Well, looks like we have one consumer that wasn't buffaloed by the personal attacks, and more remarkably, she had the guts to stand up for her right to know about any risks. Paulines, Bill Vincents, and a few others seem to like to proclaim each others crediblity on this issue. How convenient. Paulines, I wouldn't put myself in the same leauge as Bill, he no doubt is a very talented tile guy, but doens't know much about radiation or granite. Like you, he has a reputation to uphold, and like you he participated in the installation of a lot of granite over the years. Opposition to this testing effort is all about the money and loss of reputation. After all, what expert wants the public to find out that they really didn't know everything about what they were selling or installing? Paulines want to whine about baselines, but measurements are measurements. The simple fact is that today I was measuring a slab that averaged around 5 mR/hr and had hot spots over 10 mR/hr. Think about that, a chest xray is around 20 mR... two hours on a hot spot or four hours just using the kitchen countertop gives you the same exposure. There is a difference though, the chest X ray is used to protect your health, there is public good in exchange for the exposure. A hot granite countertop is not any prettier than a low level one of the same type. Where is the benefit? And Paulines, Dr. Llope and I stay in touch constantly either through email or the rad forum I got him hooked on. The guy has become a friend of mine and I can tell you that people like you, Kevin, Bill, and Sue are the ones that made him stop contributing. He won't likely come back till comments like your side makes on a constant basis are stopped. Bill, I still see you as misguided, but basically a decent man on the wrong side from lack of information. Problem is is that you refuse to consider any info but what fits your world view, so there is no help for it. Split hairs if you must, but installing and selling isn't much different. I'm not knocking you for what you didn't know before, but from last year on, you should have educated yourself on the issues instead of spending the time and effort to try to squash the discussion. Bill, Geiger counters are go/no go devices. They won't give you a extremely accurate reading because of the inefficiencies of the small units, but they are designed to be portable and fast. Designed for the aftermath of a nuclear war, testing food and water for safety didn't require exact levels, just good or bad. That is what they can do for the fabricator. The EPA stance is not up for interpetation. Prior to mid May, they said not to worry about radiation or radon from a granite countertop. Now they say they don't really know, that some granite can have high levels, that if you have a granite countertop, you ought to test your home for Radon. That is not a 180 but it is a 150 degree turn. Once Dr. Llope gets done testing and publishing, the other 30 degee turn will happen. NORM regulations are in 33 states, from 5 uR/hr to 30 uR/hr, and I can take any fool that still wants to debate to a slab yard and find two dozen granite types that will be higher than the highest state NORM level. Lisagraz, thank you for having the courage to stand up to the bullies. There are plenty of safe granites out there, I have reported on some on both here and stone sites, but the other side doesn't dare admit that or they would lose their only effective weapon against the testing effort, using personal attacks to attempt to destroy the messanger. You see that Revans1 and I are way closer on the facts than the others, but he can't admit it or the others will stop listening to him as well. The facts are that somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of all granites are a problem. Revans1 gets this, spent time educating himself on the issues, and is now on the opposite side he was last year. It is a wonder the others haven't attacked him more than they have already. arda, will you ever understand that that cartoon is about electomagnetic radiation not ionizing radiation? Electromagnetic has not been proven dangerous, a small fringe thinks so, but it hasen't been proven. But today I worked cutting samples from a top that was 40 times background radiation, and BEIR VII said that even background radiation caused some cancers. It is open and shut on that issue. Luvmyguys, it isn't a mess to the stoners, they want this to be a mess. They will continue to smear anyone that dares mention the issue and post distortions along with their personal attacks. It is the only weapon they have cause the facts are against them. Bill, again microwaves are not ionizing radiation. Saying that they equate to ionizing radiation from a granite countertop is just plain ignorant. And as always, your argument is that it is too expensive to make sure granite is safe, better to let the consumers take the risk than the stone shops lose a few bucks. And some quarries are testing now, and some importers. All the chinese importers brag about their class A granite rating. Really, does anyone that has read the posts believe that one side of this debate is not only endangering consumers for personal gain, but has resorted to personal attack and outright lies despite haveing seen data to the contrary? And don't think for a minute that when this thread is gone that will be the end of it. People will continue to ask questions, are you going to riducle all of them?

