The choices can be confusing_there's so much available in kitchen counters. From natural stone like granite and marble to synthetics such as Formica, Ceramic tiles, Corian - even environmentally damaging products like wood. So what should you choose, and why?

Ideally, most people (naturally) want to coordinate their kitchen counter top to the decor and color theme in their kitchen. In addition to that, they're probably looking at aesthetic appeal and cost. And would normally like to get a durable surface with suitable edges, that is easy to use and clean, has a smooth surface, is heat resistant, water resistant, chemical resistant, won't scratch, stain, chip or crack, and last, but not least, is easily repaired . Taking each option available on the market today, we can take a look to see if it meets the criteria vital to the ideal counter top for your kitchen.
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India Granite
India Stone

Formica
A thin layer of plastic joined to a particleboard or wood_that's what forms a laminate like Formica. It comes in attractive colors and designs, simulating materials like granite, is relatively inexpensive and fairly durable with edging options. Easy to clean, and smooth in surface it is also stain resistant.

It meets seven of the fifteen criteria identified, but is that good enough? Few people find Formica aesthetically pleasing. Moreover, hot objects placed on it melt the surface, and wetting and flooding damage its surface beyond repair. Cleaning materials you use in the kitchen damage Formica, making it dull and scratched. Knives scratch the surface. Remember, you cannot repair it. Additionally, Formica warps and fades with prolonged use.
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Stone Countertop
China Slabs

Ceramic Tiles
Ceramic tiles, joined by grouting tiles together come in an array of designs and colors. Some homeowners find them attractive, and they are durable, stain, water and heat resistant and practically scratch proof. Repairable, with a little difficulty, they're attractively priced, though more expensive than laminates,

They need frequent cleaning, though, because grouting easily gathers dirt, a situation not desirable in a kitchen. Cleaning grouting frequently is not only time-consuming, but can be very tiresome. Additionally, ceramic tiles are prone to chipping and cracking.

Ceramic tile counters fare well on most counts, but its major drawback_that of maintenance? Cmakes it an impractical solution for kitchen use.
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Marble Chinese
Marble Countertop

Corian
Corian is made using acrylic and or polyester plastic. It comes in many colors and designs, including granite look-alikes, and is available in a matte or glossy finish. It is water resistant, does not usually stain and is easy to clean. Unaffected by chemical use in cleaning agents, it is repairable.

However, Corian is not heat resistant. Placing hot pans on it damages the surface beyond repair. It is expensive, and scratches easily, though the scratches can be removed through repair. Additionally, being manmade, Corian is not eco-friendly. But most of all, Corian is not aesthetically appealing to the discerning consumer. Corian is essentially synthetic, and its finish cannot match the timbre and antiquity of natural stone. Its not that its cost effective, either.

Corian meets some of the criteria of a good counter top, but its lack of resistance to heat and scratching, and its synthetic finish do not offer value for money to a cost conscious consumer.
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Gold Beige
Finland Stone

Wood
Wood counter tops, made using strips of thick wood joined together, are durable with care, attractive and functional, especially if you chop a lot. They are easy to clean as well and you can remove scratches by sandpapering.

However, wood counters do not offer much scope in color or design and need a lot of care. Compared to other counters, they do not last as long. They are neither heat nor water resistant and scratch easily. Additionally, their edges warp over time and need treatment. Wood is not environmentally friendly either.

It is expensive, too. The question facing consumers is, is it worth the extra care with all its drawbacks at this cost?

Granite
A natural stone of immense beauty, granite is available in many colors and finishing styles, from polished to matte and textured. It is strong, very durable, easy to use and clean and does not attract dirt. Heat, water and chemical resistant, granite does not stain or scratch. One of the hardest materials in existence, it does not usually chip or crack, but is replaceable in the event of a mishap.
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Kitchen CounterTops
Granite Bay

Granite is expensive, but offers many benefits in a high usage area like a kitchen. Additionally, its aesthetic appeal is unmatched by any other alternative.

Marble
Marble is also aesthetically appealing and hygienic, but can stain and scratch more easily. It is not as hard as granite and therefore not as durable and does not react well with chemical cleaning agents.

Considering the facts at hand, granite provides the best option for a kitchen counter top. The cost of granite is an investment, which more than pays off over the decades, in terms of ease, convenience, cleanliness, low maintenance cost, durability and aesthetics.

Natural stone comes in such an endless variety of colors that choosing the right one can be a daunting task. Homeowners often want to match their new flooring and countertops to items they already own, or to their existing paint scheme. While this may sound like a logical approach, it's best to keep in mind that items can be always be moved, and paint is the quickest and least expensive way to completely change the look of a room.

It's best, when choosing something as significant as flooring or countertops, to reconsider the entire space. Think of it, not in terms of what it currently is, and how you can fit the new colors into it, but of what the space could be. After investing thousands of dollars into natural stone countertops, it is a small thing to repaint the walls, change the handles on the cabinet doors, or replace a white microwave with a stainless steel one. Reinventing your space, instead of retrofitting it, may be intimidating at first, but when you take this approach, you will end up with a much more cohesive, professional look.
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Tile Marble
Natural Stone Business

Colors play a dramatic role in the mood of a room. As a general rule, cool colors (blues and greens) tend to make a room feel more spacious and formal, while warm colors (reds, yellows, and browns)lend a cozy feeling.

