Woodmark Kitchen & Bath in Houston >Kitchen Remodeling>Countertops&Backspash

Almost all Houston kitchens today are remodeled using either granite or manufactured stone for the countertops. Use of plastic laminate or tile of an earlier era tends to date your home and diminish its value, particularly homes valued over $200,000.

In Houston granite is an exceptionally good value. Local residents as a part of their project pay only about a third of that which is paid by residents of say New York or L. A. There is a reason for this. Houston is in close proximity to South America which has had excellent stone workers for thousands of years: (The Incas DID know how to work stone). Plus Houston having one of America ’s largest international ports readily obtains containers of granite from all over the world.

Different granite has different levels of hardness. Woodmark’s granite fabricator in Houston either supplies the granite slabs from its own inventory or approves any slabs purchased from other vendors so that it might guarantee a durable final result. You may select slabs from any of the many vendors in Houston but since our granite fabricator owns its own quarries abroad if it supplies your granite from its extensive selection you will obtain the granite as a part of your kitchen at a lower cost.

Houston Vendor of Slabs and Fabricated Granite with Superior Quality and Service:

Manufactured stone is generally chosen for its engineered hardness and the wide variety of lighter colors available. It is fabricated in much the same way as granite. Its one disadvantage is that over time as newer colors are developed the color you choose today may not be in fashion down the road. And it is somewhat more vulnerable to being damaged by a very hot object being placed on it than is granite.

Backspashes are usually chosen with an eye to giving your kitchen that special flavor. Many materials are used: solid colored tile, hand painted tile, stone, tumbled marble, stamped metal, granite, painted drywall, a granite curb with painted drywall above, glass over drywall, clear glass to the outside, and many others. You are limited only by your imagination. If your choice is in keeping with the entire design of your kitchen it probably will not affect your home’s desirability upon resale. In fact properly done it may be a strong plus. And of course you will enjoy your very personal touch every time you are in your kitchen.

One strong reason to express your unique tastes with the backsplash of your food preparation area is that it is rarely very expensive. This is so because the volume of materials required in most kitchens is seldom more than thirty to fifty square feet.

The manner in which backsplash materials are installed also varies a great deal. Tile these days is often installed on the diagonal as corners can be clipped off in any size and a uniquely sized insert may be installed and look appealing. Many kitchen clients often install a specific design over their cooking surface to add flair. Mosaics in a large number of variations is very popular today.

Verify all granite edges properly meet wood trim on doors and windows with preferably space in between.

Verify drop in sink cutout is properly supported and centered over base cabinet.

Verify granite countertops pitch forward from backsplash to front edge 1/16" to 1/8"

BC plywood rather than the commonly used lower grade CDX plywood is installed under all granite countertops to create a flat surface and to give uniform support during installation. Woodmark recesses this plywood into existing cabinets to create a lower countertop as is necessary. When restoring existing cabinets this is done to allow for proper installation of granite without reducing food preparation space between the top of the finished countertop and the bottom of the upper wall cabinet

Many granite vendors install undermount sinks with a large granite overhang over the sink bowl so as to allow for variations in the sink size and shape, plus to allow for errors in cutting, grinding and polishing this overhanging granite edge. To be more precise Woodmark usually does a rubbing of the sink shape to create a template and within a range allows you to decide how much of the sink edge to show and then uses the template to cut, grind and polish to this shape.

Woodmark offers a 1 ¼” overhang on its granite countertops instead of 1 ½” which is more common. We call this The Woodmark Edge. Although this tighter tolerance requires more precisely built cabinets and a more perfect installation of the granite countertop, this refinement gives the feeling of created furniture to your kitchen cabinets. It also makes your granite countertops more of an integral part of your kitchen rather than being one element which dominates the space.

Woodmark generally lays granite having a veining pattern in the same direction throughout the kitchen. Depending on the layout of the kitchen and the number of granite slabs required, this approach may result in additional cost, but Woodmark believes it is always to be recommended. Since only the additional cost of granite is added—not the cost of fabrication—in the whole scheme of things it is usually not that significant.

All granite surfaces are sealed with at least two coats of a penetrating sealer. Usually Enhancer by Stone Tech. The sealer has an alcohol like viscosity which after penetrating the granite surface and drying becomes a very hard plastic. Inside the granite. This prevents anything causing a stain from penetrating and becoming visible.

Woodmark if the kitchen client desires will utilize the piece remaining from cutting out the hole for the sink to create smaller pieces to implement a backsplash design which you request. Square, triangles, and rhomboid shapes are cut from this material and polished by our tilesetter at your request for this purpose. Using these created shapes can allow much time to be saved in pursuing a matching insert for your backsplash.

Please call for a free kitchen tile design consultation plus remodeling pricing.