Dear Tom, I am wondering what color backsplash and wall color would go well with Ubatuba granite. We have white cabinets with black hardware, ubatuba counters and are looking to paint our walls and install a backsplash, we were thinking something on the gold side. My husband wants red but I can’t picture this. There is a lot of green in the counters, so I am not sure which way to turn. Oh, yeah, and we have hardwood floors which are about to be stained darker if this helps at all. We could really use your help..

Thanks, Desiree Harrington

Hello Desiree,

I used Ubatuba many times with white cabinets. Usually, a lighter stained floor compliments this combination best, but just be sure that you tightly sealer the bottom of the cabinets to the floor. People love to look at the base of white cabinets for some reason and having a nice tight transition from the floor to the cabinet will make the contrast look clean and professionally installed. I know you did not ask about this, but I wanted to get that out of the way first.

Dark Ubatuba Granite with white cabinets makes for a very clean look. Adding the black hardware changed everything from simple to sophisticated. First of all, you can not do red in the splash, unless it is Christmas in your kitchen 365 days a year. You can go in a few directions, depending on your taste and style.

The tamest option is travertine tile in a 4″x4″ size, set on a diagonal and installed all the way up to the upper cabinets. The mixture of color tones in travertine will compliment the granite nicely. Travertine comes in shades from light ivory to a dark noce. You can use any of these as they will all looks great with Ubatuba Granite.

The next option is to install the same granite slab up to the cabinets. I would only suggest this if the room as good lighting. With dark granites like this, I also only recommend full height granite slab splashes with white cabinets. Otherwise, it is just too dark. Full slab granite on the splashes allows you to appreciate the granite in two directions, horizontally and vertically. You can only appreciate granite countertops when you are right on top of them. So consider how granite on splashes is nice to view from a distance.

Lastly, it is a little trendy, but glass tile would look amazing. Check out Board #8 and #9 on this website. http://www.sandhillind.com/conceptdesigns.asp#board8 I am really likely what these people are doing with designs – simple, yet sophisticated. There is even a little red in #9! Board #3 is also great with the black fixtures.

Regarding paint, it depends on the splash choice above. Pull a shade from the lightest color in the splash that you choose. Match paint to that. That will work very well. If you go with granite slab splashes, then a light yellow/gold would bring nice color into the room.

Thank you for supporting The Rock Blog’s World Vision children and best wishes!

Hi Tom, I need help choosing a granite color. My house is a traditional 20 yr old 2 story Georgian w/a medium sized kitchen w/9 ft ceilings. We are removing soffits, adding new lighting, adding more molding to the plain cabinets, and painting the cabinets an off-white w/a medium brown glaze. The floors are honey oak, the ovens and dishwasher are black and I’m getting a new SS or black frig. (depending upon granite choice) and an undermount SS sink. I have a small black butcher block island and black chairs in the adjoining eating area. I want to use a light colored subway tile backsplash. There’s only 1 window but light is ok. I really like the cottage style but I’ve had the white cabinets and dark countertops for 6 yrs. and it seems a little cold. I am looking at Baltic Brown, New Venetian Gold, and Santa Cecilia. The Baltic Brown is so similar to the laminate we’ve had for the past 6 years, I was maybe looking for a warmer, softer, different look, although it seems to look good with the cabinets. I am afraid of picking something too light and my kitchen will look washed out and pale. My husband would like a granite with some movement. Will any of these granites work and look good? Can you suggest any others in a moderate price range that would give us a great looking kitchen. Thank you for your help, your site has been very informative.

Thank you, Jeanne

Hello Jeanne,

You outlined décor is simple, traditional and enjoyable. You are right that the granite color is so important to bringing it all together. Although the color is right, Giallo Veneziano or Santa Cecelia would make your kitchen very mundane and not classy traditional. I would lump Baltic Brown in there too because it is so overused, but Baltic Brown would look very nice and fit the traditional decor. It is classy and beautiful with a Stainless sink and I would suggest the black refrigerator. The white cabinets and the honey oak floor allow you to go this dark with no fear of closing in the space. If you really like this granite, this is a good choice.

