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Who Hates Granite Countertops?

by on Jan 23, 2012

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of having a long conversation with my big brother about home improvements. You see, he and his wife bought a new/old house last year that needed quite a bit of TLC. One room in particular in need of attention was the kitchen. Because circumstances being what they are, big bro will be selling this house in then next 2 years, so he’s been doing his improvements with an eye toward resale. When it came to replacing the old laminate countertop, bro had to install what everyone isgoing ga-ga about these days…namely, granite. 

Both bro and SIL are very pleased with how the granite looks, but that’s about it. Their #1 complaint? It’s cold. Very cold. A hot plate of food doesn’t stay hot long if you set it on their new countertop. Ditto for a cup of coffee. Bro doesn’t even like to lean on it in the wintertime, and for we who can have 8 months of winter temperatures, that’s not pleasant. Ultimately, in bro’s words, he hates it. If he did it all over, he’d make sure to install some sort of heating element underneath it.

Enter big sister. A few years ago, she and BIL redid two of their bathrooms. They chose lovely granite tops for their new vanities. The one bath that gets the most use–the master–is showing water stains. Sis is not pleased.

Enter ME. Boo and I put in a black granite vanity top in one of our bathrooms a few years back. Yes, it’s cold to the touch, but it’s a bathroom vanity top. I’m not resting my forearms on it or eating a plate of pancakes off it. And although we have no stains, there IS the teeny tiniest little chip out of one of the top edges. (I have no idea how it happened.) We’re still happy with our decision to install granite, but its seeming fragility does make me wonder about a big installation in a busy place like a kitchen. 

bathroom remodel, granite countertop, granite shower tiles, cherry wood cabinets

Others out there are having the same issues to be sure. Add in the whole radiation issue and you just might have a surprising amount of people who wish they didn’t have/hadn’t installed granite in their homes. Another sticking point is the trend itself, which some say is on the downslide.

So what say you? Are you pleased as punch with your granite countertop or do you wish you wouldn’t have jumped on the granite bandwagon? If the latter, what material do you wish you would have installed instead?

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11 Comments

  1. I bought my house with a remodeled kitchen and granite countertops–they’re very pretty but have a lot of pattern and an orange cast to the color of the stone.

    Impossible to see if there is food left on the counter when wiping down due to the pattern so I always find an area that has crumbs left after dinner cleanup.   The orange and busy pattern is proving to be a challenge to make work with my pale turquoise flowery color scheme–definitely not going out and buying new dishes, cookware and dining set.

    I’d love to replace them when I can and will probably do a mix of Buddy Rhode’s concrete in an off-white and butcher block from Ikea.  Incidentally if you’re replacing your counters with butcher block and have standard sized shapes, Ikea is the best deal on the planet.

  2. I do not know what the deal is with granite counter tops. Everyone seems to love it (but me). Not only does it have the above problems, it is totally cheesy to me. Everytime I turn on a home show on hgtv the prospective buyers do not like any kitchens if they do not have granite. If the do have granite, they are giddy….doesn’t even matter what color or style. 

  3. I don’t like the stuff either.  It was a fad, that reached it’s zenith.  Most people don’t seem to know this yet…anyone installing it these days will reall date their homes.

    It’s cold.  It breaks dishes.  It needs sealing.  It absorbs liquids and stains.  Bleach/cleaners can discolor it.  We later learned it emits radon radiation.  It’s a beautiful rock, but besides its hardness and heat resistance it honestly isn’t terribly functional for a countertop.

    I for one was pleased to leave the stuff behind when I sold my home last summer.  It was really cool when I bought it–back in 2004.

    We are completely remodeling the new house and after researching everything extensively we settled on Corian.  Surprised the hell out of me as I always dismissed it.  But the new colors and patterns are beautiful and it’s really functional.  Will go great with our contemporary design.

    Also love the quartz surfaces, but warmth, integrated sink, and restorative properties of Corian seeled the deal for us.  Good luck to everyone as they search for the perfect surface as everyone slowly begins to explore the brave new “post-granite” world.

  4. My partner, besides other things, likes carpentry, so when we did our ‘little’ kitchen’ (there is the original ‘big’ one, and the ‘now’ one, which we Brits might have called a scullery back in the day) he made inch wide butcher block strips with alternating walnut (dark) and cherry (warm brown)  It’s very beautiful and any bad burns or what ever, can be ‘patched’ or sanded and re polyurethaned.

  5. Granite is the stone that jumped out of the graveyards into everyone’s kitchens just because shows like HGTV brainwashed us. I prefer the warmth of butcher block.

  6. My house has granite countertops. I hate them. The people who lived here before me installed them when they were updating the kitchen, presumably to make the kitchen appealing to buyers. (I wish they spent more time updating the cabinets and working on the kitchen layout instead! They didn’t do a good job with it.) I suppose they picked out a popular style, but I don’t like it at all. It’s a slight beige color with dark marbling. It’s just not my style. All the other houses I looked at before buying also had granite countertops. I didn’t like the look in those kitchens either. But I didn’t cook much at the time, so I didn’t really mind compromising on it. I figured I could always replace it someday.

    The only good thing about granite countertops is that they’re fairly durable and easy to clean.

    I personally like recycled glass, wood, and tile slabs that look like wood. Heck I even like laminate and Formica or whatever the popular choice for countertops was in the 80s and 90s more than granite countertops!

  7. I dislike granite for the following reasons: it’s cold, it’s often ugly, it’s pretentious, it breaks dishes (I value my china far more than any countertop), it emits radiation, mining it rapes our Earth, it cannot be completely santiized because of microscopic pores, it stains, and, quite frankly, Roman Vomitorium is not the look I like in my home. This fad is the avacado shag carpet of our time and should have died with the real estate market in 2008. I buy real estate and don’t like looking at anything with newly installed granite, which I consider putting lipstick on a pig.

  8. I dislike granite for the following reasons: it’s cold, it’s often ugly, it’s pretentious, it breaks dishes (I value my china far more than any countertop), it emits radiation, mining it rapes our Earth, it cannot be completely santiized because of microscopic pores, it stains, and, quite frankly, Roman Vomitorium is not the look I like in my home. This fad is the avacado shag carpet of our time and should have died with the real estate market in 2008. I buy real estate and don’t like looking at anything with newly installed granite, which I consider putting lipstick on a pig.

  9. I don’t have granite countertops but I do not see the appeal. First of all yes the radiation issue! Doesn’t anybody understand that is a real thing? It’s very unhealthy. Also they are not pretty. And they would seem very difficult to clean, meaning can you see crumbs or blobs of jelly on something so spotted and cracked looking? The only thing I don’t know how you are supposed to take care of them but I think there are special creams you need to use to keep the shine? And that is one thing, the only thing, that I like about them is they are shiny.

  10. I have read some of the negative comments on granite but I disagree. I suppose it depends on who installed it and their style. I chose uba tuba because it’s almost black with specks of gold that match my cabinets that have a gold stain. I like the fact that it’s cool to the touch and it makes it better for rolling out pie dough. This color is very neutral and could go with any design, mine is a Tuscan Italian type design. My dark color does make it difficult when I have an ant problem or finding the occasional fly. But even after more than 10 years I still love my granite countertops in my kitchen. The fact that it’s cool is a plus and the heat of the summer, and I don’t have to worry about placing hot pots on the counter. I rarely seal it.