Consider not only the color of the paint and stone, but the light which enters the room. If it is a north-facing room, it will tend to feel cooler just because of the natural light, as will rooms which face east. South- and west-facing rooms will feel warmer. This light can be balanced by choosing colors on the opposite spectrum. If your living area faces west and receives the yellow and red light of the last half of the day, but you desire a more sophisticated look, choosing paint and stone with green or blue tints will help bring it into balance.
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China Marble
Stone USA

For most rooms, though, start by choosing the color of stone that you love. Don't worry about how it will fit into the room. You'll worry about fitting the room to the stone later. Choose a stone that you think is beautiful, regardless of whether it matches the color of your cabinets or walls. You will be far more satisfied, in the end, by choosing a stone that you simply adore, rather than choosing a color or style because you think it will match.

Once you've chosen your stone, imagine what colors will look best on the walls. Choosing a color within the same color family will help the room blend into itself, and the resulting uniformity will give it a comfortable feel. This is called monochromatic color theory, and it tends to create an atmosphere of coziness and quiet elegance.

Choosing colors adjacent to the stone's color on the color wheel is called analogous color theory, and this is similar to monochromatic theory. It produces a subtle feeling, as long as one color (the walls, for example) is chosen as the dominant color, and the rest of the room (stone, floor, and accent pieces) are allowed to enrich the dominant color.
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India Stone Granite
granitevanitytop

Choosing a complimentary color scheme (colors opposite each other on the color wheel) will give the room a sense of motion and contrast. It looks best when the dominant color (walls and floor) is cool, and the accents are warm. Cool accents in a warm room tend to look awkward. Because of the strong contrast produced by a complimentary color choice, many designers choose to use the colors just adjacent to the complimentary color, rather than the complimentary itself. This can help soften the effect.
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Korea Stone
Amoy Stone Xiamen Stone

The past near 20 years for the development of stone material industry has witnessed such stages as beginning, warming-up, and strengthening. In the early stage, stone material businesses relied on local resources and most of them were state-owned or collective-owned ones. Over the recent 10 years, the stone material industry came into being with the rapid national economic development and experienced drastic growth. All types of businesses develop flourishingly. In such places as Nan'an, Xiamen, Hui'an in Fujian province, there emerged many stone material processing and sales distributing centers in a short period relying on the convenient transportation or the local stone carving craft running in the family. In the early stage, the stone materials were mainly sold in domestic. In recent years, many businesses with strengths, foresight and markets have gone abroad to occupy the international stone material market.

The development of Chinese stone material production, consumption, import and export is attracting more and more attention from the world stone material industry. In recent years, with China attaching great importance to the resource, energy saving and environmental protection, the new policy orientation will urge the Chinese stone material industry to adjust its production structure and import and export structure. Firstly, the exploitation of domestic stone material and mine will be under stricter supervision and management. Secondly, export of products of high energy-consumption, high pollution, and resource type will be limited more strictly. Thirdly, China has reduced the import tax of marble, granite and aggregate to zero, and will increase the import of such stone material as scarce and popular marble, granite raw material and marble panel. In addition, with the increase of Chinese people's consumption level and the enhancement of the strength of stone material industry, China's stone material businesses begin marching for the international market in succession.
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Granite, China Granite
Kitchen Granite Counter Top

A batch of stone material businesses with those in Fujian and Guangdong provinces as the representatives have seized the opportunities, actively expanded the international market, and broadened the export volume and market share of products. After several year of hard work, the operation has entered the harvest period. Presently, the "going abroad" of domestic stone material businesses shows the following features:

In terms of investment, "going abroad" businesses are mostly joint ventures or sole-source investment enterprises, and their business scopes are mostly product export trade, establishment of sales outlet or processing bases. In terms of investment target, they are mainly Australia, Egypt, Spain, Tanzania, Kenya, and the United States, which are mostly stone material trade and raw material countries.

In terms of operation mode, the foreign processing trade becomes a new mode. That is to say, using the foreign resources and market, combing the comparative advantages of their technology and management, domestic stone material businesses take local raw material to conduct production and sales, which has a promising market future. Taking Nan'an as an example, the supply volume of stone material from Nan'an companies to Egypt takes up over a half of the local market share, and that to Spain takes up for around a third of that country. The mutual complementation of advantages and win-win development effect brought by international co-operation has emerged.
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Kitchen Countertops
China Granite

In terms of development trend, domestic stone material businesses will establish joint ventures with local companies, conduct in-depth and fine processing on un-processed or roughly processed products to enhance their added value and technological contents, and make them better meet the demands of local markets, which will help Chinese stone material businesses steadily expand their industry chains in the international market. To continuously make the stone material industry bigger and stronger, governments of some places actively instruct and support the strengthened international economic and technological co-operation, and provide many supportive measures for their international development, which will help those businesses further expand international market.