I can see why you are having trouble with selecting a color. Know that the absolute most important thing is that you bring in the floor color to the countertops. This is not the case with every kitchen but in a traditional Georgian style home, the kitchen should be balanced this way. Others might not be aware that Georgian architecture is always proportion and balanced, but they will feel that something is not right if the countertop was too light or too dark and if the floor tried to stand on its own.

That being said, Baltic Brown can only be right if the glaze in the cabinets match the darker rings in the Baltic Brown. The lighter rings should match the Honey Oak floors. Avoid the Baltic Brown slabs that have too much green in it.

The only other granite that I would suggest that is cost effective and would look great is Carioca Gold. You can see a swatch at www.GraniteStock.com but you really need to get a piece of this in your kitchen in order to appreciate it. It might look too simple, but it is radiant and deep when laying flat. It is gorgeous with stainless and black. My personal choice would be this granite for the overall décor and home style.

Be sure to use a flat edge detail for the granite. Also, the subway tile (which is a perfect design choice) should match the cabinet base color.

My best wishes!

We are in the process of redoing our kitchen. We have an open U-shaped kitchen with chickory glaze oak cabinets (cathedral style) and white appliances. The kitchen is divided into two areas: a food preparation area and an eat-in area. We are installing creamy beige tile floors. The wallpaper in the food preparation area is peach, green, hints of blue and gold on a cream background. The eat-in area has this same wallpaper on the top with a green background with just cream design on the bottom half of the walls. This kitchen is open to a cathedral family room which has peach/rose faux finished walls. I don’t want a red or pink based granite. We are keeping our kitchen very traditional. It’s not a large space. We only need about 56 sq. feet of granite for countertops and a desktop. The desk will be against a wall with the peach/rose faux finish. We would like to know whether we should go with a large or small pattern. We looked at many but are having trouble visualizing the final product and need your help with some granite colors to help us narrow down our choices.

Thanks! Janice

Hello Janice,

This is a tough one. I think you are having trouble visualizing how this will look because you have three elements that are not updated. These are wallpaper, faux finish, and the color peach. All three of these are outdated and make it hard to bring in a shiny new granite surface into the room to compliment them.

However, let’s say that the wall paper, the faux and the peach color are all going to stay. I want to suggest a color that will tame those elements and still allow you to remodel later to a completely new look.

What I know about chicory glaze cabinets is that they are a little dark. This makes it even tougher because dark granite with a tight pattern would be great. However, I want to suggest the completely opposite direction. Consider Juparana Colombo Granite on the countertops with white 3×6 tile on the splash set on a brick pattern. This is a beautiful granite from India and reasonable priced. When carefully selected, this granite has all the colors you mentioned but more toned down. I think you will love it. It also has some gray in its tight patterns which will reduce brightness of the reds and rose elsewhere. If you ever remove the wallpaper and the faux, you will still have the colors that you like, but in an updated granite countertop!

I recommended the white 3×6 tile for the full splash because it will look very clean and updated while not adding anymore color to the kitchen. White fixtures are best with this décor.

Thank you for supporting The Rock Blog’s World Vision children and I hope that I have helped!

I came upon your site while researching granite countertops. We also support World Vision so I thought that was great that you donate the $ to their organization.

My husband and I are considering granite countertops for our remodeling project. Unlike most of your askers, we are on a tight budget. We refaced our cabinets in a light “spice” maple which gives them just a hint of color.

We have white appliances and sink with a small island about 2 1/2′ by 4′ that will be painted white which has a stainless top. We are using brushed nickel pulls and a brushed nickel faucet. We have 5 kids and we are not fastidious about cleaning. There would be times I am sure, that something would be spilled without our being aware of it and left overnight. We were planning on doing 12 x 12 tiles, (not necessarily granite) due to cost but realtors, friends, and kitchen consultants are all saying not to and that we should do granite slabs. I do a lot of cooking and like it that granite has no grout and that I could put hot stuff on it unlike some of the other solid surface materials as well as it is beautiful. We have received bids of around $1800 for fabrication and installation which does not include a backsplash or the granite but does include a cutout for an undermount sink and drop in stovetop. We are looking for light to medium granite that is on the low end of the price spectrum… I found slabs at a yard for $10 a foot. We have an L shaped kitchen 8′ by 8 1/2′ and a 28″ counter area across from the longer side of the L.

