David Morton
Lifetime Supporter
Anyone in the UK into producing granite worktops for kitchens?
Granite Worktops.
- Thread starter David Morton
- Start date
David:
I guess you have already tried this group
//www.graniteukltd.com/avid
My wife just finished our kitchen remodel using Silestone. It comes in 20mm and 30mm thickness. It has several advantages over granite and is cost comparable....well here it is. That is why she made the choice. Nice material.
SileStone has the hardness of quartz, does not require sealing and has greater heat, scratch and stain resistance than natural stone.
Grady:thumbsup:
I guess you have already tried this group
//www.graniteukltd.com/avid
My wife just finished our kitchen remodel using Silestone. It comes in 20mm and 30mm thickness. It has several advantages over granite and is cost comparable....well here it is. That is why she made the choice. Nice material.
SileStone has the hardness of quartz, does not require sealing and has greater heat, scratch and stain resistance than natural stone.
Grady:thumbsup:
Last edited:
David:
I guess you have already tried this group
//www.graniteukltd.com/avid
My wife just finished our kitchen remodel using Silestone. It comes in 20mm and 30mm thickness. It has several advantages over granite and is cost comparable....well here it is. That is why she made the choice. Nice material. SileStone has the hardness of quartz, does not require sealing and has greater heat, scratch and stain resistance than natural stone.
Grady:thumbsup:
I guess you have already tried this group
//www.graniteukltd.com/avid
My wife just finished our kitchen remodel using Silestone. It comes in 20mm and 30mm thickness. It has several advantages over granite and is cost comparable....well here it is. That is why she made the choice. Nice material. SileStone has the hardness of quartz, does not require sealing and has greater heat, scratch and stain resistance than natural stone.
Grady:thumbsup:
Dave, there is a Co near us that specialises in such, Frank
Jack Houpe
GT40s Supporter
Wish you were closer David, we are a major importer of stone. If you have any questions please feel free to ask PM me. We stock over 75 colors of granite.
David Morton
Lifetime Supporter
What a brilliant response in such a short time.
Jack first - we have a fieplace with a Granite hearth - this is the blackest granite I have ever seen and it's honed rather than polished and looks absolutely stunning.
Our new kitchen is a bit experimental and the cupboards are Polyester gloss back
and my plan is to go with Absolute Nero Gloss Black granite. I have put loads of lighting in the kitchen so the Black on Black should not be an issue ( I've seen Korian grey over black, Veronese Marble over black [lovely but], Oak over black - you name it I 've looked at it and discounted it - on the grounds it's all been done before) There is so much stainless steel surface in this Kitchen (Pete and Di - remember we talked about it in the crepery in La Turbie above Monaco) as well as a nearly white porcelain floor and all white walls so the Black gloss does the business for me.
Now - here is the question - I have had three suppliers of granite and they are all saying something different. I was told by the guy who made it that the black we have on the fireplace was Zimbabwean Absolute Nero (Zim A.N.). The chap I went to see about three weeks ago disagreed and said only Indian could be so black and Zim A.N. always has what looks like faint cats paw prints in the black. The chap who came today said it wasn't Zim A.N., possibly Chinese though he thought he could match it or get close, but it may be a wild price. Who is spinning a line?
If it is Chinese, then I will try and do something completely different.
Thank you all for the info.
Jack first - we have a fieplace with a Granite hearth - this is the blackest granite I have ever seen and it's honed rather than polished and looks absolutely stunning.
Our new kitchen is a bit experimental and the cupboards are Polyester gloss back
and my plan is to go with Absolute Nero Gloss Black granite. I have put loads of lighting in the kitchen so the Black on Black should not be an issue ( I've seen Korian grey over black, Veronese Marble over black [lovely but], Oak over black - you name it I 've looked at it and discounted it - on the grounds it's all been done before) There is so much stainless steel surface in this Kitchen (Pete and Di - remember we talked about it in the crepery in La Turbie above Monaco) as well as a nearly white porcelain floor and all white walls so the Black gloss does the business for me.
Now - here is the question - I have had three suppliers of granite and they are all saying something different. I was told by the guy who made it that the black we have on the fireplace was Zimbabwean Absolute Nero (Zim A.N.). The chap I went to see about three weeks ago disagreed and said only Indian could be so black and Zim A.N. always has what looks like faint cats paw prints in the black. The chap who came today said it wasn't Zim A.N., possibly Chinese though he thought he could match it or get close, but it may be a wild price. Who is spinning a line?
If it is Chinese, then I will try and do something completely different.
Thank you all for the info.
Jack Houpe
GT40s Supporter
Polished Black Granite is one of the most difficult stones to photograph as the glare from lights and flash fail to give a true vision of the stone. I am not familiar with Granite from Zimbabwean but very familiar with Absolute Black from India, and Shanix Black from China and also Brazilian Black from Brazil. Look at the photos, the left stone is Brazilian Black, it has a very large crystalline structure which some people prefer, the center stone is Shanix Black from China, it has a very tight crystalline structure which makes it look the blackest of all black granite stone, the right stone is absolute black from India, notice it has white specks which are prevalent now as the quarry's have been diminished of good stone. Beware of black granite from India and China as they dye the stone to hide the white specks or imperfections of the material. A good way to check if it has been dyed is to take brake cleaner and spray on a rag and wipe across the stone, if black comes off stay away from the stone. The price of Brazilian black 3 cm is about $20 per square foot, Shanix Black is expensive at $30 per square foot 3 cm and Absolute Black from India is about $24 per square foot 3 cm. The Shanix black is what I use to laser etch images on.
Attachments
Recently finished my kitchen renovation (bribe for SL-C) and used the Shanix Black.
Beautiful stuff, and a small fortune was spent having it cut & fitted for my 40 linear feet of counter top! Used the thick (about an inch) stuff with beveled edges. Also backsplashes for 30 feet of it. Gets my vote!
Beautiful stuff, and a small fortune was spent having it cut & fitted for my 40 linear feet of counter top! Used the thick (about an inch) stuff with beveled edges. Also backsplashes for 30 feet of it. Gets my vote!
Jack Houpe
GT40s Supporter
Our kitchen is white marble from Vermont.
Brett James-McCall
Moderator
Lots of places up by me as well Dave on Canvey Island. Can take pics of my worktops if you want to have a look at craftsmanship.
Brett
Brett
David Morton
Lifetime Supporter
Thank you all very much for the input - very much appreciated. I think I now know what I want to use and the price should be OK as well.
