piece in 3cm that you just have to have.