What do I need to know about picking out a slab of granite?

[mrsd2006]

I've never done it before. Mostl likely we will need two slabs. I'm going to steal Dr. Girlfriend's idea of bringing backsplash tile with me. Will have three areas of granite: kitchen counter, island counter and wet bar counter. 

What at edge did you get? 

Did your granite have a raised edge on the back of the wall? 

[treedimensional]

You don't need to know much. I didn't know squat and I did okay.
Oh, okay, I knew that granite can stain so I got black. And a beveled edge.
The end.

[treedimensional]

Oh- no little 4" strip running along the back. I hate that. Just the flat countertop, and a coordinating glass mosaic tile backsplash.

[kaylie]

No 4'' backsplash on the back (not a fan). I have "pencil" edge on the perimeter and cove ogee on our island.

Certain granites seal better than others. We thought we wanted Kashmir White, but that one absorbs a lot and has to be resealed more often. We went with a type that isn't as porous - annual sealing is optional (Azul Aran). I've let beet juice sit on it for days without it absorbing. You can ask about how absorbent each type is.

[dr.girlfriend]

Yeah, I think the 4" backsplash is pretty universally considered to be "dated" now, and people just tile down to the granite counter. :-) They let us go to the distributor to pick a slab, which was AWESOME -- it was basically this big, well-lit warehouse with aisles and aisles of slabs. I feel like our selection in the yard would have been much smaller, and in fact the "lot" we got is very different from other lots of that type of granite (which caused us problems later when the stupid guy cut it wrong, but I still wouldn't change things). I don't know if you can just ask to go to the distributor, but it's worth a try!

They gave us a few tips (e.g., the granite we picked was more prone to chipping, so we shouldn't do anything fancier than an ogee edge). I've heard some places give you samples to take home to check for etching and absorbancy, but our guy said he couldn't do that until it was cut, at which point we would be committed. It was a very confusing relationship between my contractor's "granite guy," the distributor, and the actual store location. I still am not clear on what happened -- I guess the granite guy has his own "store name" but really works in fabrication with other stores. In the end, though, I absolutely adore my granite. There were a lot of threads on gardenweb about "falling in love" with your slab and "you'll know it when you see it" and I was like, "Yeah, right. It's not a wedding dress, it's a stone countertop." But I really did. And given how similar costs seem to be across places, if you have the flexibility to do so I would keep going to different stores/yards until you find a slab you really would love to see every day.

It was also presented as optional for us to go back for the "templating" - where after they have taken the template of your cabinets they throw the actual template onto the slab so maybe you can pick which section is going to be on the most visible countertop, etc. With a single slab that we used basically every inch of I didn't have too many choices, but they let us avoid a few spots on the edge we didn't like, and we shifted things a little so that one ugly spot got put in the sink cut-out, so that was worth it I think.

ETA:  I got a simple ogee edge on everything that didn't but (butt?) up to a wall or appliance.  This is considered a fancier edge, but I don't find it to be too fancy.  And, because I'll take any opportunity to AW my granite, here is the thread with some pics (before the backsplash got installed).  It's Bianco Antico, but much lighter and more uniform in color than most lots.  It has big flecks of sparkly silver mica which are gorgeous in person but don't show up in the photographs. 

pandce.proboards.com/thread/359896/kitchen-granite-backsplash-drama-update

[Deleted]

No to the 4" backsplash. Just no. I'd be anal about seams and seam placement. Also make sure you check your slab for fissures. MIL was about to have hers installed but the installation guy pointed out a huge fissure right in the middle of the slab and so he took it back to the company and told them they needed to redo it. He wasn't going to install it because of the fissure.

Our granite countertops for the new house are actually prefabbed and already have a bullnose edge to it. I would have preferred flat but that would have required a substantial upgrade to go pick my slab and my edging.

[mrsd2006]

Great info ladies. I had no idea everyone would hate the 4" backsplash, so I'm glad I asked about it.

I do get to go to the warehouse and pick out the slab, without the template. They told me it wasn't necessary for blue pearl since it's pretty consistent in pattern. They do recommend it for some other patterns.

We did pick out an edge when we ordered the granite, but I don't remember which one. One of the free ones though.

[dr.girlfriend]

Oct 1, 2014 19:19:41 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

Great info ladies. I had no idea everyone would hate the 4" backsplash, so I'm glad I asked about it.

I do get to go to the warehouse and pick out the slab, without the template. They told me it wasn't necessary for blue pearl since it's pretty consistent in pattern. They do recommend it for some other patterns.

We did pick out an edge when we ordered the granite, but I don't remember which one. One of the free ones though.

If you want to find out and post your edge, feel free. It's mostly a matter of taste, but I have found that some actually do have disadvantages.  A full-bullnose, for example, will make it so spills run back and stain your cabinets instead of falling off the edge on to the floor, for example.

[jillybean222]

Oct 1, 2014 19:19:41 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

Great info ladies. I had no idea everyone would hate the 4" backsplash, so I'm glad I asked about it.

I do get to go to the warehouse and pick out the slab, without the template. They told me it wasn't necessary for blue pearl since it's pretty consistent in pattern. They do recommend it for some other patterns.

We did pick out an edge when we ordered the granite, but I don't remember which one. One of the free ones though.

i have the 4" backsplash (there, i said it!!!).    

we couldn't agree on tile for the backsplash so we decided we would rather have the 4" granite instead of tile we didn't love (rationale being that it would be easier to take out a couple sections of granite than it would be to rip out tile we had second thoughts on.  right now the wall above it is just painted the color of the room and i never thought twice about it until i read this thread!!  

[mrsd2006]

Oct 2, 2014 8:32:33 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Oct 1, 2014 19:19:41 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

Great info ladies. I had no idea everyone would hate the 4" backsplash, so I'm glad I asked about it.

I do get to go to the warehouse and pick out the slab, without the template. They told me it wasn't necessary for blue pearl since it's pretty consistent in pattern. They do recommend it for some other patterns.

We did pick out an edge when we ordered the granite, but I don't remember which one. One of the free ones though.

If you want to find out and post your edge, feel free. It's mostly a matter of taste, but I have found that some actually do have disadvantages.  A full-bullnose, for example, will make it so spills run back and stain your cabinets instead of falling off the edge on to the floor, for example.

I'll have to check but I think we did a 1/4 " or 1/2" bevel on the counter with the sink, which is most of the kitchen, and a half bullnose on the islands don't remember what we picked for the wet bar. 

I went today and looked at the slab. Looks OK I guess. Wasn't much to it. Came home with a sample, which looks a LOT different that the previous sample I had, so I'm gonna go back and look again. I hope it looks lore like the first sample I have rather than the one I got today.