Best professional marble jacuzzi remodeling firm in Colorado Springs? Countertop Maintenance: Most experts agree that granite requires moderate maintenance when compared with solid surface, quartz, laminate, glass or ceramic tile. Marble is moderate to high maintenance. The care involved is keeping it sealed, avoiding acidic materials and wiping up spills quickly. Granite countertop prices are slightly lower than marble countertop costs. Granite begins at about $75 per square foot installed. Marble starts at closer to $100 per square foot installed. The best granite countertops can cost $175 per square foot installed while marble can top $200.
Vanquish stubborn stains. If you can’t remove a stain by yourself, it may be time to call a stone refinisher. “They’ll do a professional cleaning using special grinders, and perhaps fine-grit sandpaper,” says Bruno. But Bruno doesn’t discourage homeowners from using fine sandpaper on a marble countertop themselves. “Don’t worry about hurting your stone,” he says. “If there’s a nick or chip, you can smooth it out with sandpaper. You can also try that on a stain—just remember to reseal the surface when you’re done.” As reassurance, he offers this extreme case: “My wife and I recently bought an antique marble table that had been left outside and actually had algae growing on it. I got all the stains out using an electric sander and some diluted bleach.” Bruno also recommends learning to live with the flaws. “In Italy no one would look at a natural stone countertop and say, ‘Oh no, there’s a stain from a New Year’s Eve party seventeen years ago!’ A little etching and staining is normal wear and tear—it just becomes part of the kitchen.
Natural stone kitchen counters make stunning additions to any home. Stone has a unique beauty that cannot be reproduced by other materials, which is why it remains such a popular surface after so many years. Many stones may be used on the counter, but two of the most common are granite and marble. Both stones are available in slabs that can be installed as counters, and they provide years of use. But, these two materials are very different from one another in the way they look and function in a busy kitchen environment. We outline their differences below so that you can make a more informed decision for your home.
Originally a room in the home used for storing and preserving foods (think: the refrigerator before the refrigerator was invented), the kitchen larder has transformed into a stand-alone cupboard or pantry. They can be large enough to house the majority of your dry goods but small enough to keep things organized while taking up a minimal amount of valuable space. Forget a walk-in and sub in counter-top cabinet or add doors to enclose pre-existing shelving. Bring texture and nuance to your kitchen walls with handmade tiles. The possibilities are vast—try terra-cotta or cement in colors that range the rainbow—although we lean toward more neutral hues. Read more details at #1 for Countertops in Colorado.
“Marble” is a term used by geologists to refer to metamorphosed limestone. It is a metamorphic rock composed of carbonate materials which is formed when limestone in the earth’s crust is subjected to high temperature and pressure. This causes the stone to undergo a metamorphosis stage where the calcite in the limestone recrystallizes and forms calcite crystals changing the texture of the rock. As the metamorphosis stage progresses the crystals become larger and can be seen as interlocking crystals even by unaided eyes.