kitchen counter/floor renovations

has anyone ever used Carpet Man in the Dulles Plaza for counters? i've taken note of other recs i've already seen in here.

also for those of you with granite and/or silestone counters, i'd love to know what you love, hate, regret, etc. about your choice.

thanks in advance...

Ciao,

Redon1

 

We didn't use that source, but since you asked for other input, I'll share my experiences. We have black galaxy granite. Had it in our last house too and I LOVE it. I've heard of people complain about staining on lighter granite, but we've never experienced that with our dark granite. I can't say enough about it... I love that I can put a hot pan right on it, and it looks lovely too of course.

We considered silestone, I don't have anything against it, but just love the Black Galaxy so much we went that route again after we moved here. To answer your question, I don't hate or regret anything.

 

We LOVE our granite! We have giallo veneziano. I have no regrets at all. And, like sharse said, you gotta love being able to put hot pots on the counter! If you clean it properly and get to a stain quickly, you'll be fine! I can tell you I DO NOT recommend Neka for the granite. Their quality isn't necessarily bad but the people...well let's just say I wouldn't want to deal with them again!

 

thanks folks! Galaxy is exactly what i'm in love with...

your input has been appreciated.

Ciao,

Redon1

 

Black Galaxy rules! Wish I could replace my ubatuba with black galaxy.

-Teak

 

I'm going to pull out the Uba Tuba and enlarge my island so it is actually nore useful, I am sorry I put it in now as so many people got it and I feel it is too dark with my black appliances. I know it was much cheaper to do it with Van Metre, but living here for a long time makes it worth the investment.

 

Hi Redon -

We had used Nadeem @ Carpetman for our basement flooring - needless to say it was a $9K mistake. So when we were in the market for granite, based on forum recommendation we went with USA Marble & Granite - we selected New Vientian Gold (level IV) for our kitchen and Tropical Brown (level II) for our kitchen in the basement. I've attached 2 photos, but I'll send you better pictures later today.
[SIZE=+1]USA Marble & Granite Inc[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]45700 Woodland Rd # C[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Sterling, VA 20166[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1](703) 444-8780 - ask for Ali[/SIZE]

FWIW - I use StoneTech cleaner & polish - it's a bit pricey and hard to find, but worth every penny. There are some other products that do not have the correct pH level and will leave a haze or even etch the sealer - especially on something as dark as black galaxy or uba tuba.

 

nadeem did our granite and we're pretty satisfied. they had to remove it and reinstall it, but they did so promptly and i've had no problem since. it IS tough to keep that haze off of the black galaxy- i've been told that pledge is fantatic on dark granite- anyone tried it...?

 

I see you have the same granite as a backsplash. Is this pretty common? We have the Black Galaxy granite with natural maple cabinets. It looks great, but it's been hard to decide what to use as a backsplash between the countertop and cabinets. Using the black granite might be too dark. Any suggestions or similar experiences? Thanks!

 

Thepea (my wife who posted the pictures) convinced me to "upgrade" to a full backsplash. From what I have seen most folks normally just do a 3 to 5" backsplash vs. the entire length. Our granite is on the neutural side, however we had kichler under & upper cabinet lights installed and it really "brightens" up the space. I would imagine that it might have the same affect on your black galaxy if you choose to upgrade to a full backsplash. Also it is really easy to clean any grease or cooking splatters off the granite.