Hi Tom,

Thanks for providing this service to support a wonderful cause, which I am happy to support.

I have just had a kitchen renovation that is 20X13 space L shaped with Peninsula, lots of natural lighting, Cappucino Villa pattern travertine floors, hazelnut stain Cherry shaker cabinets, and smoky taupe walls. I am stuck on a few things. I choose Giallo Vicenza (more peachy gold tone) for counters. The installer said that my peninsula is 83 in. and his slab is 80 in. so the granite flow will have to change direction at the seam in one spot at the end of the peninsula. Should I care about this?

Also, I really like Vicenza but am wondering if it is too industrial? And are there other suggestions that might fit better or cause this slab direction issue to be minor.

I was thinking of same travertine for backsplash but more simple pattern than my flooring.

I love all of the elements I’ve chosen and think they are continental looking, I could really use some assistance/suggestions at this point because I am out of my design element.

Thanks so much,
Lori

Hello Lori,

Good to hear from you on this topic and I hope you have not moved forward as you described. I know the Giallo Vicenza granite very well. The length of 83″ is not very long for slabs in this granite type so I am a bit surprised that the your countertop can not be made in one piece. Slabs in this granite are almost always over 100″ long.

In addition, the direction of the slab should not be changed at a seam in this granite. Although it is considered a homogeneous type granite pattern, there is a movement in the matrix that must go the same way, unless you are turning 90 degrees.

Most importantly, the color is totally wrong so perhaps that makes my comments above immaterial. The underlying pink tone in Giallo Vicenza would not look that great with Cherry shaker cabinets. There is also a gray tone in this granite that definitely does not work at all. The matrix is right, but the color is more than a bit off.

If you want to stay close to this color and matrix, then I suggest Giallo Veneziano (in the gold tone – not the pink tone). This should be easy to find. Other great granite choices, but a little darker, would be Dakota Mahogany or Carnelian Granite.

Still, I really want to you consider a couple colors that would be more extraordinary like Jabitaca Granite or Taupe Granite which would cleverly pull the arrangement of color and style you have put together. Take a look and let me know!

My very best wishes and thank you for support the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids.

Tom,

We are replacing counter tops with granite and after looking at many slabs think we like granite in the green family, the two frontrunners right now being Rainforest Green and Verde Tropical (also sometimes referred to as Verde Hawaii). Costa Esmeralda also a possibility if we can find a dark enough shade. The kitchen gets a lot of light, has dark cherry cabinets, lighter oak floor, Biscuit tile backsplash. Range top is stainless but looks mostly black with the grates. Another question is what sink to use. We don’t really like stainless (the new avocado) and would use either a biscuit or anthracite color. The anthracite would probably be more edgy but more risky. What do you think on granite and sink color?

Clay

Hello Clay,

Sticking with green is a great plan. The darker the better for dark cherry cabinets. I highly recommend staying away from Verde Tropical if it is the one from India. This stone is very deceiving and loves to fracture upon impact from fabrication or bending stress. I have studied this granite in detail because it really is quite beautiful but problematic. I found that the crystal structure, although quite opalescent and refined, is also very weakly bonded. Surface tension will cause stress fractures and be unappealing.

Rainforest Green is another story in itself. This stone is not true granite and is quite softer than the .6 on the Mohs Scale as required to be classified as a granite. Because it is in higher in Orthoclase and softer minerals, you need to use a cutting board or else you will scratch it with a knife. It is also more porous than most granites, so be sure to have it professionally sealer. If you can handle those two maintenance issues, then I would say this is a great choice for cherry cabinets. I attached a nice photo of this stone.

A dark or medium Costa Esmeralda granite would be the best choice. This is gorgeous granite which is high in quartz minerals and very low maintenance.
As you may already know, it is quite expensive, but it is worth it. Don’t be worried about the white veins, they are great accents to brighten the room and match the towels.

Regarding the sink, certainly stainless works very well but the deep dark anthracite sink, like the one sold at Home Depot, would look amazing with any of these colors. If you like that look, go for it. It would be very classy for sure. You could match the same color for the faucet or even use a gun metal color.

