Granite Vs Ceramic Tile Kitchen Countertop

[bbradsby]

A few thoughts...

All stone is porous to various degrees. So it must be sealed, and re-sealed periodically, or else it'll absorb fats, acids, wine stains & the like. Under residential use, any granite slabs should be strong enough if expertly cut, transported & installed. Pick your slabs for visual consistency, and have them marked, pulled right then and loaded onto your contractor's truck.

The solid porcelain 60x60 tiles are very strong if properly mud-set, without hollow spots in the setting bed. cracking occurs due to deflection, or or gaps in the substrate.

Pretty much any counter thickness stone will crack with some deflection [see above], and given the right geometry... corners, cut-outs for sinks; where the stresses can concentrate. It should be epoxied over a very solid substrate. I'd buy locally quarried stone for cost & least environmental impact.

Post pix of your finished project!

[citizen33]

If you go for ceramics consider using epoxy grout. It isn't cheap and needs to be applied by somebody competent, but it will make for a good, very strong surface. I used this with quarry tiles (i.e. thicker than the normal ceramic tile) about 10 years ago and have had no problems.

[Will1]

I Cannot imagine trying to compare ceramic tiles over granite when it comes to kitchen work tops,

The only reason someone would choose ceramic tiles would be money, and for that reason would properly choose cheap ceramic tiles.

I also have black granite with a gold speck, which I bought in Phuket town 5 years ago.

Costing about 2,000 baht a meter.

[citizen33]

I Cannot imagine trying to compare ceramic tiles over granite when it comes to kitchen work tops,

The only reason someone would choose ceramic tiles would be money, and for that reason would properly choose cheap ceramic tiles.

I also have black granite with a gold speck, which I bought in Phuket town 5 years ago.

Costing about 2,000 baht a meter.

In my case it was primarily cost. But other factors were ease of preparing cutouts (two sinks and a gas hob) and also matching the width and shape of the worktops to wooden units in a big kitchen.

[sezze]

Yes , the cost goes up a lot with special features . Stick to standard design and shape and granite will be more expensive but not that big amount ( irrelavent to price of total house , even a cheap one ) . I'm very sure that ceramics can look fine also , and so do other materials like Corian etc , but as a standard , granite is the best looking, easy available material for kitchen tops .

I'm still working on my 1st house , which is allready cheap . And i can imagine building a 2nd one later which will be even cheaper but still have granite and marble here and there is the house .

Edited January 6, 2011 by sezze

[jcon]

Look at the internet ... siamtak and silatak are have a extensive range in import and local granite and deliver anywhere in Thailand . Most places in Thailand have a couple of shops and you have to check the prices .

Granite is a famous product all over the world and many sources will tell you the qualities involved in each kind of granite offered .

The less seems and grout, the better kitchen counter works

If you can manage with 60x60 cm ceramics, it is very inexpensive

as for bacterias, nothing beats the blue alchohol. Inexpensive at pharmacies, and all dead, like a medical lab

I have black granites in my kitchens, and one disadvantage it needs huge amount of light

polished concrete is cool, but absorbes color like blood and red wine

Yes , standard polished concrete will absorb blood etc . For use on countertops you can seal it with a inpenetrable layer , leaving the concrete a littlebit shiny but very nice and industrial look .

IMHO granite is nr 1 , due to having all the qualities needed in a kitchen . Easy to clean , very strong against everything , available in large slabs , ultra smooth . Unless you are on a very very thight budget , i would allways take granite . It makes the kitchen look nice allready . It is worth the couple of 1000 baht extra . There are other areas in the house where you can save on , which in fact bring nothing ( wood floors , expensive tiles , design lights etc etc . ) .

I'm in the process of having a polished concrete countertop made.... is it urethane that they use to make that shiny layer? If not, does anybody know the Thai word for whatever is used to finish the concrete in that shiny industrial look mentioned above? Thanks in advance guys.

[sezze]

google it and you find plenty of answers . I just looked it up for 5 min , you seem to have plenty of options . Urethane might be one , wax also , acrylic seems to be used as well . I guess any kind of stone sealer will work , depending on look and finish you want .

[najman]

Granite costs about double the price but is definitely the better option. Edges are stronger, less seams and no plastic strips to add.

The best colours i've seen in thailand are black or white. Im pretty sure they are imported but the look great. Otherwise there is the local grey or purplish grey thats less expensive.

Using tiles is just a cost saving method but has many drawbacks. Although I have nice white 60cm x 60cm tiles as a bench top the plastic strip is annoying and likely to get damaged.

[jamora]

As many have said before, I would also choose granite over ceramics. It costs a bit more, but then again, you will use it almost every day for years to come. But personally, I prefer wood! When I did my kitchen last year, I fitted it with a 32mm golden teak. The price was around 4.500 baht per sqm, but wood has some properties that other materials can not match (in my opinion). It is a "softer" material, and it is more comfortable to work on, and it does not damage your kitchen knives. It is not as cold as stone, and again more comfy to work on. It does not crack and is fairly heat resistant (however, not as good as granite). If it gets scratches or marks, you can always sand it, and oil it and it will look and feel like new again. Lastly, we use hand made wine glasses, which are ultra thin, and they simply break to easily if you place then to hard on a granite top.

As a reminder, if you buy granite, i have experienced that many shops deliver them in 20-25mm of thickness here in Thailand, but many modern hobs require a minimum thickness of 28mm.

[sezze]

As many have said before, I would also choose granite over ceramics. It costs a bit more, but then again, you will use it almost every day for years to come. But personally, I prefer wood! When I did my kitchen last year, I fitted it with a 32mm golden teak. The price was around 4.500 baht per sqm, but wood has some properties that other materials can not match (in my opinion). It is a "softer" material, and it is more comfortable to work on, and it does not damage your kitchen knives. It is not as cold as stone, and again more comfy to work on. It does not crack and is fairly heat resistant (however, not as good as granite). If it gets scratches or marks, you can always sand it, and oil it and it will look and feel like new again. Lastly, we use hand made wine glasses, which are ultra thin, and they simply break to easily if you place then to hard on a granite top.

As a reminder, if you buy granite, i have experienced that many shops deliver them in 20-25mm of thickness here in Thailand, but many modern hobs require a minimum thickness of 28mm.

Yes wood does look extremely nice . It is however expensive and while the granite and tiles will damage your knives , with wood the knives will damage the wood . I'm also not sure about it's heat properties . I think if you place a burning hot wok on it it will leave some burnmarks ruining the look also . For cutting i prefer the Thai style which is the round wooden block . It get's damaged by the cutting and slashing but is replaced cheaply and is used inside or outside where you need it . For wineglasses , well you are right . I do not have these items so no problem here .

[sunholidaysun1]

I priced up granite in my local (CR) store today. The cheapest they had was 1000bht sqm and wasnt very nice colour wise. The good stuff that I did like was 2-4,000 bht sqm.

I have gone for a good quality tile also porcelain at 340 bht per sqm. There are only 4 tiles per pack, so you can see that they are 25cmsq in size, quite large and I will use very little in grout , just enough to seal them together, then they should look as near as possible to one piece.

The edges I have found a stainless steel strip the same as the plastic ones normally found, so should be ok. I will let you know.