I’ve used some larger granite ones upside down as stepping stones in the garden. But quartz is degraded by UV, and isn’t homeowner friendly to smooth over edges, or cut. If they aren’t big enough to pay the fabricator to cut into an end table, they end up just being toe stubbers that end up in the trash eventually.

What does reasonably big mean, and why are they being trashed?

At one point I kept a sink-cutout-sized piece of granite in my oven. It worked well as some thermal mass. But dang, it was HEAVY.

Lol Pam.. for a while I had a marble sink cutout in my kitchen for pastry and chocolate, it was very nice, thick, just the right size and shape- and very heavy. Turned out I wasn't that much of a dedicated sweet tooth to warrant the slab, heh :)

I think quartz countertops are the manmade bonded stuff though? And not quartzite, which is the real stone in countertops. Probably not so good for heating or heat sinking. And I'm wondering if the stuff is something like old counters being pulled out, or leftover new chunks from a project? And sizes- sink cutout sizes are nice, even for the occasional cheeseboard or for a lifter plate under a floor houseplant.

But a yanked out old countertop thats big might be better off as stepping stone material. Or if it can be cut into strips, edging for beds maybe. Even if it isn't UV happy, heck, it's going to be recycled into the yard anyway- maybe a clear coat of UV resistant paint would help there.

If you ever want to replace your sink, I suggest you keep a countertop remnant. 6" x 36" or so.

We had a piece of granite from our counters in our old house. It sat in our garage for 14 years. We hauled it to our rental house we were staying in until our new house was built. We used it to make a top for a cart. We use the cart on our deck next to our grill.

14 years. That’s tenacity!

I have a few pieces of quartz (samples that I had brought home) out in the flowerbeds just as little stepping stones. They've been out there nearly 3 years and look fine. It's possible that they may have faded, but honestly I can't tell, (and really would not care LOL).

This thread has got me thinking... if a secondary business of counter people isn't already recycling pulled stone for trash to yard service.. it should be implemented.

I get tossing some other counter materials.. but gosh, let that stone stuff get a second life. A stone crusher to fine up smaller bits for folks that like that too. Or more.

Is "reasonably big" bigger or smaller than "unreasonably big"??

I've seen many granite, quartz, stone pieces at Habitat for Humanity. Some really pretty. I've always wished I had some clever way to cut them, use for garden seats, table tops something other than just leave them there.

I too have a piece of granite in my garage left from my counter fabrication. I thought I was going to make a side table top or something like that from it. But that became a project that I never got around to. Now it is just clutter in my garage. I wish I'd had the fabricator keep it. I will never keep a remnant again.

I had the fabricator polish my marble sink cutout. It’s on the counter between the sink and stove. We make our Melita coffee on it, to protect the counter from staining.

Until Joe tells us how big we are all in the dark.

Roughly 30x26

Not sure what you could use it for other than a top for a rolling cart maybe. But you'd have to have the edges rounded by a fabricator. Either that or cut them up into pieces and throw them into the garden bed as stepping stones.

We did not have the edges rounded on our piece of granite. Built the top with wood to fit the piece of granite. Just dropped it in.

How much would a fabricator charge to turn the pieces into a trivet or cutting board? I am going to have a sink shaped piece in the near future I suppose. It would be nice to do something useful with it.

The problem with making cutting boards or trivets is that they are so heavy. Maybe if it were a cutting board that is left out it wouldn't be an issue.

Definitely NOT a cutting board.

Inlay piece in a coffee or patio table

“ How much would a fabricator charge to turn the pieces into a trivet or cutting board?”

A stone remnant should not be turned into a cutting board. It will destroy your knives.

The cutouts from my former granite kitchen countertop became platforms on which I put my outdoor garbage can and recylcle can. Much cleaner for the wheels than letting them get muddy in the side yard.

" The problem with making cutting boards or trivets is that they are so heavy. Maybe if it were a cutting board that is left out it wouldn't be an issue. "

No - stone and/or glass surfaces are completely inappropriate surfaces for a cutting board. Unless you don't care anything about dulling your knives of course.

https://foodal.com/kitchen/knives-cutting-boards-kitchen-shears/cutting-boards/knife-friendly-hygienic/

That's what I thought. About a cutting board, I mean. But someone mentioned it...but what about a trivet - or something? That's a perfectly nice piece of granite that could be turned into something?

I saw another thread where someone had the remnants cut into circles and glued them onto candle holders to make cake stands.

We had a piece of leftover granite (about 4' x 4.5') in our side yard since remodeling the kitchen in 2009; our pool man saw it last month and offered to buy it from us, so we agreed on a very nominal fee (he insisted). SOLD, and all are happy...his wife is getting an outdoor table.

I’ve used our extra pieces of granite, corian, and marble tiles for trivets, cutting boards and end table tops. Also extra protection on our tub surround where we put our shampoo and so on. We made some christmas ornaments with leftover Mexican tiles crazy glued with ribbon and we put little felt dots on the bottom of tiles for drink coasters.