My thinking of accent colors are sunflower yellows, warm orange, muted greens, and possibly muted reds….woodsy autumn colors and galvanized steel. We thought that if we did granite, we would do a tile backsplash up to the cabinets which is 18″. Otherwise we would do a 6″ slab granite backsplash unless it was better to do a granite tile backsplash all the way up. We plan to put in sheet vinyl for the flooring in a tile pattern although we have medium oak flooring throughout the rest of the house. Could you please advise us on granite that would fit our needs and ideas for how to do it most cost effectively. Also flooring colors to go along with the granite.

I have no problem with sealing granite but it should be one of the less maintenance types vs high maintenance.

We are not designer people so if our color scheme is not good, we have no problem with you telling us so.

Thank you for your help – Debbie

Hello Debbie

First, I would like to commend you on your support of World Vision. When people have a tight budget with there remodels and still give to help children, it tells a lot about character and heart.

Ok, so I feel that I can give you a good color recommendation based, on the décor you described, your color pallet preferences and low maintenance granite. Let me approach this in reverse order.

Granite is a natural rock as you know, but the characteristics of each color are made up of difference types and volume of minerals. Granite is defined has having at least 65% quartz and the remainder can be minerals that are a little softer like orthoclase of mica. I define low maintenance granite as having more quartz (harder) and a tighter molecular structure (less absorbent). Sometimes people think that Absolute Black granite is low maintenance because it has a tight molecular structure, but what they forget is that is has no quartz. Absolute Black is actually not granite at all.

Most of the granite colors from Saudi Arabia are what I consider low maintenance granite on the planet. They are high in quartz and have tight grain structures that almost require no sealing at all. Still, I would always seal granite with a low viscosity penetrating granite sealer like Miracle 511 Impregnator or equal.

The really good news is that there are several colors from Saudi Arabia that meet your pallet desire. These are Silver Sea Green, Violetta, Golden Leaf, and Tropical Brown.

You really should try to see all of these at your local supplier because they are so different. Still, I recommend the Golden Leaf most of all because of the soft organic color tones you mentioned. The Violetta is very strong and you will either love it or hate it right away. If you did not have white cabinets, I would say it is too dark. The Silver Sea Green is very pretty and might be a perfect match too. Tropical Brown is very popular and handsome but does not mix with the organic soft tones like the other colors.

One of these will be perfect and you will truly appreciate the low maintenance. Regarding costs, I need to know where you are located and I will hunt through our network of hundreds of providers to see who can help you best. Also, send me the size of each countertop and I will calculate how many slabs you need. Perhaps it is best to go with only a 6″ splash if a full splash requires purchasing another slab.

Once you decide the color you want and know how many slabs you need, it will be must easier to call around to see of anyone has remnants or orphan slabs at a discount.

Also, I would like to add one comment about safety. I am about to post an article about sharp edges in home that have children. Remember to round those outside corners a little. They can really hurt the 3 year-olds!

Best wishes!

We are completely remodeling out kitchen. After many months, we finally picked out cabinets, cherry with honey finish and brown glaze (medium brown color) We need help picking out a granite and paint color. Our kitchen is long and narrow, 27′ by 14′ with eating area on one end. We have a large southern exposure window in eating area, and a western exposure sliding glass door. Plenty of light! There are 3 parallel cabinet/countertop areas. The west wall has sink, oven, dishwasher, frig. The opposite wall is cabinets/pantry with 5′ counter top. In between these two walls is a 9′ by 3′ island with black cooktop. The frig and oven are stainless, the dishwasher will have cabinet panal. We are considering a black sink, but haven’t purchased yet. We are also still deciding on floor, probably a neutral, cream/beige tile. In reading your answers, I’m wondering if tan brown or giallo veneziano would be good choices? I don’t want anything too dark, as I’ve heard complaints that it is hard to keep clean looking. Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks, Mary

Hello Mary,

In reading your kitchen description, I am definitely picturing light colored granite. The Southern light exposure just makes dark granites too hot in the day time, and at night the granite picks up a lot of reflection from nearby windows. It can be really annoying at night with dark granite and windows that reflect light.