Best wishes on your kitchen, Clay. Thank you for supporting the kids!

Hi Tom
We recently had Pompeii 3cm granite installed in our kitchen. We haven’t had a great experience with our installers, which leaves us with three questions for you:

The surface, which is sealed, has multiple small divots. These appear innumerable in direct sunlight and many can be felt – is this a normal surface polish? We’re hearing that this is normal for natural stone. I don’t like it because it looks like it is dirty all the time.

Secondly, our bar is C-shaped with side overhangs of 4″ and an 11″ overhang on the 70″seating area. Are two 9″ wood corbels sufficient for support?

Finally, we have a seam on each side of an undermount corner sink. We’re happy with one seam, but the other joins two slabs with different color and color flow directions. This granite has a lot of movement, so we’re not sure what an appropriate seam should look like. You probably won’t believe this, but when we asked to pick out individual slabs, we were told that was not possible because it would be too hard to move them around. Yes, we’re having a “Duh” moment in retrospect! We didn’t know what to expect. Wish I’d looked for your website earlier – thanks for being available!

Karyn

Hello Karyn,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Let me answers your questions for you.

Regarding the two corbels, I could answer this better if you email me a photo but I do believe what you have is sufficient since the granite is 3cm solid. If it was not ‘fractured-type’ granite I would be confident to say that at 3cm solid thickness, your overhang situation is absolutely fine as
long as the corbels are secure. However, this is weaker granite than most, so sending me a photo would be best so that I can see where the corbels were placed and how big they are.

Regarding the pits and seams, this is really unfortunate. Both of this issues are address in my “Homeowner’s Checklist” article on the Rock Blog. Unfortunately what you are describing is typical in granite like Pompeii because it is naturally highly fractured granite and the veins where the quartz meets the orthoclase tend to fill in with weak sediment over millions of years.

It is common now for overseas factories to apply a resin coating before shipping these colors in order to avoid this exact customer dissatisfaction. However, these slabs were either not resin coated or they just did not have enough to meet your satisfaction. The salesperson should have pointing this characteristic out to you during your slab selection process. There is a special product of which I am involved in the testing phase, which is coming out in about two months. It can be applied to the surface and will somewhat reduce the issue you are experience. No promise as it is still being tested, but keep in touch and I will let you know about it at the right time.

Regarding the seams, that is just bad fabrication planning. Sometimes it does not look to bad so I hope you can still enjoy the granite, but the fabricator should have matched the veining across the seam as best as possible. Matching color and veining across the seam is an industry standard. Personally, I would reject it and any local expert would say the same. I bet one of the seams could have been avoided as well.

Again, sorry to hear about your troubles. My best wishes to you and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids.

This video shows a very bad granite countertop installation.

Don’t let this happen to you!
View the “Home Owner’s Checklist” and other articles on The Rock Blog to prevent this from happening to you.

I recall discussing drainage grooves in the
granite to drain into the side of an undermount sink, at my first meeting with the fabricator. Now, at fabrication, he tells me they can not do this.
Frankly, I would have picked a different countertop material if he had made this clear when I was choosing granite over other options. I am quite sure we discussed this on our first run though, and before I got deeper into the process of picking the slabs and etc. Similarly, I have full bullnose on most countertops in my house. At the same early meeting, I asked for the same edge on the granite, but a 1/2 bullnose ended up in the bid. The edge detail is fairly easy to change, but this issue of the grooves is more difficult.

Am I asking for a truly non-standard item, or is this fabricator just not familiar with the process and unwilling to add a new service “just” for me?

I like the fabricator very much. He & his staff have been very helpful, but this has kinda set things back. We did discuss a lot of issues at that first meeting, but this has been on my list of basic wants for this kitchen upgrade for so long, that I am really surprised he could have missed it.

What should I expect?

Am I stuck with an ugly drainboard on the countertop, on top of my beautiful granite?

Eileen

Hello Eileen,

I must admit this is the first time I have been asked about this so I appreciate the interesting new issue you are facing. I am sorry for your trouble but the request you are asking of the granite provider is not very normal.

