astrobaja
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Engineered stone countertops?
Hi all,
My Wife and I have decided to go with engineered stone (quartz) countertops for our kitchen and baths (they make sinks too). originally we had thought
granite/slate/marmol but it needs to be sealed every so often and it scratches, and stains.
We saw that silestone is a good company and that Home depot carries it but the Ensenada one does not.
Also home depot in SD will sell it to you but insist on installation. Anyone know of sources for good quality engineered stone coutertops in Baja
norte? Or if you have had good experience with granite/slate/marble let me know!
Heres silestone website they have all kinds of colours/styles:
www.silestoneusa.com
thanks
Mike
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Dave
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You live in the boonies, right?
Have you thought about concrete? Amazing what you can do with the stuff these days.
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astrobaja
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Hi Dave,
Yep we're about as "boonie" as you can get! 
I know what you are saying about concrete (esp the stamped stuff) it can look pretty nice! but from a personal ethical perspective I hate the stuff!
Its about as ungreen a substance as you can find, huge amounts of energy go into its production.
Besides with a adobe house I prefer a more natural looking alternative. If we can we would prefer to give the business to a smaller local place here
in the Ensenada area. So we are still open to the granite/slate/marble idea.
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gnukid
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You can use wood countertops too, though probably its as hard to find as Quartz.
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BajaGringo
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A friend of mine is a mason in San Quintin and does amazing counter-tops using a variety of materials including stone, concrete and tile. You really
can get creative and I am working with him right now on our new kitchen design...
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
Hi Dave,
Yep we're about as "boonie" as you can get!
I know what you are saying about concrete (esp the stamped stuff) it can look pretty nice! but from a personal ethical perspective I hate the stuff!
Its about as ungreen a substance as you can find, huge amounts of energy go into its production.
Besides with a adobe house I prefer a more natural looking alternative. If we can we would prefer to give the business to a smaller local place here
in the Ensenada area. So we are still open to the granite/slate/marble idea. |
I don't know too much about silestone, but looks like a manufactured stone rather than cut natural stone, so probably has same energy
consumption/carbon footprint as cement?
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Ken Bondy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
I know what you are saying about concrete (esp the stamped stuff) it can look pretty nice! but from a personal ethical perspective I hate the stuff!
Its about as ungreen a substance as you can find, huge amounts of energy go into its production.
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astrobaja you should rethink that. Concrete, the world's most commonly used building material, is actually very green. Most of its volume is natural
material (sand and gravel). The only manufactured part of concrete is portland cement, and its manufacturing does involve burning limestone which is
energy intensive. However much technology is currently being developed to reduce the carbon footprint of cement, and many byproducts of other burning
processes (flyash, slag) are usable as cement substitutes.
++Ken++
[Edited on 10-27-2008 by Ken Bondy]
carpe diem!
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astrobaja
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Hi all,
Mtgoat666: you may be right I will look into how much energy goes into manufacturing this engieered stone, although I can't see how it can be anywhere
near cement!
Ken: I dunno Ken you would have a hard time convincing me about cements green-ness. They may well be making advances but they have nowhere to go but
up in terms of efficiency. Huge inustries like cement and chemical agri-business have a highly polished PR machinery trying to convince the public
that their product is necessary for our lifestyles.
Heres something about how much energy goes into the manufacture of cement:
Energy consumption is the biggest environmental concern with cement and concrete production. Cement production is one of the most energy intensive of
all industrial manufacturing processes. Including direct fuel use for mining and transporting raw materials, cement production takes about six million
Btus for every ton of cement (Table 2). The average fuel mix for cement production in the United States is shown in Table 3. The industry’s heavy
reliance on coal leads to especially high emission levels of CO 2, nitrous oxide, and sulphur, among other pollutants. A sizeable portion of the
electricity used is also generated from coal
Besides cement being non-sustainable in the long term (unless we truly develop clean energy) It has poor characteristics for building (besides being
fast which is I'm sure why its been so popular)
Compared to adobe which is perfectly matched to the earths day/night heating cycles (ie adobe releases its heat during the night and stays cool during
the day) concrete is the direct opposite heats up quickly. Cement does not breathe adobe does.