Also, your cabinet colors and black cooktop would go well with a black sink. I would introduce a black sink in the décor to balance out the cooktop. You can use stainless faucet fixtures to tie the dishwasher and refrigeration in to make it organized.

You really do have quite a few choices for granite that will blend well. I would not recommend the Tan Brown for reasons stated above and the Giallo Veneziano is too… 2002! Consider the following three colors.

Arandis Granite. This is beautiful granite with an elegant style but still very warm and homey. It has a soft color matrix which will balance out the stronger black and stainless accents. If you use a simple edge detail, it will be more casual. If you want a more elegant feel but not over the top, go with a Roman OG edge detail. (Check www.HomeGranite.com for photo examples of this edge choice and others.)

Kodiac (Geriba) Granite. This is will be brighter and more fun but still has the soft oyster looking accents that really deliver a stunning look in a kitchen. The colors are perfect with your décor.Ok, the last one here is to bring more color into your décor but will be also look very nice. You will either love it or hate it. Juparana Crema Mara Granite has a beautiful movement filled with grays, creams, garnet and a little black. Your island will look fantastic! It is a cooler color over all and will go very well with the amount of natural light that you have.

Regarding the floor and the paint, just keep in the same tone as your cabinets but go light. Stay away from white or bone. Look at gold paint charts select a very very light color tone in that family. Match that to tile and paint.

My very best wishes and I hope that I have help!

I’ve read your excellent recommendations and am in need of your advice. I’m interested in granite countertops for my kitchen and half-bath to replace my laminate but am concerned about the look as well as porousness-staining, maintenance, UV & acid resistance, etc.

My contemporary L-shaped kitchen with an island and a desk area and my bath have white cabinets, white appliances, light blue walls, grey/white 8-inch shiny tile backsplash, light wood-color laminate floor in rose ash, and a few windows in adjoining eating area, no windows in bath. I want to keep the rooms bright. I’m considering Blue Eyes for my kitchen (85 sq. ft) and Blue Ice for my bath counter. What is your opinion and do you have any other color recommendations? I dislike browns and would like something with more shiny pearl stone (like the pearl in blue pearl but am concerned that is too dark/black looking or that I’ll tire of it). I want something that I’ll like for 20+ years and will be easy to decorate around (if I change cabinet or wall colors).

Also, do you recommend permanently sealing these with a 15-year sealer (Dry Treat?). Some experts say yes, some say no because it ruins the finish. Would these granites take a waterfall/demi-bullnose or ogee edge well and do they chip easily? Do you prefer keeping the same edge throughout a kitchen or doing the island in something different (and what looks good together)? I will have a 12” overhang in the kitchen peninsula (the 42” side x 96”) and was told both that I need/as well as don’t need corbels.

Will the granite change color/darken over time (due to sun, etc., since my parents’ grey sardio? granite became more black except behind counter appliances)? If I go with Blue Eyes, the only sink I found that I like (don’t like white or stainless steel) is an “Indian Grass” color drop-in sink by Swanstone with a brushed chrome faucet. The sink isn’t as shiny as the granite and I’m hoping it will look OK. I also don’t want to redo my existing tile backsplash—but some installers say they can’t get the laminate out without breaking tiles (I have no replacements) while another said he could.

I know I have a lot of questions and really need your advice on colors, properties, disadvantages, sink, tile, etc.

Thanks, Suzanne

Hello Suzanne,

I can see you like blue and since that is primary color it goes very well with white. I would stick with that theme. There are some pretty bold blues like Blue Bahia, Azul Do Mar, and Blue Louise, but to lighten and ‘lift’ you kitchen and bath, you want to go with a more steel or ocean blue.