What you are describing is doable but extremely difficult and requires the right CNC machinery to perform the grooving and polishing work accurately. If the fabricator does not have a CNC machine with the right tooling, then it can not be done without an incredible amount of saw and hand work. In addition the polishing of the groves would be extremely time-consuming.

Most likely, you would not be happy with the result in the long run. The grooves would be prime mildew catchers and hard to keep clean. I can see your point that if you don’t have a dishwasher, you are stuck with a tile drying rack but that is what is most common.

Again, it can be done but it is expensive and there is that mildew issue that I mentioned. You could research other granite companies in your area to see what they can do. A list is available on www.GraniteStock.com.

Regarding the bullnose issue, fabricators rarely charge more for a full 1.5″ bullnose over a 1/2″ bullnose. It sounds like there was just a verbal mix-up and I hope you are being treated fairly about this.

I am very sorry about the late reply. Please send any follow-up questions that I can help you with.

Thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids.

We are building a new home, laundry room and half bath counter tops will be verde butterfly granite. Cabinets are cherry wood, walls will be a neutral tone. One 24″ x 36″ window in each room. Lighting-average. I am contemplating using bianco catalina or green tea 12″ granite floor tiles. Please send your opinion and/or other options in a 12″ granite floor tile.

Thanks, Kathy

Hello Kathy,

I see what you are trying to do with color but Bianco Catalina is too porous for floors. You could put a heavy sealer on it but I still would not use it because floors need heavy duty cleaning from time to time, especially in a laundry room.

If your cabinets were lighter, I would say use the same Verde Butterfly granite, on the floor. This would still be the best choice but the room would shrink up a bit.

One plan that would look beautiful would be to run tile a diagonal pattern with Verde Butterfly as one color along with another lighter color like Green Tea. This would be like a checkerboard pattern but set on a diagonal to the entry door.

This will make the room a little more upscale and less casual, but if you use a color like Green Tea with the Verde Butterfly, or similar, it would be very classy, warm and still homey. The other good feature is that grout joints disappear when you put dark color tiles next to light colored tiles. Using grout that matches the lighter tile is the secret! There is nothing better for overall appeal and maintenance than toning down grout joints in tile floors.

Otherwise, I like the Green Tea (as long as it is the one from Saudi Arabia). This is very durable granite and looks great on floors with Cherry Cabinets. If it is the one from China, it is too soft.

Let me know how it goes and thank you for support the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!

Hi Tom -

I’ve just discovered your blog and want to thank you immediately for sharing your knowledge and experience. I am also happy to make the requested donation and have done so!

My husband and I are renovating our kitchen and would appreciate your help on a granite color selection. The kitchen is 20′x12′. We’ve decided to go with a traditional L shaped layout with a center island measuring 94″ x 38″. The top of the island will be flat, withoput a cooktop or sink. It will be used for eating, food prep, homework(!), etc. We have stainless appliances, including a stainless chimney hood, and a stainless sink. Our cabinets are maple wth a coffee glaze, making them a bit darker than natural, but no where near a medium brown. Our floor is an 18×18 tile called Ceramica Magica Red. The color in the tiles is varied, from a sand to a brick/terra cotta red with some very minimal sreaks of slate gray. It’s a tuscan feel and they go well with the cabinets. The 18″ backsplash will be the same, varied tiles, set on the diagonal, with a greater concentration of the Ceramica Magica Sand tiles in a “frame” over the range.

We have 48″ pass trough over the sink, into the family room. We are planning a granite slab there, as well, 48″ wide and curving to 12″ at its maximum depth.
We have added 8 recessed lights and a light over the sink. There will be 2 pendants over the island, so lighting is not an issue. The north wall has 2 large windows and an exterior door with no cabinetry.
This is opposite the pass through to the family room. We’ve chosen Burnished Mahogany (a deep brick color) for the walls. One final note, all of the floors in the rest of the house are hard wood and have been stained a dark brown (50/50 ebony and mahogany). The floors in the family room and dining room can be seen from the kitchen.
We took cabinet and tile samples to the granite yard and narrowed our search down to three colors: Vyara Juparana, Juparana Sand and Yellow River. We like the long “streaks” of the Juparanas and prefer a granite with that kind of movement rather than a tight pattern.

