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I am renovating my kitchen now. I first was set on Caeserstone/Silestone until I went to a countertop / stone distributor and saw a BEAUTIFUL piece of granite that we actually ended up buying. The no maintenance aspect of the engineered "stone" is a factor but the colors and individuality of natural stone is unmatched. Not to mention the granite is very little maintenance as well, only sealing once a year. Price wise, the granite was = to the HD Sile-Caeser stone price.
Granite going on 7+ years now and very happy. BUT I should warn you that if you ever have a problem with granite you could be in for a nightmare. When my house was built they installed a bad piece of granite - it had a crack in it.
Builder had it replaced but the color was not an exact match. 14 months later they decided to more or less rip everything out and go with new granite. It was a pain because it's nearly impossible to match some of the more exotic color choices. We were off by just a bit, just a bit to really notice IMHO.
Opinions on this will vary as much as in a Whaler versus Grady White thread.
They are all good choices, and each has positives and downside considerations. On thing not mentioned yet is the overall style and theme of the kitchen. For example, granite simply does not look proper in a Victorian kitchen.
However, to give you a broad general answer, imo, you can not go wrong with granite. In my area, the upper end buyers/remodelers have not fully bought into silestone yet and here it is often referenced as "fake granite". Clearly this is a perception and market acceptance issue, but one thing to consider on re-sale.
__________________ Move along, nothing to see here.
If I may add another question....which of the solid surface materials are heat-friendly?
About the only thing I like about my tile counters is that I can set hot pans on the counters without hunting for a trivet.
__________________ Minds are like parachutes....
25' Boston Whaler Revenge Hardtop Walkaround
17' Boston Whaler Menemsha, awaiting restoration
We have had Corian going on 10 years, its "nice" but blah as heck in my opinion, over the past few years I wished we went with Granite but now I think I like the look of some of the recycled products out there I have seen some recycled glass counters and concrete that look real sharp and are "green".
RI Builder - 11/10/2008 4:14 PM Opinions on this will vary as much as in a Whaler versus Grady White thread. They are all good choices, and each has positives and downside considerations. On thing not mentioned yet is the overall style and theme of the kitchen. For example, granite simply does not look proper in a Victorian kitchen. However, to give you a broad general answer, imo, you can not go wrong with granite. In my area, the upper end buyers/remodelers have not fully bought into silestone yet and here it is often referenced as "fake granite". Clearly this is a perception and market acceptance issue, but one thing to consider on re-sale.
As a builder, granite. There are so many choices. Quartz products (silestone...) can stain. I take red hot cast iron pans from blacking and put them right onto the counter.
granite vs. quartz vs. silestone vs corian 