The Blue Eyes from Canada is really perfect for this and allow you to even cross over to light burgundy wall paint or rust color, should you ever want to change to a more eclectic décor. A couple other very good colors that brighten a room will white cabinets and appliances are Ascas Blue and Blue Aguabolena.

At this time, I would not recommend any other sealer except 511 Impregnator made by Miracle Sealants for these granites. You need a low viscosity penetrating sealer to react properly with the minerals in blue colored granite. It would be a little technical to explain, but this is what I recommend.

For edge details, if you like the fancy multi-curved edge, then go for it because these stones show them well. However, you mentioned a contemporary style kitchen, so this would not match that décor. You would need to reduce the edge treatment to a half bullnose, dupont or even a straight edge with eased corners. Consider the detail in your cabinet front panels and use them as a guideline for the type of granite edge detail. Keep the granite edge detail consistent throughout.

Regarding overhangs, I have written a bunch of responses about overhangs, so be sure to search the keyword “overhang” here for more information. Basically, if your granite is 3cm thick, you are taking a chance with not using corbels but it won’t break from gravity alone. If you sit on it or put a heavy object on it, it might break. If your granite is 2cm (3/4″) thick, you need corbels or steel supports. Ask your local installer about these options.

Regarding granite changing color, there are some granite colors that oxidize and change color from UV rays. The blues we discussed are not affected by this specifically, but if part of your kitchen is directly in the sun, if could change if a resin was applied at the overseas factory. I would not worry about except for dark colored green granite.

Regarding the Indian Grass colored sink by Swanstone, sorry, no. This would look horrible. I’m just telling it like it is. You need to go with a white sink and you can mix it up with a faucet color of your choice. Faucets are becoming more like a piece of art, so you can do whatever you want with them. The sink should match something or else it will look like you picked it up a yard sale to save money.

Regarding your tile splash, I would go with the person that says he can save the tile. It can be done but it is a lot of work. He might have to pull off the first row, but he could put it back on. It is not easy but it is possible. The tile color is right, so if you love it, keep it. Don’t save it to save money, because that would be ridiculous given the choice of Blue Eyes or other Blue granite choices. I can totally understand wanting to keep something that you have loved as a carry over to the new décor.

Best wishes!

Tom-

Talk about stress!! We are just starting to build a new home with the kitchen as the center of the house opening to the great room and breakfast room with a sun room visible through a 4′ French door opening. Kitchen has a counter on 2 sides and a 4×6′ island in the center with the stove, fridge and baking center on the opposing walls. We thought of honey colored Bamboo floors throughout the house except for the sunroom which is up for grabs, paprika cherry with black coffee glaze cabinets, nickel handles and pulls, and stainless appliances. Anything is up for grabs except the stainless steel. We looked at Verde Fire for the granite on the island, Indian Black for the counters, with a curve and then a straight bullnose edge so as not to overwhelm. We found some subway, shiny and slightly rounded tile in a soft green with brown/grey undertones that we thought we could use for the back splash which matches the Verde Fire green which we would install in a vertical position.

After looking at it a 100 times, nothing looks good at all. What with you do given the same scenario–nothing is definite except for the stainless appliances. Oh yah, and then there is the issue of what to use on the floor in the sunroom which opens to the pool so has to be water resistant. House tends to be craftsman/traditional in a very casual way.

Hello Susie,

Seldom do I hear a client want to use Verde Fire because it is so outside the normal kitchen style pallet. I hear about it on fireplaces and bathroom vanities most often. I think this is because this stone might not give that good kitchen sterile feeling like other true tone granite colors. Still, I love that you are considering it and I just want to make some suggestion around it for you to think about.

I like the idea of Verde Fire for an island accent with the black glazed cherry cabinets. It would be too much to have it throughout but what an awesome look as an accent. I don’t like Indian Black Granite countertops because they always show dust and finger prints and they never show ants! I am pretty biased about this so if you really love the black, just be prepared to deal with the continuous maintenance. I want you to consider a very dark Verde Ubatuba for the perimeter countertops. As I have mentioned elsewhere on my blog, Dark Ubatuba Granite is the best color with stainless. If you find some very dark slabs, this will compliment the Verde Fire and the subway tile.

