I had my kitchen remodeled about 3 years ago & have tile down to the granite - no problem! I like the look better (of course that is personal) but we also saved a tremendous amount of money forgoing the granite backsplash. A nice touch - the tiler inserted small diamond-shaped pieces of the granite randomly in the tile backsplash - tied everything together.

Kathlye,

I love the idea of some of the granite going through the tile...???!!! who cut the pieces of granite, I'm guessing you asked the fabricator to do that??? Do you have pictures??

Thanks for the great idea!

gina, most of us here have run tile down to the counter with no problems at all. The 4" strip of granite seems to have gone out of style. Many granite installers like doing it because they don't have to template the countertop quite as carefully, knowing their thick strip of granite will cover all of their bad cuts. If you look through the finished kitchen blog and most kitchen magazines, that 4" strip is absent. Caulk does not crack. More than likely, your friend's tile installer grouted the space between the countertops and the tile back splash and grout will crack in time. Caulk is the proper substance to use in that gap and it will cause you no problems at all.

I have been looking at all the pictures of finished kitchens and backsplashes and I agree, it looks so much nicer with the tile down to the counter. My fabricator did suggest having a granite backspash behind the sink (under the window ledge). She said they could bevel the edges and it would look nice. She also said granite to granite would be better behind the sink (where the splashing would occur) vs tile meeting granite. I think I am okay with that... would it look okay???

I think it would look a little odd and inconsistant. I also think it is very unnecessary. You have tile in a shower, right? So it would make no difference if the tile behind the sink gets splashed with water. As long as it is caulked between the tile and the granite, it won't leak.

There is absolutely no problem with tile behind a sink...water is NOT an issue if the tile is grouted properly & caulked b/w the tile & granite. For years people had tiled countertops all around the sink. People put in tile floors to help prevent water damage to floors. Lastly, as Ccoombs1 states, people tile showers all the time!

I also agree it would be jarring....to have a nice tiled backsplash and then the granite. Does your fabricator have pictures you can post here. Maybe it looks OK, but I'm very skeptical...

Your fabricator wants to (1) sell you more granite & installation of granite and (2) make it easier to fabricate b/c the more they can sell you on the idea of a granite piece the less careful/precise they have to be.

BTW...the same issue applies to that granite backsplash as tile...you still need to caulk properly b/w the two pieces of granite b/c it's two separate pieces...just like the tile! Only solid surface, laminate, and fabricated metal counters can have the backsplash & counter as one continuous piece w/o any seam b/w them at counter level. (There may be others, but they aren't granite and usually not tile!)

ginabmg,
Previous posters have indicated to you that your fabricator is giving your questionable advice. If you like the 4 inch granite backsplash then go with it but as others have said, it will date your kitchen.

Now the bigger issue is this: Why is your fabricator giving you such questionable advice? Obviously I don't know what your situation is but I'll be getting another fabricator because it doesn't appear to me this person knows what he or she is doing.