Granite work top overlays

They are solid, not overlays!

I got a very reputable friendly family firm to do mine. They do a lot of restoration work for NT houses etc. I think the total cost was about £4000.The only problem was that just after that the entire central heating system collapsed with leaks all over the place and a dead boiler and the entire system had to be replaced. Very nicely done and at long last I have a boiler that is big enough for the house. However at £7000 it wasn't cheap!
Spent all my spare cash and with no work at moment due to the trouble with ESA and PIP assessments. I'm feeling (relatively) skint!

I love my granite worktops, would not have anything else. Yes, they are unforgiving if a cup falls out of a cupboard, but nothings stains, they are fantastic for pastry as cool all the time. Wiping down and streaks/polishing depends upon where you live; if like me you have hard water and a limescale issue, then if you wipe with a damp cloth you will get streaks. the absolute best cleaner is Method ( black bottle) that you can get in Sainsburys, spray, buff with a glass cloth or microfibre and it is fine and shiny. If you dont have any Method, then a squirt of shower cleaner will do the trick, I think it is something to do with the silicone in it. Shop around for your granite, big difference in prices, and to be honest, the overlays dont sound very cheap for what is a compromise, but that is just my opinion!

With my interest in geology I cannot help looking at these "granite" worktops and thinking no, that one is not actually a granite, the balance of the minerals is all wrong. Which to a Geology geek like me is quite important as an indicator of it's origins.

There is clearly no hope for me.

Right now I cannot even get beggar to come and do some refitting of laminate work tops and some re-tiling It seems nobody can be bothered.

With regard to Corian what happens if you spill stuff like turmeric or beetroot onto it.?

I love my quartz worktop and wouldn't go back to laminate. I used a supplier advertising on eBay. There seemed to be some some good suppliers on there and not just the back Street types.
I've not really had any cleaning issues, but agree glasses don't tend to bounce well off them. :-)

Oh, just saw the date of the OP

Hope you are enjoying them, Galen.

Time for

Have you seen them, Galen, or just a sample? Is there a showroom anywhere near you where you may be able to see a long run and see how strong it is,( and perhaps knock a cup of tea over the light coloured one to see if it stains at all).

11 metres, blimey, that is just vast- about 35 feet, wow.

Ooops- mind you, having seen the vast and monstruous Carrara quarries- I just could not buy any (sorry, but the sight is truly awful and the Tuscan landscape in the area blighted with every tree and blade of grass for 100s of square miles choked with dust).

I not only had complete granite tops, but I had the tiles behind replaced in Carrara marble. I love it all, but now I'm broke!

SIL had granit worktops for their new kitchen and said she would never do so again- as she has never broken more corckery and glasses as ever before (when she had softer/gentler wood or formica) - she's advised me never to have them.

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Due to having the wrong glasses on , I misread the thread title as Granny Worktops Overlays, and was a tad confused...

Throwing them away was probably the worst bit.

No one, but no one should ever be forgiven for wasting custard tarts!

I have black granite effect, cheap and cheerful from the local DIY store. They were supposed to be temporary but have been in use ( if you count the bit when it was balanced on trestles) for ten years. I'm very happy with them and until this morning would have had the same thing again if we ever replace them.

This morning I noticed tiny white things moving around on the worktop. Unknown to me Mr d. had left a brown paper bag with two miniature custard tarts out last night. A trail of tiny black ants no bigger than a pin
head had got into the bottom of the bag and were taking them, crumb by crumb, home all across the top of the work top,up the side of a cupboard and behind the water heater socket. Although I now have an extremely clean and even polished worktop, it is a bit worrying how many times I had to wipe it, because I couldn't see them, to make sure that I'd got rid of the little b****rs.

Well the quote for the over tops is £2200. I dread to think how much proper replacements would be, but here goes, I've found a a local supplier, Avon marbles so ill ring them and ask?

I clean mine with a normal kitchen cleaner, then dry with kitchen towel and they have a lovely shine.

Sunseeker, what a positive post to read with my morning coffee. Thanks for that - I'll relax a bit on the cleaning front (with huge relief). I begin to wonder if our kitchen designer and maker and fitter is a bit OCD. He is a real craftsman, and did a brilliant job. He was very very tidy throughout, and seemed to think that "ladies" were constant cleaners..... so perhaps I misunderstood his instructions. I do hope so

I have dark granite and mine certainly doesn't stain or need constant polishing.

Quartz! price depends on quality and thickness!

I will ask my SiL what mine are & cost! I like them..they are light-coloured with sparkly bits in but you can get it in a range of colours!

I love the look of granite, but polishing? Really? Personally, I only go for cheap and cheerful work top - that way it can be changed without a second thought when it goes out of style / I go off the colour / just get fed up with it!

We've just had a new kitchen, and I went with granite work tops. They look wonderful, but as others have said, they do need to be kept clean, or they mark. I am currently fanatically wiping them down with a weak solution of washing up liquid and water. they then need to be polished dry, I usually pick up the tea cloth and rub that over the worktops. 2 months in, I love them, but I do feel a bit Stepford wives as I wash down and polish. My sister also has a new kitchen, and went for granite, before reading about the need to wipe up any spilled stuff immediately. Our kitchen fitter says they are always cleanable if spills have been left. He suggested putting a pile of something like blue tack around a coffee stain, then putting a damp, clean cloth over the stain. He assures me This Will Work. I'm too thrilled with my new kitchen to let my obsessive wiping and drying go - yet!