Way to go on the subway tile color! The color you described sound perfect but I would not go vertical on the layout unless you are running it all the way to the ceiling at some area. Normally, subway tile runs horizontally in a brick pattern but I have seen it vertically when there is an area that goes to the ceiling to tie in the long vertical intent. I think this is a good rule to follow and feels accurately planned out.

The bamboo floor sounds perfect as well but I would suggest a lighter more natural color without much variation. Perhaps this is what you meant but I wasn’t sure.

I hope this helps! Best wishes and please send a photo of this kitchen when it is done.

Hi Tom -

We also are in the process of remodeling our kitchen and need some help. Our cabinets are a medium oak (Provincial Stain #211) and we would like to use granite on our countertops and island. We are not sure if we want to go a light color or dark color granite (not black or anything too gold). We have stainless steel/black appliances, refrigerator is cream color and our flooring is an off-white vinyl with a light brown outline of a square. Our walls are painted a light gold color and the window frames are a light tan color. We have lots of light in the kitchen and it is open to the family room which has many windows and the facing wall color is Copper Mountain by Benjamin Moore. We are planning for a 6″ granite back splash and then another back splash to go up under the cabinets and would appreciate any ideas in this department also. There are so many colors of granite that I’m getting totally confused after reading your articles on other granite issues. Have considered Juparana Bordeaux, Giallo Veneziano, Kasmir Gold. Please help — we want the kitchen to be warm and pop when you see it for resale value. Looking forward to your suggestions that would compliment our cabinets/color scheme.

Thanks again.

Hello Sandi,

You actually have a lot of colors going on in your kitchen area but none of them give the pop you are looking for. Juparana Bordeaux would give a pop, but it would not be complimented with the other colors and would most likely pop the prospective buyers right on to the next ‘For Sale’ sign. Giallo Veneziano is very safe, but no wow factor there.

The Kashmir Gold is really the best choice you mentioned as long as the slabs you choose don’t have any orange. Hold a white tile up to them to check if you see orange. The flowing veining is can be really nice if you choose the right slabs.

However, I really think you should go even darker to set of the stainless steel. Still, you have the cream refrigerator to contend with so I want to recommend Chocolate Beaches Granite. If you can not find it, select Sucury Granite with some white/cream veins. These would be perfect choices and since you have a lot of light, I’d recommend running the granite full up to the cabinets.

My very best wishes

Hello Tom-

I hope you can help me! I have been agonizing over the granite choice for my kitchen. I have a small space and have selected Brookhaven cabinets in Lace which is a warm white. My floors are red oak with a medium honey finish. The cabinet style is shaker with nickel bin pull handles and I have selected stainless steel appliances.

My kitchen and living areas are connected with HW floors throughout. Walls are light tan with white trim and accents.

I was initially overwelmed by the colors and patterns of granite and selected something “neutral” and decided on Penta Gold… but now that the cabinets have been installed I am concerned about a lack of color and richness.

I love Verde Butterfly granite but am concerned that the dark color will be too much contrast/overpowering to the small space.

I’d love to get your thoughts on these two granites and any other suggestions or advice you have for pulling the white cabinets, wood floor and stainless together.

Hello Kristy,

First of all, I love warm white cabinets with medium honey finish floors. It is so classy, yet warm and inviting. I think this combination proves that subtleness in tone and temperature of colors can make all the difference.

That being said, I don’t like Butterfly Green as it is just too cold and loud. I like the Penta Gold choice as it has a nice tight movement that will go with your floors and the color tone is perfect. If you chose white appliance I would say the overall kitchen is a little colorless, but when you mixed in the stainless and nickel handles, the setting is perfect to add whatever colored towels or colored counter accessories that you want as the seasons change and holidays come around.

However, you could go with a darker rich brown with cream tones as well. Take a look at Juparana Bronze and Juparana Golden Persa. Another beautiful lighter color that would look great with the nickel is Taupe Granite. Find slabs of these near you and see if any of them ‘move’ you.

Best wishes to you!

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.