Countertops: Material Choices and Some of My Favorite Tips
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Countertops have a huge aesthetic and practical impact on a project, and are one of the most central decisions an owner makes for their kitchen and bathrooms.
Whether the project is a bar at a restaurant or a multifamily apartment building or a single family home or a workspace in an industrial building, you’re going to need some horizontal work surfaces!
As usual, when choosing materials, it’s a balancing act between cost, availability, durability, and aesthetics - and the sky is the limit on what you can spend.
In this post, we’ll take a look at the most widely used and available options, all of which can work great, depending on your situation and your preferences! We’ll cover:
Granite
Quartz
Soapstone
Marble
There are many other options [concrete, butcherblock, Corian, etc] but these are the most commonly used, and the ones most requested by clients, so we’ll start with these.
Ok, let’s dive in!
Granite
Granite is pretty ubiquitous as a countertop material, for good reason - it’s virtually indestructible. It can take heat, it doesn’t scratch, and despite what many folks think, it comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns.
When people think of granite, they usually picture the dark speckles of Ubatuba or the many beiges and tans that proliferate in the suburban American version of the “Tuscan kitchen.”
The truth is, there is a much wider range of color and pattern in granite - and if you’re looking for a certain aesthetic, you can often find it in a granite.
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