Countertop Buying Guide
- Bring the Layout of your Kitchen Cabinets:
These layouts can be rough dimensions or the blueprints from your cabinet makers. This will help us prepare an estimate for your projects.
- Bring the Layout of your Bathroom and/or Space for Tile Design and Estimates:
If you want to get an estimate for your bathroom or any other space for tile supply, tile installation and demolition please bring rough dimensions. Take pictures of the space if possible. These will help us design your space and prepare you an estimate. Final numbers will be given after our actual visit anyway.
- Bring A Cabinet and/or a Flooring Sample:
Ideally you would like the natural stone or engineered stone color to compliment your kitchen cabinets and flooring, therefore it would be advisable to bring a cabinet and flooring sample with you to allow you to envision the whole look.
- Choosing your Material and Color:
Make a decision between Natural Stone and/or Engineered Stone. Know your material, visit our showroom and we will help you with all products and their maintenance. We have a remnant slab yard at the showroom location and we do offer over two hundred choices for your small projects.
- Choosing your Edge:
We offer a choice of edge profiles that will suit any taste and style.
- Choosing your Faucet:
Kitchens usually have a center or single hole, made for single-handle faucets. If you want an instant hot-water spout, a soap dispenser, a sprayer, etc. and you have a top mount sink you will need a model with the correct number of holes to accommodate all these. If you have an undermount sink you will need to have these accessories at the time of template so that the countertop can be drilled with the correct number and size of holes.
- Choosing your Sink:
Deciding which sink is best for you depends on how you use it, what your kitchen priorities are, where it will be located, how it will be installed.
Stainless steel:
The key to a good stainless sink is the gauge of the steel. The lower the gauge, the thicker and more durable it is likely to be. Look for 18 -gauge. It has extra chromium and is less susceptible to corrosion. Stainless is considered by many to be easy to clean, and if you drop a glass, it’s possible it won’t break. However, some people think stainless is cold and too easily dented.
Nickel, Copper and Brass:
Nickel is harder and stronger than copper and a hammered nickel finish is gorgeous. Copper over time ages and gets a dark patina like an old penny. It requires no maintenance. A copper sink should be pure copper and copper should be welded, not soldered. A soldered sink will turn black at the joints as it ages.
Porcelain enamel overcast iron:
This is one of the most durable, widely available options for kitchen sinks. The surface is ground glass melted and applied to the hot cast iron. This sink type is available for under mount, self-rimming, and tile-in installations. Keep in mind that if you decide to undermount your cast iron sink there will need to be a cradle built in the cabinet to hold the weight of the sink. Cast iron doesn’t retain heat particularly well.
Engineered materials:
Engineered sink materials include everything from solid surface. They are made of various rock including quartz, granite, or slate and combined with acrylic. They don’t scratch or stain easily and are not affected by heat. Acrylic sinks are also available. They may come with impressive warranties, but in the paper clip test, they scratch easily and quite badly.
Fireclay:
Fireclay sink is heavier and denser than regular clay, which makes it more durable than a standard china sink. It repels stains, requires no special cleaning, and is scratch resistant.
There are three mounting types: Undermount Sink, Drop-in Sink, Apron front (farmhouse) kitchen sink
- Other Technical Details:
New Construction:
If you are having new cabinets installed make sure that the cabinet installers know you are using natural stone countertops and specify that your cabinets need to be within 1/8″ of level, and make sure they use a large (six foot or longer) level to check the installation. Make sure they pay extra attention to spans across gaps (dishwashers, ranges, farmhouse sinks etc.). If the cabinets are not level, there will be a large amount of shimming required to get the natural stone level. This will create large unsightly gaps between the cabinets and natural stone that will have to be trimmed out by a carpenter.
Dishwashers:
Most dishwashers are screwed to the bottom of old wood/laminate or tile-on-wood countertops. We do not recommend drilling holes into stone close to the edge to put screws, so some other attachment method is needed. Solution is to use a “side-mount kit” which allows the dishwasher to be attached to the cabinets on either side of the opening. Check with your dishwasher manufacturer to see if these are available.
Bar-Tops:
A lot of homes have bar top areas which rest upon 4″ stud walls. Old bar countertops are usually supported on plywood which is screwed into the wall. With natural stone, you don’t really want the plywood left in place because you will be able to see the rough edge of the plywood. natural stone also weighs many times more than wood, Corian and even tile (up to 25 pounds per square foot), so it’s important that it is supported properly. Solutions to this challenge is using substantial, structural brackets or corbels of metal or wood.
Vanity Sinks:
Most bathroom vanity cabinets are only 21 inches deep compared to kitchen cabinets which are 24 inches deep. This means that there is only limited room for vanity sinks and you need to make sure the sink you choose will fit into a standard 21-inch cabinet
Cooktops:
Almost all cooktops have very specific and non-standard cutout dimensions. Have your cooktop ready before template.
Kitchen Sinks:
Some customers might think about saving some money and going with a drop-in sink, thinking that they will be able to upgrade to an undermount later. Virtually all drop-in sinks have a larger cutout than an undermount – so it is impossible to make the hole smaller later! You can sometimes go from an undermount to a drop-in but not the other way around.
Faucets:
There are some new fancy faucets on the market which require more room to operate. If you have a backsplash immediately behind your sink you need to check that your faucet will operate properly without banging your knuckles or hitting the backsplash.
Advantages of Choosing CREATIVE HABITATS as your Fabricator:
Certified Fabrication & Installation of Engineered Stones namely as Caesarstone, Silestone, Eco, Dekton, Cambria, Compaq, Aurea Stone, LG
Fabrication & Showroom & Slab Yard at the same location
Tile Showroom at the same location
Color Choices Over 200
Sink & Faucet Options & Supply
Slabs selection available at the yards listed on our website or any slab yard.
Option of picking out your actual slab.
Remnant yard at the same location.
License & Insurance
Template & Install by our crew
Fabrication with High technology PRUSSIANI CNC Waterjet
Both Countertop & Tile Installation
Demolition Services
Free Design Services
One Stop Shopping