I don't think I would want to live in a cement house in Mexicali! :>
[Edited on 10-27-2008 by astrobaja]
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BajaGringo
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I have seen some homes they are building using volcanic rock based building blocks that require less cement. They are reported to have better green
ratings...
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bajadock
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Astrobaja,
The one extravagance I allowed in my new home here was granite for my countertops.
I did granite in my Denver home in 2006 for significantly less money than quartz/engineered products. Look, durability, ez clean and an additional
50% off my Denver costs made for a simple decision here.
Only granite problem I have seen is with very light colors, if unsealed, can absorb red wine. Go earthy to dark and seal annually in a 10 minute job.
If there is another home in my future, I'd check out concrete varieties, such as Bajagringo is recommending.
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capt. mike
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concrete deco tops and floors are supplanting natural stone here in the high end market all over the southwest. it is as if granite is passe.
and for floors - wow the look once properly done is unreal.
finished wrong it is a disaster tho.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Dave
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Did some research and
| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Bondy
astrobaja you should rethink that. Concrete, the world's most commonly used building material, is actually very green. |
I read where the process to manufacture cement is third in the world in the release of greenhouse gasses, behind production of energy and vehicle
emissions.
I don't always believe everything I read so....
Who's right here?
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Pescador
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Astro, we have silestone in our kitchen as well as the bathroom and you are right that it is harder, stronger, and more durable than natural stone.
But it is only sold to trained installers and I have never found anyone who could purchase it for their own installation.
In our Mexico house we did granite and found some installers from Ensenada who were superb and did a great job. They buy leftover slabs, cut them,
fabricate, and install on-site. The sealing is a simple process and requires a wipe with a wet rag once or twice a year, which is no big thing.
While we love the Silestone, we are very happy with the granite and are really glad that we put it in.
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Mango
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| Quote: | Originally posted by astrobaja
I don't think I would want to live in a cement house in Mexicali! :>
[Edited on 10-27-2008 by astrobaja] |
Well said. I work with concrete as a living. There are some things concrete does well and some things it does not. I also spend a lot of time in a
concrete apartment in Mexicali.. and it heats up or cools down so fast you wouldn't believe it.
However, there are some things concrete does that really no other substance can do. You can make a bridge out of steel; but, it will require much
more maintenance than concrete.
Everything has costs and benefits. There is a trend towards greener concrete, as well as other building materials. Currently, pervious concrete is
the new "fad", Pretty cool IMO.
Concrete is not all bad.. it will last a long time if done right.
[Edited on 10-30-2008 by Mango]
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BajaNuts
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ya gotta think outside the box to find an installer. I bet the offer of accomodations, cerveza, and a few days in the sun may tempt a NOB installer
to a road trip.
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Mexitron
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How much energy does it take to cut a slab of natural stone? Quite a bit I would imagine. The electricity the saw is using--was it produced by coal?
Then you have to sand it and polish it--more energy. Would be interested to see a pound to pound comparison for stone versus concrete countertops.
Of course there is the rebar in the concrete countertop....but geez, on such a small scale why worry about it? Your average concrete countertop only
has a few bags of mix in it.
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Mexitron
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Another concern--where is the natural stone quarried? How far does it have to be transported, using energy? Cement, gravel and sand are generally
quarried and produced locally.
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lingililingili
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astrobaja: try this website just for kicks, I always seem to find answers to my questions about re-modeling, etc. here.
http://search.hgtv.com/hgtv/concrete-countertops/search.do?s...
•Life is just one damned thing after another
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astrobaja
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Thanks for all the input!
We are off on a roadtrip thursday to look at a couple places in Ensenada that sell marble/granite for countertops and other things. There are 2 places
on the right hand side of Reforma (from the south) between Chapultepec and Ensenada. We'll just have to see what they have and if they do
installations. Marble would be too soft for kitchen counters so we have pretty much decided on a darker colour of granite.
--Mike
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