 |
|
Kitchen Remodeling—Kitchen Countertops & Backsplash
Countertops
Granite kitchen countertops
Granite kitchen countertops in
Woodmark’s granite countertop fabricator in Houston supplies granite slabs from its own quarries in India and passes on its lower cost to you in delivering fine quality granite for your kitchen countertop.
Houston Vendor of granite countertops with Superior Quality and Service:
Please call us to discuss fabricating a countertop for your kitchen!
Manufactured stone
Manufactured stone is generally chosen for your kitchen countertop for its engineered hardness and the wide variety of lighter colors available. It is fabricated for kitchen countertops in much the same way as granite. But manufactured stone is somewhat more vulnerable to being damaged by a very hot object being placed on it than is granite.
Backsplashes
Backspashes are usually chosen with an eye to giving your kitchen that special flavor. Many materials are used: solid colored tile, hand painted tile, stone, tumbled marble, stamped metal, granite, painted drywall, a granite curb with painted drywall above, glass over drywall, clear glass to the outside, and many others. Your backsplash is limited only by your imagination. If your choice is in keeping with the entire design of your kitchen it probably will not affect your home’s desirability upon resale. Properly done it may be a strong plus! And of course you will enjoy your very personal touch every time you are in the kitchen you designed.
A major reason for you to use the kitchen backsplash in your food preparation area to express your unique tastes is that it is rarely very expensive. The required materials for backsplashes in most kitchens is seldom more than thirty to fifty square feet.
Backsplashes can be installed in many ways. Tile is often installed diagonally as corners can be clipped off in any size and an insert of varying size may be installed. Further many kitchen clients often install a specific design over their cooking surface to add flair. Mosaics in a large number of variations is very popular today.
THE
Granite kitchen countertop checklist:
Verify kitchen countertop of each continuous base cabinet is level.
Verify all base cabinets are level with others whether continuous or not.
Verify all granite edges properly meet wood trim on doors and windows with preferably space in between.
Verify kitchen countertop backsplash wall is not bowed.
Verify drop in sink countertop cutout is properly supported and centered over base cabinet.
Verify undermount sink is properly supported under the kitchen countertop and centered over base cabinet.
Verify cooktop cutout is properly centered over base cabinet and under hood.
Verify veining if any is in proper direction on the kitchen countertop.
Verify granite joints are in proper location on the kitchen countertop.
Verify granite joint 1/16" or less.
Verify granite joints filled with matching color.
Verify granite kitchen countertops pitch forward from backsplash to front edge 1/16" to 1/8"
Verify granite kitchen countertops level within 1/8"
BC plywood rather than the commonly used lower grade CDX plywood is installed under all granite countertops to create a flat surface and to give uniform support during installation. Woodmark recesses this plywood into existing kiitchen cabinets to create a lower countertop as is necessary. When restoring existing kitchen cabinets this is done to allow for proper installation of granite without reducing food preparation space between the top of the finished countertop and the bottom of the upper wall cabinet
Many granite vendors install undermount sinks with a large granite overhang over the sink bowl so as to allow for variations in the sink size and shape, plus to allow for errors in cutting, grinding and polishing this overhanging granite edge. To be more precise Woodmark usually does a rubbing of the sink shape to create a template and within a range allows you to decide how much of the sink edge to show and then uses the template to cut, grind and polish to this shape.
Woodmark offers a 1 ¼” overhang on its granite countertops instead of 1 ½” which is more common. We call this The Woodmark Edge. Although this tighter tolerance requires more precisely built cabinets and a more perfect installation of the granite countertop, this refinement gives the feeling of created furniture to your kitchen cabinets. It also makes your granite kitchen countertops more of an integral part of your kitchen rather than being one element which dominates the space.
Woodmark generally lays granite having a veining pattern in the same direction throughout the kitchen. Depending on the layout of the kitchen and the number of granite slabs required, this approach may result in additional cost, but Woodmark believes it is always to be recommended. Since only the additional cost of granite is added—not the cost of fabrication—in the whole scheme of things it is usually not that significant.
All granite surfaces are sealed with at least two coats of a penetrating sealer. Usually Enhancer by Stone Tech. The sealer has an alcohol like viscosity which after penetrating the granite surface and drying becomes a very hard plastic inside the granite. This prevents anything causing a stain from penetrating and becoming visible.
Woodmark if the kitchen client desires will utilize the piece remaining from cutting out the hole for the sink to create smaller pieces to implement a backsplash design which you request. Square, triangles, and rhomboid shapes are cut from this material and polished by our tilesetter at your request for this purpose. Using these created shapes can allow much time to be saved in pursuing a matching insert for your backsplash.
Please call us to discuss fabricating a countertop for your kitchen!
