Making Your Granite Purchase Effective And Cost-Efficient
Granite adds an amazing touch of class for any home, but it's no small investment. The strong, prominent slabs are not only valued for their hardness and ability to shine or grant texture, but for the masterwork that goes into cutting granite slabs for specific purposes. As you look through granite, consider a few design and placement choices that can make your initial budget and maintenance needs a little less problematic.
Keep The Cuts Simple With Kitchen Changes
Granite slab supplies are cut for the specific order, meaning that they're cut to fit your specific kitchen needs. The countertop, islands, and any other consoles and surfaces that need a granite touch will get a specific set of size changes and edges as needed.
The more your granite-cutting job deviates from a standard shape, the higher the cost. This may not be as drastic when it comes to curving and polishing edges, but if there are grooves, notches, and inward-pointing corners that need to be cut for fitting like a jigsaw into specific kitchen elements, additional care needs to be taken.
It's not just about having to go out of a specific routine. Thinner granite areas or protruding granite pieces will need additional supports and sealing to reduce cracking and breaking. A small knob that sticks out of the granite is a bigger break risk in transit and during installation, and there may be pressures in your kitchen design that could break a basic piece of granite later.
If at all possible, change your kitchen before changing the granite. This can be done with the help of granite suppliers by figuring out what kinds of strange cuts would be necessary, then deciding different ways of getting around the problem. Most homes with wooden cabinets and kitchen elements can solve this problem with additional lumber cuts and nails for a lot cheaper than an expensive slab-cutting request.
Avoid Thin Granite
It's tempting to get a cheaper granite surface by buying a thin slab, but like many cheaper solutions, you can run into more expensive problems later. The problem with thin granite surfaces around 3/4 inches or less is that they're easier to crack. Force that strikes any surface will be distributed throughout the surface, but a thinner surface will more likely give way as most of the force goes straight through.
A dropped knife, sharpener, or any hard objects in the kitchen can leave a crack through thinner slabs, but a 1 inch or thicker slab has more granite between the top and bottom surfaces to spread the load. There is such a thing as "too thick" as granite becomes too heavy for your current cabinetry and surfaces. A granite installation consultant can help you figure out what kind of load can be supported, along with pricing for heavier granite sizes.
Any granite type should be sealed with a laminate or other protective coating, but if you really want to go with the thinnest granite type possible, you must seal the surface. Added structural integrity can help prevent early cracks and breaks. Contact a granite countertops and kitchen surfaces professional to discuss other selection, installation, and maintenance tips. For more information, visit http://www.almagranite.biz.
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