Granite countertops

Has anyone upgraded to granite? Can you recommend where to go/who to install?

Thanks!

 

We're having granitech install our new granite counters tomorrow. we'll let you know how it goes.

 

take some pix =) how much are you paying per sq ft, etc?

 

My wife and I have also been looking into upgrading our counters. We were shocked at how much it would be. We're in a Winterset so not much counter space. Apparently the center island cooktop makes the price skyrocket because now you have 2 cutouts. I would be interested to know how many cutouts you all have and the total square footage and price if you don't mind sharing. I think the place we went was trying to rip us off. They wanted around 3 grand and that was for coreon (spell?).

 

Call Tim Demarco at
Granite Transformations

Northern Virginia Store

44901 Falcon Place #108

Dulles, VA 20166

571-323-2497 office
703-431-9924 cell

He's a Broadlands resident too!

 

I've been looking at the engineered quartz products and granite... not sure which we'll choose yet. It would be cool if you could give them specs and have them cut it and then install yourself to save some $$... it's not that hard. the under-mounted sinks are nice too.

 

We have almost 100 square feet in a Parkdale. Our quoted price for Black Galaxy was $8400 which includes everything: a blanco undermount sink and its cutout, a faucet and soap dispenser and their cutouts, the cutout for the cooktop, removal and disposal of old countertops (which we're actually having them throw in the basement for future workshop use), all plumbing and sales tax. We got to pick out our slabs -- we'll need 3 -- and so far these guys have been great to work with. We'll let you know how it all goes tomorrow.

 

We had granite put in last fall, and I got quotes from 5 places. We went with USA Granite and were pleased. Nobody came close to their price.
Charged $49/sq ft when the other places wanted an upgrade charge of $62-$72 (Silver Sea Green).
Here's what to watch out for: how much you get charged for the extras, such as rounding the edges, removing the old counters, cut-outs, plumbing, sink, etc.
USA charged a flat fee of $300 for the rounded edges, where the other places were around $750; removal of old counters was $300, others wanted $600-$1000. They threw in the stainless steel undermount sink and one counter cutout for free.

Also pay attention to how many seams they plan to put in. Some places will add more seams so they can maximize how much granite they can get out of each slab. The fewer the seams, the better!

Lastly, we had the wall between the counter and the underside of the cabinets covered in the granite. It looks great!! Never would have thought of it if they didn't suggest it.

 

very cool. We'll have to give them a call. Thanks

 

I agree with rharse that granitech was a very good "pay one price" install per sq ft, plus they have a warehouse full of slabs to choose from. You can even be part of the "template" process and make sure your seams and color flow the correct directions. But I also agree with vacliff that $49 per ft is excellent, but you need to watch those "add ons"

 

vacliff - Do you have USA granite's phone number?

CJA

 

Well, the counters are in and they look great. I was hoping for better seams but realized they woudl be somewhat noticeable. The installers did a great job. Once thing I was impressed by was Granitech's flexibility and ownership. We did a get a "turn key" price that included the granite Black galaxy which is an expensive granite, a Blanco sink, faucet and soap dispenser, all cutouts including two for outlets on the island, removal of old counters and re-installation of plumbing (except for the cooktop since we bought a new one. I'm not sure why their plumber can't install the cooktop gas line but we'll handle that separately). When the sales person estimated the price they stuck by it even though two things happened:
1) I requested and got an upgrade to the faucet and soap dispenser and
2) the final measurement showed that we had about 10 sq ft more than the sales person who estimated the job thought we had

I spoke with the office and told them that being off by 10% was unacceptable and they honored the initial estimate

So, we got a great set of counters and worked with an honorable company. I don't think we could ask for more.

I highly recommend this company.

 

Granite Transformations fits granite directly over existing surfaces...it saves time and money. The website is www.granitetransformations.com and I listed Tim's contact info in a previous post.
I just wanted to let everyone know that there is a less expensive way to do it and get great results.

