Help with decision on what type of granite to get

9 days ago

Hi! We are getting natural maple cabinets for our kitchen (which has old hardwood golden color floors) and trying to decide on granite type. feels important as we hope to live in this house forever and never redo kitchen! leaning toward Ubatuba as we don't want to have to seal much if ever (and cheaper). bake a lot of sourdough (think 500 degree cast iron on counter inadvertently sometimes!). but thinking also about typhoon bordeaux or verde butterfly or something else. opinions? we've had our current granite for over 20 years with no sealing and it has been fine (only redo-ing it because cheap MDF cabinets falling apart....old white porcelain sink (keeping), stainless silver refrig, black stove/microwave, nickel faucet in sink.

would love opinions, experiences, thoughts!

Featured Answer

badgergal

9 days ago

last modified: 9 days ago

Sorry to say but when you finally get some comments regarding new countertops, you will most likely be told that Ubatuba and Verde Butterfly are dated,

undesirable, and/or low end choices. These types of comments were being made 14+ years ago when I redid my kitchen. But guess what I did, I chose Verde Peacock for my kitchen. I had seen a sample piece of it and loved the blue/green and gold splotches if color in it. I wanted the gold color in the granite because I thought it looked good with my wood cabinets and my wood floor. When I first went to look at actual slabs of Verde Peacock though, they did not have the gold color in them. I was told that my sample was old and the newer slabs were slightly different. After looking at five stone yards, I finally found slabs that did have the gold in them. Here is a close up look at the Verde Peacock I have.

And a couple pictures of it with my cabinets.

Note also that I used a mosaic backsplash that was also passe even back then. I didn’t care. It was what I liked.

As you can see from a distance the countertop looks black but I am usually looking at it close up and love seeing the colors in it.

I have never sealed my countertop and it looks as good as the day it was installed. Even though it seems ”bullet proof” I never put hot pans on it.

Almost 15 years later, I still love my so called outdated countertops. So get what you love. Be sure too look at several slab yards though because slabs with the same name do vary from place to place.

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Comments (11)

Katya Gerwein
Original Author
9 days ago
Current kitchen photos in case that's helpful
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chispa
8 days ago
I would not place hot items on any counter material. You can't neglect physics! Thermal shock can happen on stone slabs, causing a crack, even if it was fine before.

Why take the risk when all you need to prevent a possible crack is a simple and cheap trivet?
Katya Gerwein thanked chispa
RedRyder
8 days ago
Take off one door and go shopping. Stone yards get new slabs all the time and something new might have just arrived. I drove around with a cabinet door for a while, stopping at every countertop place until I found 5 gorgeous slabs of Typhoon green granite. My laundry room and kitchen needed a lot of material and I was lucky that day. Know how many slabs you will need, too.
There are more countertop options out there than ever, but I am a fan of the durability of granite. Keep an open mind and you probably will find something fabulous.
Katya Gerwein thanked RedRyder
Clyde Kalvin
8 days ago
We have natural maple cabinets. We went with leathered steel gray granite. It has been bullet proof. We cook a lot. Lots of lemon juice used, red wine, tomato sauce etc and nothing has stained it. 8 years in and have not sealed it. I like uba tuba but I would get leathered instead of shiny polished. We live in a log cabin so it may be a different look than what you are going for.
Katya Gerwein thanked Clyde Kalvin
Katya Gerwein
Original Author
8 days ago
this is so gorgeous! thank you.
Katya Gerwein
Original Author
8 days ago
really appreciate all these comments so much. and verde peacock is beautiful too. never heard of it.
chinacatpeekin
8 days ago
Consider soapstone. It’s maintenance free, no need to oil or seal it. It feels wonderfully silky to the touch.
If you’re open to that idea, check M. Teixera - they are the best!
chinacatpeekin
7 days ago
I’ll add that soapstone is the most heat-resistant natural stone- safe for placing hot pots directly onto the countertop, if that’s what you’re looking for, and zero maintenance is required. As you probably know, it is the preferred countertop for chemistry labs- it’s pretty bulletproof, and beautiful, too.
RedRyder
7 days ago
Soapstone is a great idea. It would look stunning with maple cabinets.
s m
6 days ago
While soapstone does deal with heat better than most other types of counters, it is not immune to thermal shock.