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Opinions on possible countertop slab

penelopejosephine

14 years ago

Hello!

I've been waiting for one of the stone yards here to get in a new shipment of Pietra Del Cordosso. I put a slab on hold today, and I'd love your opinions on whether it's "too busy" or not. We are planning on doing white inset cabinets with Pietra counters on the perimeter. There will be 5/8" carrara mosaic on the backsplash. The island will be painted charcoal or stained onyx. I'm leaning heavily (and trying to convince my husband) of doing the top of the island in honed carrara. So, do you think the quartz running through this slab on the diagonal will look too busy with the carrara? I absolutely fell in love with the soft "swishes" in Pietra. Also, what looks like dots in the photos is where the stone guy had put his hands and the water was drying faster than the rest of the slab. Thanks for your input!

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

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Comments (9)

Fori
14 years ago
Oh that's nice. Just busy enough to not be boring. Very classy.
starlightfarm
14 years ago
Agree.... not too busy at all. Gorgeous in fact! I think it will look wonderful and it will compliment the carerra just fine.
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kelleg69, I really like that quartz! I just looked it up and of course the nearest distributor is 3 hours away in Dallas (same as the Quartzmasters). I guess I'm going to just have to make another trip. I don't know if the Chinese produced quartz uses the Breton technology everyone seems to talk about on this website. So I don't know what happens if they don't. Here is the link to the pendants, I ordered them a few weeks ago when they were 30% off and free shipping! http://www.horchow.com/Regina-Andrew-Design-Camden-Five-Light-Lantern-Pendants/cprod105150007_cat23930743__/p.prod?icid=&searchType=EndecaDrivenCat&rte=%252Fcategory.jsp%253FitemId%253Dcat23930743%2526pageSize%253D120%2526No%253D0%2526refinements%253D&eItemId=cprod105150007&cmCat=product
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boxerpups
14 years ago
Beautiful. Perfect movement to work with the white inset cabs you are doing.
Sue Brunette (formerly known as hockeychik)
14 years ago
How does Pietra Cardosso rank price wise with granites? Is it a mid range or high range price? Around here basic granites go for about $45 sq ft installed, next level up is about $60-$75 sq ft installed and I don't even know what they charge for exotics, plus you would have your charges for cutouts on top of that. Curious as this looks like a neat stone, kind of soapstone like in a way.
Thanks
peggross1
14 years ago
I truly love, love, love it! It's exactly what I wanted in my white kitchen, but I just couldn't pull the trigger the more I learned about that stone (I believe it is a "schist" type of stone). But, of course you already know all about it and have still decided to go for it!

It is going to be drop dead gorgeous - enjoy!!!

PS. It isn't nearly as beautiful, but have you checked out Caesarstone in Raven? A similar look, colorwise at least, with zero maintenance issues.
hestia_flames
14 years ago
OOOhhhhhhh. I think that it is beautiful. Regarding your island, have you looked at the posts here on Vermont Danby Imperial? It is a gorgeous stone, and supposed to be one of the few white marbles recommended for countertops (it doesn't etch as easily.)

You have to look at smarge's Danby marble about a third of the way down the linked page. I'm looking for a remnant of the same.

Here is a link that might be useful: Danby Imperial Island
penelopejosephine
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for your input. I pulled the trigger and put a deposit on this slab. I'm very excited to have that decision made :)
penelopejosephine
Original Author
14 years ago
Oh...almost forgot. The Pietra falls in the middle range of the pricing (the stone yard prices in categories from A-E...A being the least spendy). Pietra fell in at a C.

I also got nervous, Smarge, after reading some posts. I have thrown everything I can think of at my sample Pietra. It always wipes clean and looks as beautiful as before. I've spoken with a couple of stone shops here, and they both recommend it for counters. I did see This Old House used it in a dream kitchen project. I figure if it got Tom and Norm's approval, it must be okay ;) In the end, I was swayed by the appearance.
rubyfig
14 years ago
Just to ease your mind a bit, my "old" counters do look a lot like that (but mine etched like mad). The gentleman who took my counters out said that what I had was not Pietra. Obviously I love the look, good luck!

PS--if you want to be absolutly sure, test a chunk from the actual slab you plan to use. If it passes the lemon juice test (let it dry on, then wipe it clean), you are good to go.

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