 

I looked into Granite Transformations (the people that cover your existing countertop). I believe that they were almost as expensive as granite ($49/sq foot or so). I saw them at one of the home shows at the Dulles Expo Center. I might be wrong about this, but I believe it was really in price to the whole counter at the cheaper granite places.

 

and by checking their gallery, they have to use a square nose instead of a bullnose, etc. Looks kinda weird. I would definately do the solid granite if the price is similar or 10-20% more.

 

Thanks for all of the info! rharse -- do you mind me asking what your square footage and total cost was?

Thanks!

 

We also went with USA Marble and Granite. We have been very pleased with it. Unfortunately their website is down, and I don't have their number. But I think you'll be pleased.

This was from something we posted last year:
We just went through this last Nov. Made several trips out to Plan-it Granite. They do all the installs for Expo (Home Depot), and seem to do an ok job from what I hear from my friends. Plan-it Granite's prices seem a little high, but they are still less than most.

We also went through the Silestone v. granite decision, and ended up with granite because of cost (oddly enough!), and a unique granite color they had (that we both finally agreed on!!). Something to consider - which not many will tell you - are the quality of your cabinets. If you have good quality cabinets then you should have no issues. But granite is so heavy and if you have a larger kitchen with bad quality cabinets that you could have issues with it over time (buckling, etc).

In the end we chose USA Marble and Granite in Sterling. We have close to 70 sq. ft (I think) of counter space, got a stainless steel sink, new faucet, soap dispenser, filter water dispenser, installation, etc. all for around $5,000. The install went fairly smoothly, and was done quickly (with Plan-it there's usually a wait). Overall we're pleased. Found out later that some other friends of ours used them and were also very pleased.

As for sealing it - another friend of ours that has worked with granite warned us not to pay for the extra "sealing package" that these guys try and sell you. You can usually get a bottle of sealant for a few dollars at Home Depot and do it yourself.

 

USA Granite # is 703-444-8780.
Address is 45700 Woodland Rd, Unit C, Sterling.

 

amye,

We ended up with 99 sq ft (the estimator measured 90 sq ft). The total price was $8400 (counters with 1/2 bull-nose, backsplash, all cutouts (cooktop, sink, faucet, soap dispenser, 2 outlets), plumbing, ripout and removal of old counters (I actually kept the old counters for a basement workshop), new sink, faucet, and soap dispenser). So we paid about $85/sq ft which may seem high but the granite is an expensive granite (black galaxy). We did get other quotes and all were at or above this price.

Granitech's phone number is 703-550-7912. The sales person we dealt with was Olcay Akkaya.
Hope this helps.

 

Hi! I want to relay a post for Tim:
Sunny thanks for your input on the Broadlands forum for whatever reason I cant seem to register must be something with my security and cookies is all I can figure.
Anyways we don’t charge to come out and do an estimate and contrary to what the one person said we actually have two edge styles to chose from: European Pencil round and also a beveled edge.
Our product can save considerable expense especially on some of the bigger kitchens and with no demolition it’s really a very clean and non invasive install. Since its an Engineered stone vs a natural stone we don’t have any maintenance associated with our product since it is sealed during manufacturing. Obviously everyone will ultimately go with a company that is priced reasonable and offers good customer service and value. In the end it comes down to cost, service and what look the consumer likes, we give a written quote and cover everything with the customer from plumbing to modifications; our seams (if they are needed) are better than most in the industry. We have a showroom (by appointment) for people who would like to see the product in place prior to booking a home estimate. Our website is www.granitetransformations
As seen on HGTV's American Home 2005



Northern Virginia Store

44901 Falcon Place #108

Dulles, VA 20166

(571) 323-2497

For what it is worth my boss and I agree Granitech is a great company. We will not participate in any circus tactics against any legitimate competitors as we are a stand up company too! Quite simply though we sell a different product than they do ours is Engineered and they sell Natural (both having unique benefits)
Everybody being different, its good to have options .
Thanks
Tim