Fujian Xishi Group and Quanzhou Leide Stone Industry Limited are both nationally renowned stone material businesses. Not long ago, representatives from the two businesses and other local stone material businesses gathered in Fuzhou and discussed the plan of expanding American market with relevant bodies from the United States. These businesses changed their previous method of setting up companies to product, process and sell all by themselves, and began to exploit the American market with their strength as a whole. They plan to take Houston as the center and radiate towards North American market, and establish the industry brand of "North America-China Stone Material Supermarket" gradually. The reason why these companies plan to set up stone material base in the United States is that they attach importance to three favorable factors: Firstly, the consuming volume of stone material in the United States is over US$2 billion every year, and shows a trend of increase year after year; Secondly, the volume of imported stone material to the United States has exceeded US$1 billion, and increases stably at a rate of 10 percent per year, while the volume of imported stone material products to China is rather small; Thirdly, due to the increase of production cost, especially the environmental cost, the prices of stone material in the Unites States rise consequently, so the Chinese businesses can sell their products processed in China of the third country raw material at favorable prices.

The changes in domestic and overseas stone material market find many enterprises new business opportunities, and it's time for those companies with strengths and experiences to "go abroad" to expand new investment market.

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Marble Fireplace
Granite Chinese

Not too many years ago, there was not a whole lot that you could do to a stone countertop to refinish it or repair it. If it was cracked, then it stayed cracked or somebody would try to super glue it or use some nasty looking epoxy on it. It might hold it together again but it would surely look like it had been fixed.
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Stone Page
Slab Marble

These days, if you have a stone countertop that is broken, then there is someone that can fix it for you. Depending on where you live it may be a little difficult to find this person but they do exist now.

These stone repair specialists are very skilled in repairing marble, granite, and quartz countertops. In the past you just had to live with blemishes and chips but a skilled repair specialist can make it so you never even knew that you had a problem. That it is a good thing because now you don't have to choose between living with a broken, ugly countertop or spending thousands on a new countertop.
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Fuding Black, G684
White Galaxy

Just think how bad you would feel if you had to throw away an 8 foot long granite countertop that still had 7 good feet on it. Then, you had to turn around and buy another 8 foot long countertop to replace the one that you just through out. Most people would just live with the cracks I think, or at least I would. I do know some people that would not even consider it and would have no choice in their mind but to replace the countertop.

Luckily, thankfully, the days of wasting broken stone countertops are over. Call a stone countertop repair specialist.

Marble is one of the most stunning forms of stone that was first used for sculpture. Over the years, this hard crystalline metamorphic rock has already been used as building materials, such as tiles.

Marbles are one variety of calcite which are capable of being polished and used for different ornamental and architectural purposes. Its color greatly varies from black to white, and even sometimes red, green, and yellow. They are often beautifully clouded or veined. And because it is porous, it can easily be stained or etched in acid.
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Countertops Bathroom Kitchen
Tan Brown

Caring for your Tiles

To maintain your tiles, occasionally wash its surfaces with lukewarm water and then wipe them dry with a clean piece of cloth. To avoid streaks, wipe the surface with a damp chamois. Depending on the soil it is placed on, wash your marble tiles with a solution of warm water and dish-washing detergent at least one or twice in a year. Rinse and wipe them dry to achieve a better outcome.

If you notice your marble tiles starting to fade, lightly coat them with wax. Although this is not advised for constant use, waxing marble tiles can help regain is shine while also protecting its surface.
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Marble Slab
China Natural Slate

If they are white though, avoid waxing them as they tend to appear yellowish in the long run. Also, try applying a marble sealer to clean them. The sealer will help protect the tiles from staining, thus allowing soil to be easily wiped off using a damp cloth.

Special Cleaning

Marble tiles, when they start to fade and appear already dull, can still be livened up with the use of commercial polish and cleaners. You can obtain these special cleaning products from companies that sell marble.
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Brazil Stone
Marble Tiles

Normally, these companies carry a wide variety of imported tile polish-cleaners that are normally used on soft imported marbles. Hence, they are safe to use and clean for harder US marbles. Aside from being effective in restoring the luster, these special cleaning agents work easier and faster than those conventional care kits used before.

You can also use putty powder or tin oxide to polish dulled tiles, or when the tiles' surfaces are etched. You can rub them on the surface using a clean damp cloth, making sure to fold and refold the cloth to clean damp areas. An electric polisher should be used to buff the tiles. However, finding tin oxide or putty powder is very find. If you cannot find these, faded marble can still be restored with the help of people who are in the business of making and selling tombstones.

Stained Marble Tiles

To remove stain from tiles, make a wrapping out of a white absorbent material like a blotter, napkin, a facial tissue, or a paper towel, dampened with chemicals that help dissolve stains. You can find these chemicals from your local hardware or marble tile distributors.
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Europe Stone
Golden Diamond

If you notice your marble tiles starting to fade, don't fret. There are still ways to restore that shine. Contact your local tile distributor if you think you can no longer restore them on your own. They have products and professionals to help you with these concerns.
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Almand Mauve, G611
Stone Vanitytops