anyone have a silestone countertop? our painting project is turning into a complete renovation. I like granite but it looks like a pain in the neck to care for and it's not stain proof or very sanitary.

By Fraggle on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 03:59 pm:

My dad has it for his countertop-they love it. I think it is really nice looking-I actually though they had granite when I first saw it.

We have the same problem around here when we start a project-we were just going to paint our bathroom-but it ended up being a complete bathroom remodel! Now, we just painted our kitchen (and removed some wallpaper) but the floors now look horrible-we are having tile installed once the weather warms up

By Eve on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 04:01 pm:

I've never heard of silestone before. Is it like a Swanstone?

We have granite and it's SUPER easy to clean. It is sealed and doesn't get stained. I've spilt everything you can think of on it and nothing shows. It wipes up very easily. You can set hot pans on it. I cut on it a lot. I just wipe it up with hot water and soap, like any other counter. The only thing they told us, was not to use Windex on it.

I can see if it wasn't sealed. It is a pourous surface. They said if we left something, like olive oil on it for weeks, then it would stain. But, what are the chances of that? We roll dough out onto it. You name it, we've done it.

We also didn't pick a light color. We chose something darker, it's also speckled, so nothing would show anyway. Maybe that makes a difference? I can tell you that, it's SUPER easy to clean!

If we had a kitchen to do over again, we would choose granite again. I hope that helps.

By Colette on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 06:09 pm:

thanks! Eve, silestone is pressed quartz, it looks like granite, feels like granite, but doesnt require the maintenance that granite does and it does not stain. Dupont makes another brand of it called zodiaq, I don't know what we are going with. I like granite a lot, did you have to seal it or did it come sealed?

By Mcrosby57 on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 08:01 pm:

How does all this compare to Corian? Our kitchen is due, too. All the appliances have been replace except the stove. We are going to refinish the cabinets, put in hardwood floors, and take out the tile on the counter tops. I found that I HATE tile on kitchen counters. The uneven surface is a pain to wipe up. The grout has to be sealed with silicone, which is a project in itself, and then it gets stain and mildewed any way. Tiles also are the cause for my having to replace 1/2 my dishes since they crack and chip on the tile. I hardly ever use my find china or crystal for fear of it breaking or chipping.

Corian is very expensive but you can get a one piece counter and sink, an idea I love. You can't put hot pans on it, I know, but small price for the clean up ease and no more chipping.

Anyone have it?

Mary

By Colette on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 10:36 pm:

We looked at corian, but I convinced dh to go w/granite. Corian is nice though, and has no seams.

By Eve on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 09:02 am:

You know Corian and Granite are pretty close in price. I think Corian has to be sealed on a regular basis as well. We have good friends who have Corian and it has stains and burns. Hope that helps.

Ok, Colette, I know what you are talking about now. We looked at so much, that it's hard to remember. LOL!

They seal the granite for you. So, when they come to install it, it's all ready to go. We have one seam that they did here. It's right next to my sink, so you can't even tell.

We love it. I can't say enough good things about it. Colette, we also got ours on sale. We got about 10% off. Still, not that much of a savings, but it paid for our undermounted stainless sink. No yucky sink rim to get dirty. Just wipe the crumbs right into the sink. I would recommend that too!

It's actually time we reseal ours. Thanks for the reminder.