"Now I am planning to test my house for Radon. I don't have a basement but the townhouse was built on a concrete slab. Where do you suggest I test? And since this is a 2 level townhouse, do I test upstairs as well as on the 1st floor?" On what level are the entranceways to the townhome? If they are on the first level, I would check both the first and second level. This is due to constant ventilation of the first floor area when opening and closing the doors, so the upper level may actually have a higher radon content. If the doors are on the second level, as I've seen sometimes, then checking the lowest living area should be sufficient. As for the granite, this is some of what I've found: Granite is a normal, geological source of radiation in the natural environment. All of the minerals in granite contain some radioactive elements: the white or pink feldspars contain potassium-40 (which is also present in bananas and kiwis, as well as salt substitutes), the black biotites and horn-blendes contain potassium-40, uranium ore and thorium, and the small inclusions of minerals such as zircon, apatite, etc. contain uranium and thorium. The inclusions can contain the highest amounts of radioactive materials. From this I would say the radioactive content can vary greatly within a small area. We have responded to several people's requests to test their granite, and none have registered any radiation levels of note. But, they are few and far between, as Dr. Llope has found some, so the only way to be certain is to survey the granite for radiation. But the chances of your granite being of radiological concern are very slim. Joel

Welcome SouthOrangeNJ! Stainless steel sinks go with anything...you don't generally try to match your sink to your appliances. I prefer SS as I grew up with cast iron sinks and hated how they stained easily and cracked if you dropped something heavy in them. I have not used silgranit so I do not have an opinion on them. Yes, SS steel will scratch, but over time it develops a patina so that it all blends in. It helps if you get brushed or satin stainless rather than polished. If you prefer sligranit, they go with quartz as well as granite....I would recommend, however, that you try to get one that blends in with your counter rather than one that contrasts...but that's up to you and your preferences. If you're trying to restore your home to the early 1900s, I recommend researching sinks used during that era. Otherwise, I'd go with what you want and what will work best for you & your budget. [If you decide to go with SS...check out Ticor Sinks at Galaxy Tool Supply for very reasonably priced sinks. Most come in 16 gauge SS (stronger than 18 or 20 gauge). They also have a store on eBay.] Faucets...I much prefer a sprayer integrated into the faucet itself! For one thing, you can "lock" it in spray mode rather than having to hold the lever down on a separate side spray...maybe there is a side spray that locks, but I have never seen one. I grew up with a side spray and while it's better than no spray, I think the pull down or pull out faucets are better. There's one less hose to start leaking. There's one less hole in your countertop (for both looks & cleaning around). I also find the spray function works better in pull down/out than the side spray. Pull down/out faucets are also more versatile than standard faucets. You can have a pot on the counter and fill it there rather than having to put it in the sink...which is nice if you have a sink full of other things or if you have a particularly large pot to fill. UC lights...How's the rest of the lighting in your kitchen? Do you cast shadows on the counter when you're working at it? Is the kitchen dark? I find the UC lighting very useful. We have puck lights that are plugged in inside the very top of our 36" cabinets. I don't know much about their installation as an electrician installed ours. You might check on the Lighting Forum. Garbage Disposals...I lived without one for almost 13 years and was unhappy the entire time...if you can afford one, I would definitely go for it. I'm not sure how easy they are to install after the fact as you have to have power run under the sink. If you do get one, do not get a Badger! They are the builder-grade that frequently break down. I recommend a batch feed for safety reasons, if you can use one (we could not since at the time I couldn't find one for septic systems). BTW...if you install a non-batch feed GD, consider an air switch to turn it on/off rather than a standard switch. They're safer, less intrusive, and (IMHO) more convenient. HTH! Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

Our kitchen is 13'5" wide and we have an island. The narrower aisle is 36" from counter-top to counter-top, between island and DW/fridge. It works fine for me, but my husband hates it. If he had his druthers, we'd have an extra 12" between the area, but it works for me. We have to have a side-by-side fridge for clearance of the door-to-island, and that works well for us, too. I think you could have an island with a 12' wide kitchen, if the island is narrow, but it will be a tight fit and might make your kitchen look smaller. (I always think about re-sale) Use some blue painters' tape to mark it out and create a mock-up island from appliance boxes or foam board (office depot type stores sell it), as some other people have already suggested? This would give you ample time to place the mock-up island in your kitchen, live with it, and see if you think it is a good idea for you.