granite kitchen countertops

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife has been longing for granite countertops for quite some time. I always thought they were outrageously expensive, so never gave it much serious thought. A friend of hers has an Uncle that’s a fabricator and he gave us an excellent estimate on the job. He was about 60% of the cost at Home Depot. His main business is tile work but he said he averages about two countertops a week also.

Obviously, we’ll get some references and check out his work before committing to anything. I’d like responses from anyone who’s had granite countertops installed or from any fabricators we have on the board. Any things to watch out for or lessons learned from your installation?

Also, opinions on the value added for resale purposes would be appriciated. I’ve heard I could expect about 80% return on money spent on the countertops. Does this sound right? We don’t plan on selling our house anytime soon, but it’s nice to know I’d be making an improvement that will add value if and when we do decide to sell.

2

RB-

I’m in the cabinet business, but have spent time in the granite top industry (templating/fabbing), and most of my new kitchen or remodel jobs involve granite. The prices have come down a lot in my area (Raleigh) over the last few years due to a big increase in competition. It’s gotten to where you can get granite tops for less than solid surface tops in many cases. I would certainly recommend granite over solid surface (I can’t stand the way that stuff looks - like cheap plastic IMHO). As for resale value I believe it is the best surface to invest in for countertops without question. My only caveat is to make sure the guy knows what he’s doing. I see SO many tops get ripped back out because something is wrong. Make sure the guy has either the sink itself or the template pattern (usually on or in the sink box) and cuts carefully.

Good Luck.