I vote for Golden Beach - I assume you will be using the same granite on both cabinets and I think golden beach looks best with both finishes.

Yellow Brook is very cool, but I'm just not sure it'll be as impressive cut and on the counters, so my top vote is for Yellow River. I like the variation in the color and in the pattern...There would always be a portion that would be my current favorite, likely changing as I discovered different areas of the stone. It has interest without swirling movement. The Typhoon Bordeaux is my 2nd place for mostly the same reasons...And all-over pattern, but more interesting.

The others are too all-over gold for me, and Santa Cecilia just doesn't appeal to me (I hope that doesn't offend anyone, it's just not my taste).

That's the problem, though,with asking here...YOU have to love it, not me. ;-)

Yellow Brook and Yellow River, in that order. The Madura Gold looks like it should work, but it doesn't (sorry if that's not very coherent). The others are ordinary. Disclaimer: I tend to like dramatic granite with motion, not subdued granite with speckles, but your tastes might be completely different.

I think they are all beautiful but the Yellow Brook is my fav. Hope the price works out for you. Best of luck!

Ooh, i love Yellow Brook. Why don't you eliminate the backsplash? that will save you a little $. You can always add paint or tile later on.

good luck

LC

Golden Beach is my favorite with your cabs. I agree the Yellow Brook is wonderful, but the Golden Beach ties in wiht your cabinets better.

I'm hitting granite yards right now, and I'm truly amazed at the price differences I've found ($15 per square foot, $6 for basic edges that are free at other places, etc.) So take heart, you might get good news tomorrow!

Yellow brook or yellow river. I'd have to see the whole slab to decide.

But, depending on the square footage, that price is not necessarily out of line.

I too fell in love with Typhoon Bordeau and Yellow River. Your cabinets look fabulous with either one. I am not loving Madura Gold because it eats up you brown cab, and Santa Cecilia is just plain ordinary. All personal preferences.

Yellow Brook and Yellow River. They're both very dramatic and appeal to me. Consider your floors too. We're going with Hickory which is very dramatic and therefore will tone down the granite. A room can only take so much drama.

Wow--from your subject line, I thought that the granite radiation thing had really gotten out of hand! ;)

As for your slab choices, I like Yellow Brook the best and Madura Gold second best. The only one I don't like is the Santa Cecelia. I lean more toward swirls than specks.

Big vote for Yellow River here. I'm concerned the "swirliness" of the Yellow Brook is too sparse(?) and once it's cut it may not show as wonderfully as it does in a full slab (I could be way wrong here). For that reason, my second vote is for Typhoon Bordeaux.

I vote for Yellow River and Typhoon Bordeaux. The Santa Cecilia is too 'speckled' and the Madura Gold too orange.

Are there other yards near you to see other slabs? Do you know how many square feet that you need? Also, I agree with lacuisine: ask them what the savings would be if you don't get the standard 4" backsplash.

Sandy

I don't care for Santa Cecilia - too boring. The Yellow Brook is nice but it looks to have a lot of blank areas and I would think seaming would be a real challenge unless you had large runs of the material without seams.

My favorites are Typhoon Bordeaux and Yellow River with your two cabinet choices. Madura Gold is beautiful but perhaps too red-gold for your stained cabinet.

Good luck in your choices. Will the backsplash be a full height splash or 4''? With a full height backsplash it will be important to have it cut from the same slab as your counter so the flow of the material is enhanced. You have some great choices to work with. Love the black island door. You will have an elegant kitchen.

JB

Yellow Brook. Very cool!

sdionnemoore:

When you go to Grantops, they'll need the overall dimensions
of each segment of your countertops - the squre footage does
not help Fabricators - we have to use slabs that have defined
dimensions.

Here's an example drawing that will be helpful to Grantops:

I know that this is NOT your kitchen, BUT - Cabinet drawings
can be very frustrating to Fabricators like me, because the
do not show the countertops.

Remember also that in the end - the cost per square foot is
not so important as the overall project. Dealing with a quality
Fabricator and having the Service that they provide will usually
not come with the lowest price.

hope that helps you

Kevin M. Padden
Fabricator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry
AZ School of Rock
www.azschoolofrock.com

I am a HUGE fan of swirly dramatic granite. That being said, the Santa Cecelia does nothing for me, even though the colors are good. The Madura Gold is nice and goes well with both cabinets but is still just a little boring for my taste. I love yellow river, but the yellow brook is the one I'd have to go with. I am a little concerned that the BIG pattern you see on the whole slab may not translate quite as well to countertops as the yellow river will, but it is so dramatic I would have to try it anyway.

I vote for the Yellow River.... it seems to pick up the colors of both cabinet samples best.

Typhoon Bordeaux would be my second choice.

GL and hope you get good news on pricing.

I have Typhoon Bordeaux, and love it! We paid about that much - maybe a bit more - we have the granite on a bilevel island (with 4" granite backsplash between the levels), and on all the perimeter cabinets. Basic edge. We had 4 holes cut out behind the sink - faucet, faucet control, soap dispenser and instant hot. Good luck - we struggled over our granite choice.

