Its not easy to remove granite, without damaging it. If you must do so, then get a professional, to remove it and to reinstall it. Be aware that even with a professional, you could have breakage, so make sure you can replace it, if that happens. Good Luck. enjoy your new home.

You're essentially performing a gut without destorying product and reusing? This will be tough, granite is heavy and fairly easy to break. The backsplash will need need to be removed, at least one row, and then you will have height issues with filling it back in. Your adding cabinets, will they match? Best bet is to save until you can afford to do the remodel the proper way rather than half-ass it and still need to redo the whole thing later on.

I have purchased cabinets from the original kitchen supplier - they have the same profile and colour still available. I think it's sounding like I need to do the kitchen work first and then just cut the tile around the cabinets after. Thanks for your help.

If this were my home/demo (and knowing what I know about the building/flooring industry) I would ASSUME the granite will be damaged...so I would have an extra $7K - $10K in reserve. I would ASSUME the cabinets will be damaged so I would have a reserve $$ amount set aside for that. I would ASSUME the backsplash will be damaged along with the damaged counter top so I would have a several hundred $$ and new tile picked out/on order for that.

And at that point, it would be easier/cheaper to do a gut and replace....because everything you assume to be replaced is the same as gutting the lower cabs and starting over.

I would leave this fully functional and attractive kitchen alone for at least a year. Once you have lived with it, you can then decide if it is working for you (or not). At that point you will have saved all the necessary THOUSANDS of dollars to have a lower-half redo.

Putting granite in is one thing...pulling it out successfully is a whole 'nother ball game. Please have a strong look at your finances before moving forward with your renovation...double check to see the replacement costs of all of the things that can be 'assumed-damage'.

i'm trying to do something similar (note not DIY) to the OP so apologies for jumping on the post - i want to update my kitchen by keeping perimeter cabinets but removing island and adding a new one. i also have tile that i'd like to replace with hardwood to match rest of house. Live wire - so based on your comment it's not a big deal for a professional to cut the tile around the cabinets? some of the GCs (albeit not flooring experts) ive had come out have balked at the idea of replacing it. also mentioned that because in my case it appears to be tile laid over an original wood floor so its raised up a bit. this would create a gap with all the baseboards that would need to be filled. any thoughts are appreciated! thanks!

Pulling and reinstalling granite isn't all that, depending on the installation. If I do it for you, you'll acknowledge that it may get broken and that you'll pay me to fix it if it does and you'll like it. Or I'll pass.