Sorry for the exhaustive detail, but we’d love your opinion on a granite color selection. We are open to anything. If you think our color palete is completely wacky please say so! We haven’t painted the walls yet but are in love with the tile and cabinets.

Finally, there is no formal eating area in the kitchen. We will be using the island for casual meals. We will have a 12″ overhang on the far end and a 12″ overhang running the the 94″ length.

We’ve consulted with several contractors and have built a knee wall backing up the cabinets making up the island. This reduced the overhang to about 8″ on the long side.

I’ve reviewed your site about overhangs but have not come across anything on kneewalls. Do you think the kneewall is adequate support for the long side of the island? I assume we will need corbels for the short side of the island and the overhang into the family room. Have you worked with granite corbels or are we limited to those fashioned from wood?

Pat

Hello Pat,Thank you for giving me a very detailed description of your kitchen and adjacent room finishes. The tricky part here is to use granite that is dark enough to compliment the stainless and has movement that will not clash with the movement in your tile. Still a very dark granite would not be very homey here with such a big island.

The big island without any penetrations is sure to be a piece of art. By the way, it is much easier to do homework on medium colors because they reflect the least amount of glare. But which one? Well, Juparana Vyara definitely matches the colors temperature of your cabinets and glaze and even has the gray streaks to go with the floor streaks. However, stepping back and looking at your kitchen without the granite, adding Vyara just doesn’t do anything more. Again, is blends well, but you need to introduce more light terracotta and less brown/tan to complete this kitchen. A couple colors that I want to suggest are Verde Fire and Sunset Delicatus. Both of these vary so you might hate or love the first slabs that you look at, but a light Verde Fire or a dark Sunset Delicatus would be perfect with the tile, cabinets, stainless and the adjacent dark wood floors..

Again, Juparana Vyara is a good blend so if you really feel strong about that, then that is a good safe choice. I don’t like the crystal structure in Yellow River and Juparana Sand is not as good of a choice as Vyara.

Regarding corbels, just put a few short small wood corbels between the knee walls to support the bending forces if someone ever sits on it. Knee walls are the great support but I would not rely on knee walls alone with over a 36″ span between them. Put corbels at 24″ apart between them.

In conclusion, I hope you evaluate adding light terracotta (avoid pink), mixed with other natural color inclusions in the granite countertops. Try to avoid washing the room out with more brown and tan shades.

I hope this helped and thank you very much for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!

We are redoing our kitchen and are building a 122″ island. We would like the island to have glass bricks serving as a riser for our raised bar. The bar area will over hang about 12″. This overhang will have granite (Juparana Beach) on top of the glass bricks as well as on the counters. I have a couple of concerns:

The Glass bricks are 7 3/4″ square X 4″ wide. Will this raise the bar up too high? (I don’t know what the standard rise should be.)

Will the glass bricks be strong enough to support the granite?

Should the granite be supported with something on the overhang (corbels)?

Dorothy

Hello Dorothy,

Thank you for a very interesting entry. This is the first time that I have heard someone using glass block to support a raised granite countertop. First of all, the height is correct. The normal height of kitchen countertops is 36″. Raised upper countertops are usually 6″ higher at 42″. Given the 4″ block plus the thickness of the granite and subtop, the finished surface should be at just about the right height. The height is actually driven by the normal height of bar stools so stay as close to 42″ as possible.

Now the more difficult part of your installation is the support intended. Resting the granite on the 4″ wide glass block and extending it out about 8″ to make 12″ overall will not be adequate support. You need to create another form of support that is positively affixed to the cabinet and let the glass block be for décor only. Although the procedure is complicated, you can do this by having a steel support designed and bolted to the cabinet and then use 2″ wide block on both sides if the steel riser, instead of one 4″ block. Basically, you would sandwich a steel plate on both sides with glass block.