I called back and talked to the same saleslady I spoke with last night. She said their policy is not to give a price per square foot, neither would she give a copy of the pricing to me. I don't know how I feel about that. Certainly that wasn't their policy when I last purchased from them, but that was 5 years ago. She did go over what was included in the total: 2 sink cutouts (75 each), on site measurements, labor, delivery, installation, 4" backsplash, standard eased edge, cooktop cutout--basically everything.

GranTops is working on an estimate, and they did give price per square foot; $65 for Madura Gold, $78 for Yellow River or Yellow Brook. This includes Big Eased edge, free sink cutout, installation, fabrication, delivery, 1 free undermount (I have 1 main, 1 prep), 24" of radius, and a cooktop cutout at no charge.

Which leads to another question. Should I should shop locally? In my mind I figured the places that eliminate the middle man would be the least expensive, but I could be wrong and I do want to be satisfied that I'm getting a good deal. Does anyone have the experience that local was less expensive but still good quality, or is that just an oxymoron?

I really like Yellow Brook if you have large areas of counter top. I think Yellow River will look best if the slab is being cut for many work areas.

Wouldn't hurt to get a local quote.

Love the Yellow Brook. Have never seen a granite quite like this -- it is really beautiful and striking!

I just had Typhoon Bordeaux installed - naturally, it's my favorite. That said, I also like the Yellow Brook and Yellow River in that order. One note to mention, my fabrication was excellent. The matching of the granite flow is just short of spectacular, and the seams are hard to discern. I think fabrication is just as - if not more important - than the granite itself. Money well spent in the long haul.

Whenever a supplier (for my home or business) refuses to give me a written DETAILED quote, I cease dealing with them. It sounds very fishy to me that the vendor won't give you a coopy of their worksheet. My suggestion would be to find a new, reputable vendor.

FWIW - I like the Yellow Brook or the Yellow River :) and I REALLY like the dark door !

I was going to post pretty much exactly what caligal just said - so I'll just ditto her words: Yellow Brook for large counter areas, Yellow River for smaller areas. :)

Okay I'm not sure about what I think of their "policy", but for the moment let's put that aside. You have a total price and you have your plans. You can calculate it yourself or have someone you know help you. You can even post here and we'll help you. Then all you have to do is divide the total $ by the total square feet. There are posts here about how to do this, but I'll just say don't forget to add in the backsplash and a 1 1/2" overhang, as well as any overhang on an island or penninsula for seating you may have. Then you will know the price per sq. ft.

- Jim

Here's my .02 cents worth on the "What do ya charge per square foot?" question...

Do you go shopping for a car based on what it costs per pound?

Do you shop for a house based on it's cost per square foot?

Do you price out a vacation based on cost per day?

Most people look at the overall value for the
price that they are paying.
People that focus on the cheapest price and ignore all other
factors like quality and service,
usually regret chasing the lowest bidder.

When somebody calls me for a bid - the first question I ask
them is "What's the MOST important thing to you - Price,
Quality or Service?"
If they answer price, I ask them how they got my name, since I
am NEVER the lowest price...

The point here is this:

If you want the lowest price real bad...
that's usually just what you'll wind up with:
The Lowest Price - REAL BAD!!!

I like a deal just like the next guy, but remember that
you get what you pay for.

just my .02 cents worth

kevin

I'll vote golden beach -- cause that's what i wanted!! couldn't find it when i needed to buy, though. at least the yellow river was cheaper. :)
btw, a few places wouldn't give me a price/sf. but they did give me a written estimate.

My other estimate came in last night. GranTops is higher than A&S! *deep breath* So I'm going to do some local shopping and see what prices I can scare up. I'm going to look at quartz & laminate, too, even though the lady at A&S said quartz would be more expensive than granite. Maybe there it would be, but I've always heard it was a little cheaper than granite. Guess I'll find out soon.

The GranTop estimate used a total of 110 square feet as its total. I've decided to take the advice of lacuisine and busyb and leave off the 4"backsplash, since I, like most, will do something in tile at a later date.

For what it's worth, this is the layout, with one change. The island table is gone and there is a standard overhang in that middle section ONLY. The wings of the island are going to be nothing more than a 6 1/2 inch cap. (Sorry, I don't have an up-to-date plan uploaded).

My KD also gave me the measurements of the cabs including fillers. Island measurements are: 27"+ 15" +24"+18"+27" all at 25 1/2 inch depth.

L shape with angle wall measurements are: 28"+19"+36"+13+33"+18" all at 25 1/2 inch depth

The cooktop area is at 31 1/2" depth with measurements of 18"+36"+18"

I came out with approx. 61 sq ft for counter and 14 for island bar with 9 feet for backsplash, but math has never been my strength.

Depending on how it is seamed, funky angles add to square footage...sometimes they add a LOT to the square footage. I am sure the granite pros here can look at your drawing and give you a square footage extimate. If the other place gave you a $7000 quote for 110 sq ft, that is a pretty darn good price for an exotic granite at less than $65 per sq ft.

Been there on the granite issue. While it is helpful to know how many square feet you have of countertop, there are so many ways of figuring the total cost, the bottom line is more important than how they got there. Some that charge less per sq ft charge more for cut outs, edges, etc. So price wise, the final number for the same job with the same granite is a fairer comparison.

