White Ice Granite Counter

This Post was supposed to go out 

shortly after the work was done during

 July 2018 but I ran out of steam

and never got back to it 

until now....

I don't know exactly what 

put the events into motion.

Maybe it was all the "Property Brothers" 

and "Fixer Upper" we watch.

Somehow Sam and I found ourselves

in "Home Depot" talking to a design estimator

about new kitchen countertops.

It was time, our laminate tops looked 

pretty worn after 20 years.

We had already measured out the current

size of our existing counters and wanted

to know the cost of installing new ones.

We asked about marble and granite

 and wanted to know more about quartz.

Quartz is a manufactured product 

where ground natural quartz stone is

 mixed with polymer, resin, and pigments

 then formed into powdery rectangular sheets.

This is when wispy lines and sparkles

are added.

Next, It rolls down the line to where

all the air is extracted out in a vibrating vacuum 

compacting system.  Then, it's baked 

 to form a very hard granite-like surface.

Finally it's polished to a smooth shiny finish.

Quartz seemed to be the most affordable choice

plus it is low maintenance and durable. 

We were given little samples to take home. 

Sam was imagining she wanted a 

mostly white counter with a few wispy

gray lines running through it. 

She chose white samples. 

I wanted something that would sparkle 

when the lights hit it just right so I

grabbed a couple that had sparkle.

Home Depot Silestone "Pietra"

Over the next few days

we decided we liked a piece 
of quartz called "Pietra"  

pronounced pee-et-tra which is 

Italian for "stone".  

It was white-ish, had wispy lines and little

flakes that sparkled. 

We got an estimate from HomeDepot 

It was high but not ridiculous, certainly doable, 
just not in our immediate budget.
We'd have to plan and save before

we pulled the trigger.

Here's 2 pictures of a Pietra 
countertop I found on Pinterest.

At work I talked to my coworker Tina
about our plans for a new kitchen countertop
and she reminded me that 
her boyfriend John works for a local remodeling
business and that his boss, contractor Rick, could
probably get us a better price on everything.
John could even help pull out our old countertops.

We hashed out our plans over dinner one night.
John said Rick was willing to supply
his stone guys at their cost with no mark up,
plus get us his price on any stone we picked out.

At the time Pietra was a Home Depot exclusive
and now we didn't need the rest of their services.
Sam and I headed off to other stone businesses
that Rick recommended to see what they offered. 

This White Ice granite from 

Espirito Santo, Brazil was pretty nice.

Here is a picture of an Espirito Santo 

granite quarry in Brazil, however this

 may not be the White Ice Quarry, 

but it should look very similar.

I couldn't find a picture stating white ice quarry. 

The granite was turning out to be more affordable 

then the quartz with Rick's discount.  

Plus I liked the idea that it was real and natural

and not a man made product.

Every shop we toured had White Ice.

Here's a slab of Bianco Romano Supreme,

similar, but we still liked the White Ice.

While we shopped we were gathering 

ideas for a backsplash as well.

So many great styles to choose from.

Patterns, colors,

I liked this, but not for a country kitchen.

Sam and I both thought this would 

be nice in our bathroom.

Another White Ice

Sam wanted to keep the tile plain since the 

counter was going to be very busy,

I liked this tile because it reminded me 

of chicken wire.

Very country kitchen.

Nice basket weave pattern.

We saw this design in a model home 

and we were hooked.

This granite was Colonial White and Sam thought 

it was too blue but we loved the back splash.

They even had a blue chicken on the counter

to drive home the chicken wire look!

The day had arrived, we 

cleared the counters.

I'm not going to miss the countertop,

but I'm going to miss my farm boarder paper.

I know, but I just really liked it.

The dining and family rooms were a mess.

The quartz sink from Blanco 

I ordered online had arrived.

Did I mention we bought two slabs so

it was enough to do both bathroom counters too.

John came over in the morning and 

helped rip out the old countertops.

He laid on his back on the floor and used his legs 

to push up on the counters to pop them free.

The next day the stonemason guys arrived.

They measured and cut out particle board support

for under the stone.

Then measured the sinks and cut out holes for them.

They cut out the sink holes in the granite 

in the front yard,

all the other stone was cut at a stone yard 

before they arrived. 

It all fit like a glove, they were experts.

Blanco is not a standard American brand sink.

It's based in Germany.

source

We chose the model Precis Equal Double 516320 

in SILGRANIT white

The installers had not worked with it before and wondered why there were no 

support edges on the side of the sink,

 only the front and back.

They had to construct wooden side supports 

to mount the sink.

Our bathroom under counter mounted sinks 

were made by "Jacuzzi"

The kitchen sink will be under counter mounted also.

Pieces for the bathroom backsplashes were 

being finished in the front yard too.

Backsplash installed.

Time for the BIG countertop piece.

Blanco sink is set in place.

End of the counter is beefed up 

to match the other side.

Sink is ready.

Bathroom counters need holes drilled 

for faucet and handles.

Kitchen countertop is on!

The ensuite bathroom countertop 

is looking good too!

The sink is siliconed onto counter.

Faucet hole is drilled while 

granite dust is vacuumed. 

I will install the faucet and handles myself.

They are now installing the waterfall end.

Looking good!

They have a granite filler that they polish 

into all the cracks and holes to make 

them feel smooth and look invisible.

Lots and lots of polishing.

I ordered the little shiny chrome finish 

overflow covers from Amazon for the

holes in the sinks.

get them here

They add an overall finished look.

Filling more granite seams.

Basically a perfectionist, his assistants are 

cleaning up after the long day.

Granite composite sink looks beautiful.

I install the faucets and handles.

Here's a pic with no overflow hole cover.

Hallway bathroom finished.

The Pfaucet is from Pfister.

The model name is Courant.

We bought the same faucets in the ensuite as well.

We are very pleased with the look of the 

White Ice Granite.

We both love the waterfall end of the counter.

The backsplash installer comes next week.

There's no toe kick on a waterfall end 

so watch your toes.

We are thrilled with the look.

Such a difference.

A really beautiful job on the counters.

A week later, Tony arrived to install 

the tile backsplash. 

looks nice even before the grout went in.

We chose a gray grout to tie into the 

gray in the countertop and to 

look a little bit like chicken wire. 

One final thing I wanted from Amazon, 

this little device in the sink

It has a little built in strainer basket 

for easy emptying. 

It has come in handy over the years.

get one here

There, it's done!

This was a looooong post

I hope you all enjoyed it.

Sorry it took so long to release.

Maybe it will help someone that's 

on the fence about new countertops.

As always, thanks for stopping by

and Happy Hunting!