[kelly]

Recently, I experienced the debilitating effects of Italian glass backsplash sticker shock. It's a long name for a disease, but there you go.

I was poking around the internets for new tile, and came across this at the Tile Shop:

Granite tile vs Granite slab countertops & tile generally 

It's $13.00 psqft. I quite like it.

Then, I found this, for $10 psqft, for a bathroom;

Granite tile vs Granite slab countertops & tile generally 

A style I have always loved.

So, I began thinking...tile. Do I need a slab countertop? I want darker granite anyway so I can use a very dark grout, the kind I like comes in tile...would I care? Tile would be about 1/5 the price- same stone, same characteristics.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[madp67]

It really is a personal choice. Grout joints on a countertop would drive me crazy. However, I know folks have them and are OK with it. I suffer from OCD when it comes to countertops and could not stand it. Would Pre fab be a possibility for you?

[kelly]

You're right on the money with what I'm thinking. We were assuming we would use a pre-fab slab, but I really feel that I need to check my assumptions. I can do slab, it's in the budget, it's more do I need to do slab? We're not using a large, figured stone, so not retaining the contiguous quality of a slab isn't that big an insult to the stone.

Generally, I don't like grout either, but I've never had dark grout, which I suspect would lower my irritation level.

Certainly, I don't want to walk into my kitchen and regret using tile, but I also want to make sure I'm spending $5,500 for a really good reason! (My husband just blinked at me when I brought this up with him. Then he went to go cut plywood).

Anybody who went with tile out there? Love? Hate? Don't notice?

[madp67]

I suspect hubbie will be cutting plywood for a good long while.

[kmcg]

I switched from 6" tile to slab granite and I think it's a big improvement, visually. Functionally, I never had a problem with the tile counters, so it was all about the look. But my pre-fab slab was very inexpensive - something like $250 per 8' slab, so it was cheaper than many of the options I was looking at. Even the larger granite tiles would have cost more, and been more of a pain to install. Can you find cheaper slab? Any chance you'll be selling the house before the slab countertop craze is over? I think buyers expect to see slab in a newly done kitchen if it's high-end-ish like yours will be.

Kathy

[kelly]

You guys are the voice of reason, thank you.

We're not moving unless something really changes in our lives. The look we're shooting for is very horizontal, so I can see your point.

Perhaps more research is in order on the cost of the pre-fab slab...

[crl414]

We had 12 x 12 blue pearl granite tile counters in our old place. They bugged the heck out of me.

Now, part of that was the hardness of granite, so that's the same with slab. But most of it was the grout. We had a dark grout so it didn't look grungy or anything. But it was harder to wipe clean and there was no smooth surface for rolling out pizza or cookie dough.

Visually, I thought they were just fine and would go that way for the price. But functionally, I really did not like them all that much.

So, I would not choose tile again. (We're doing butcher block for the perimeter and copper for the island this time.)

Good luck with your decision.

Catherine

[zeuss]

Have you heard of this company that make modular countertop tiles with a bullnose edge:
Benissimo Systems Granite Solutions


"Granite Solutions is solid A-grade granite and is based on a modular, tile format, to provide the dimensional depth of 1 ½ inch slab with an oversized bullnose edge."

[kelly]

That's a great idea! I wonder why they don't go the next step to eliminate the seam all the way down the length of the install and just make 25" (or whatever) by 24" tiles with the bull nose on the front??

I love copper and considered that as well. You've probably heard all the same things I did about it- dents, upkeep, etc. What type of copper are you going with on your island (treated, DIY, etc)? Love to hear about it! And definately see it- there are some copper fiends on this site. There's a copper fiend who owns this site, as a matter of fact.

[DesignDiva]

I had ubatuba granite 12x12 tiles when we did our mid-level remodel. I used black grout. According to all the folks at John Bridge, black grout does not exist, but that's only because they hate to work with it. Since I DIY'ed it, they were willing to admit it might possibly exist in the areas in which a DIYer might find it. It was quite messy to work with.

Now I have granite slab. I wouldn't necessarily have had an objection to tile again, with two exceptions: working with pastry and doing homework requires a smoother surface with no grout. The pastry I could have gotten around with a pastry board, and the homework with something hard under the paper, but since we had the budget we went with slab.

Another issue you will run into with tile is what to do with the edge. Bennissimo is one option, there's some metal tile trim that looks nice if you want that look; we went with plastic tile trim over oak molding on the front edge to match the existing cabinets. As with all wood around water, maintenance is essential. Had I known about waterlox I certainly would have used it. We didn't have any water damage, but there was care required to avoid it. Along the edges next to the range we went with plastic round tile trim, which melted of course. Duh.

And yet another issue you will run into is should you ever get water under your tile, your underlayment may very well heave. We used 3/4 ply with 1/2 in concrete board screwed in on top, and caulked everything. Still, over time you might find water finding it's way under your tile somewhere.

So those are the things to consider...we paid $10 SF for the tile and DIYed so the total outlay was something like $300. Our slab counters cost about $1500 IIRC, but all I had to do was open the door and say thank you and write a check.