The vertical steel supports should be ¼” thick and have vertical legs that are about 3″ wide each, at about 12″ apart. These will need to be bolted in to your cabinet. At the top of theses vertical plates, you would need to have a large plate of 3/16″ steel welded to them at a 90 degree angle. This will be an adequate platform that the granite will sit on. Talk to your local granite company about this plan and see if they can do it for you.

If the information above seems way over your head, here is another option that might just accomplish your design intent. Have a wall built for the upper countertop which is typical to industry standards. This would be framed out of wood and a plywood subtop screwed to the top stud. After you are done with the drywall covering, install glass tile for the backsplash. There are beautiful glass tile options in sizes from 1″x1″ to 6″x6″. Here is an example of very low priced glass tile that is beautiful: http://www.daltileproducts.com/series.cfm?series=119.

I hope that I have helped and thank you for supporting The Rock Blog’s World Vision Kids.

Thank you for this helpful site! I am about to have a granite countertop installed in my kitchen. It will sit atop new base cabinets, and 18″ below new wall cabinets. The cabinets are properly secured to the walls. The cabinets have stickers warning to “remove shelves before installing countertop.” Is that a good idea for some reason related to installation, or is it unnecessary? Anne

Hello Anne,

Those stickers are usually for two purposes. First, you always want to remove the shelves before installing cabinet bases in order to make the cabinet lighter and easier to screw into the walls. Secondly, when installing the countertops, access to the bottom of the countertop is sometimes needed to fix the top and supports in place, especially at the sink. I can also confirm that that granite installers have been known to step on shelves to get leverage!

Basically, shelves and drawers should go in last just to keep them dent free and clean. I don’t see a major issue here, but basically the manufacturer wants you to have a nice beautiful product when you are done.

I’d like to send you a bottle of premium granite cleaner for your generous World Vision donation. It is anti-bacterial and great to use just before guest come over. For regular cleaning, just follow the simple cleaning and maintenance tips on the Blog. Send me your address and I will ship a bottle out to you.

My very best wishes!

We just had a granite countertop installed in the kitchen (stone name: Golden Beaches or it is sometimes called Persa Classico, I believe it is Italian). We have a 12″ overhang at the peninsula, which is 86″ long. When they came to template, they said that they were going to add steel rod supports for the overhang. After it was installed, I noticed that there were no steel rods. I inquired with the installer and he said that it was fine. I have been doing some Googling, and I am concerned about this overhang without supports. I cannot add corbels, because it would ruin the design (the back end of the peninsula has furniture panels that would look horrible with corbels. Is there a way to add the steel supports after installation? Or, is it really ‘OK’ as is?

Thank you, Barbara

Hello Barbara,

The installation you described with the 12″ granite overhang will crack and fall eventually. As you mentioned, it is 3/4″ thick with no corbel or steel angle support, and it does not even have embedded steel rod. I expect that gravity alone will stress this particular granite enough for it to crack along the cabinet edge. If you take a level and lay it on the counter, you may even see a 1/16″ sag already.

You should search the ‘overhang’ on my blog and read the comments that I have already written about cases like this. In particular of your situation, the Juparana Beach granite is a Class D granite, which only means that has more natural fissures; this, creating weaker flexural strength. Basically, it is more fragile to horizontal forces like gravity. I love the color and it complete fine when adequate supported.

The embedded steel would have at least stopped the granite from falling on the floor after it cracks. I don’t believe that embedded steel would have prevented it from cracking because the horizontal forces at a 12″ cantilever is too substantial from gravity and unnatural forces like heavy objects resting on it. I understand your problem with the decorative facing on your cabinets which prevent using corbel supports. This is not uncommon. In this case, heavy duty 1/4″ thick flat bar is embedded into the plywood substrate and place about 18 inches apart. These bars run from just behind the front edge of the granite bullnose to about 12″ back from the cabinet (into the cabinet area).

If your granite was recently installed, I would ask the fabricator to try to remove the granite without breaking it (might not be possible) and install the steel flat plates. If you don’t do this, your granite will eventually crack. Because it does not even have embedded steel, it will fall. Hopefully it will not crush someone’s toes or a small child’s head. Frankly, the installation you described is very hazardous. Sorry for the bad news.