granite worktops, what finish is best, upstands?

[NOAH]

Help, we are thinking of ordering granite worktops for a new oak kitchen but when we started looking we are being bamboozled with terminology, different groups, diferent fiinishes, sink underhung, or recessed, upstands or spashbacks.

So in desperation, I am here, whats the best finish, is it BULLNOSE, PENCIL or SQUARE. There are no examples of these where we are looking.

How do I grade what I am gettig eg is venetian gold in a top group?

Do I need upstands and what use are they?

All I know is the cost goes up for each bit extra!!

totally lost


noah

 

[damson]

whats the best finish, is it BULLNOSE, PENCIL or SQUARE. There are no examples of these where we are looking.

The different profiles are illustrated [broken link removed]. A full bullnose is curved top and bottom (as illustrated), whereas a half bullnose would only be curved on the top and square on the bottom.

Do I need upstands and what use are they?

An upstand is like a miniature splashback. It protects the wall a bit (not as much as a splashback) and can be decorative. See [broken link removed]. Whether you need it depends on how messy you're going to be at your worktop and how easily cleaned the wall surface is! (A splashback would go higher up the wall. Or you could have neither splashback nor upstand if you don't envisages splashes). Apart from that, it's just down to personal preference - whether you like the look of it or not.

Don't know about granite grades.

 

[bcol1]

We went for granite on our oak kitchen - went with the square edge which is not actually completely square, see edge profile here [broken link removed] and we also got the upstands which i think really finishes it all off. Re the grade, just ask whichever company you're thinking of going with, they all classify the different colours into 3 grades. We got ours from Stoneworld.

 

[fobs]

We have an Ash kitchen with granite worktops and have the pencil finish and upstands which I think finishes it off.
We also got our sink undermounted and got the groves for the draining on the granite near the sink which looks nice. sorry I didn't get the spashback in granite near the cooker but instead put some black/cream tiles here which look good.

 

[Muz]

We got the upstands and also a splashback behine the counter. As we had a window over the sink we also got the windowsill covered in granite. It looks great.

 

[Deirdra]

Colour is important, better to choose a colour that's dark, but not too dark to show water marks and not too light to show up stains (as it is a porous material - depending on finish you choose). Granite needs more maintenance than I expected.