Thursday, April 25, 2024

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.
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.
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.


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!

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