Kevin, to be fair, paying a higher price does not necessarily give you a better job, either. When I got prices, I got one of my highest estimates from a large place that was recommended by someone here who knew from working in this area that the place was good. I got other quotes, including one from a local building supply company that sourced out the job, and the final charge was 1000.00 less. When I called to find out who did their stone work, I found out it was the same company that gave me the highest bid when I went to them directly!

I ended up with quartz rather than granite, but did learn that price and quality sometimes have nothing to do with one another, and other times you get what you pay for. It is silly, though, to just go with a more expensive place because you ASSUME they will be better becuase they charge more.

1. Know the companies reputation, and look at their work, get recommendations.
2. THEN compare prices of reputable companies based on the final price for the same job, with the same specs, including edging and cutouts, with the same granite.
3. Find out if one of the reputable companies with the best price for your job actually has slabs that you like.
4. GO FOR IT
5. If you still have problems, come back here and you will find help and sympathy. :)

Sue

Sue, I agree with you about price does not always equal quality. There are some fabricators in a more high-rent area who have all the fancy C&C machines and laser templating machines. Their prices are not higher because they are better (although many are very good)....it's because they have expensive equipment, plush offices with marble floors and expensive rent. There are other fabricators located a little farther out of town who still template by hand and cut by hand. Their prices are MUCH better and they do a fantastic job. I used one of the less-fancy shops and got a wonderful job. My install was perfect and they templated my granite in such a way that really put the most interesting character sections of my granite in a very prominate place. Lookie at this corner!! No seams, and a huge section of smokey quartz. And this was from a small shop that lacked fancy equipment and high prices.

ccombs & Sue, thank you both for your input. I was starting to feel bad that I was even shopping for a better price. :) I went to a local place today about 9 miles down the road. They are a Gravesite Memorial maker who decided they had the equipment to cut rock, why not go in to countertops? That definitely makes sense to me. Anyhow, we'll see what price they come up with for me.

Guess what else I did today? Priced laminate! I could not believe that the laminate was going to cost me about half what the lowest granite bid would be. Even though I'd plan on it being temporary, I don't think I want to pay that price for laminate only to rip it out in a couple of years. Granted, it was the HD stuff, but still. The guy did have to add in the cost of Karran sinks, since the ones I already have are SS and for undermount. Karran sinks aren't cheap, which really added to the overall price of the laminate.

ccombs1, that section of your counter is quite lovely. Thanks for sharing that with me. What type of granite is that?

Thanks. My granite is Delicatus. Many fabricators won't mess with this stone because it is so fragile (until it is installed). It often breaks during fabrication and installation. Mine didn't. Thank goodness! I got it for a steal. The granite place had 2 slabs on the yard that had been sitting in the sun for a couple of years which made some of the resin spots go bad (they were able to work around all the bad spots). They offered me this granite for much less than even the lowest tier granite would have been. I was so blessed to have gotten such a cool unusual granite at bargain basement pricing. And as I said before, they did a fantastic job fabricating and installing so I am really happy. Believe me...it DOES pay to shop around!! I think I went to 8 different places before I found this one.

I may be the only one, but I like the Madura Gold. I think the reds go nice with your cabinets and i feel the others are too yellow for your tone of wood, but just MHO !! Good luck.

Are you the one in MD - Try Thomas Marble and Granite in Gaithersburg - tiny mom and pop shop - not fancy (everything done by hand), but very decent people. Do great seams! Your's is twice as big as ours and ours was around $2500 for Gold and Silver with our Blanco sink ($250) and stone from Avanti in Frederick (more $$$ than most places from what we were told).

My brief granite story:

I went (at first) using the best bid per sq ft over the phone. I ended up buying from the local shop that made tomb stones...so ya, same equiptment, why not do counters?

Why not? Because dead people don't complain! Turned out, they did bad work, and they were running so sort that they took my money and ran (as they did with many others). My current supplier (the high end shop in town) is doing a lot of new granite for folks who were ripped off by these folks.

So, after losing almost ten grand, I went with the high end shop with the great reputation. I didn't even consider sq ft price, because I was looking for a package deal....I mean a product hat met many of my specs, including cutouts, edges and unusual profiles. I also wanted to pick from lots of stones, and I wanted to be able to be involved in templating.

So my price per sq ft....heck I don't know. I'd have to do some math. I just asked for the price of the finished package I wanted and used that as my guide.
By the way....I love the yellow brook.

I think I went to every single marble and granite place in Maryland. I ended up using Classic Granite and Marble in Jessup (right near Columbia on Rt. 1) and could not be happier - great price and amazing customer service. Their workmanship is outstanding. They template by hand, meticulously. They have a laser templater but choose to do it the old fashioned way. Take your kitchen plan with you and they will hand you complete costs before you walk out the door. No hidden costs, no fine print. I found my island marble in Northern Virginia and that was a non-issue. They bought those two slabs direct from Daltile and fabricated - I paid nothing additional for them hauling down there and bringing them back. They had the cambrian black I wanted for my perimeter. Good luck!!