Granite tiles are a good alternative if granite isn't in the budget. They can be put as close together as a seam can be in a full slab top so maybe 1/16 of an inch?

Sorry, I'm not sure how the ends/edges are done. I'm sure any tile place can help with that.

Have you looked at the prefabricated / manufactured granite? They're cheaper than buying the slabs and having them custom-fabricated.

those seams might be 1/8th instead of 1/16th..still narrow

our friends used uba tuba tiles on their ski cabin kitchen remodel and it's actually quite striking. i remember the wife commenting that it was much more economical to use the tiles than slab at the time they did it. they used narrow grout lines (i'd guess 1/16th or something smaller than 1/8th) and dark grout. on theirs, the tiles were cut so that they hang just slightly (the width of the tile) over the edge of the counter all the way around, then another piece of cut tile (2 or 3 inches deep?) was butted up underneath to create a nice smooth edge. i don't know if the tiles came with a polished edge or if they had to polish it where it was cut, but in their finished project, the edge is polished so it blends with the 2-3 inch deep under-hanging pieces. it winds up looking like the L shaped pieces one would use to make an edge with regular porcelain tile.

hth, lori

We considered this before we 'splurged' on quartz. I looked at ecounters.com for the tile and edging. They were great for answering questions.
HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: e-counters

I have granite tiles in my current kitchen. I DIYed it for about half the money I could have had a formica top done for me.

I really like it, may go this route in my laudry [changing finances may allow me to go slab in the kitchen itself] at the new house.

I did the edges with hickory stained to match my cabs.

I saw a system at my local tile store designed to wrap over the edge for more of a slab effect. It looks nice and was about half the cost of slab, maybe a little less. Can't remember the brand.

No matter what anyone tells you, don't try to do it without grout lines: there WILL be a gap, and that gap WILL fill up-- you get to choose whether its filled with grout, or chicken blood, raw eggs, etc.

Here's a link you might want to check out with reference to the edge treatments:

Here is a link that might be useful: my backsplashes and countertops page

why not! i think it's a great idea to get a quality counter. even with the grout lines i think it's a better choice (resale, durability) than a lot of other stuff ...which i'm not mentioning by name as not to offend. GL!

I'm curious about this too - I considered it before going with the soapstone DIY.
I've heard of using non-porous grout (acrylic?) but don't know any details. Seems like it would be a good idea if there aren't other problems with it. Can the grout be kept flush with the surface instead of slightly lower? That would help in cleaning I'd think.

- D

I looked into this also for a window sill. I was looking at a product carried by my local tile store (called bennesimo?)that has granite tiles with attached 1 1/4" bullnose edges. However the edge pieces are very expensive, and the only way with that particular system that you get a savings over using a slab, is if most of your surface are field tiles. I think the pricing is something like $10 / sq ft for field tiles, and something like $80 for each edge piece. So for my 10 foot window sill, the price would have been $800 for tile, compared to $600 for making it from the same slab as the countertop.

I think Don means epoxy grout should be used for countertops. I think also that its the one place that Bill V. will recommend epoxy grout, believeing it to be a great product, but overkill in most other instances.

Also I love this statment:
No matter what anyone tells you, don't try to do it without grout lines: there WILL be a gap, and that gap WILL fill up-- you get to choose whether its filled with grout, or chicken blood, raw eggs, etc.
Ewww.

I looked into Benissimo granite tiles, too. At my local tile store, the 12x12 tiles were $21.45, outside corners were $92, inside corners were $61.56, and the bullnose tiles were $52.50. They tell you how to plan and install on their website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Benissimo Systems

I think granite tiles are a good choice. We put them in our kitchen for budget reasons (and also because we were not completely sure that our darling old bungalow would appreciate the weight of slabs!). There are several GWers who have them. Ours have the epoxy grout and 1/8(?)" seams with bullnsed edges and then the 2-3" cut facing tiles. You will hear many people say the downsides are cleaning the grout and not being able to roll out dough. I clean the grout periodically and it is really not a big pain for me. I use a marble dough board to roll out dough. Not the best choice for everyone, but we sure are happy with it. Here are a couple of pictures of ours.

kimkitchy - Your counter looks great.
Did you buy the bullnose tiles or have them fabricated?
Would you mind sharing the details?
TIA

try searching on "soapstone tiles" because I asked a similar question and I think there are others out there as well.

Regarding the Bennissimo systems - we considered going with them, not because of cost, but because they had a granite that I fell in love with and could not find any place else. I had several stores in town researching, searched the internet - you name it, I searched it.

I finally had the counter place give me a quote on Bennissimo. I was very surprised at how expensive it was.
It's been awhile so I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was near $5000 - while granite slab was $7000 - or in that neighborhood. We ultimately decided to go with slab, as I couldn't see paying only $2000 less for tiles.

FWIW....

Boxie

joanie b,
We had the tiles bullnosed at a local fabricator. If you live near a metro area you might find a "Bullnose World" (believe it or not!). I live in a rural area, so we didn't have one here.
The counter tile cost about $315 from The Great Indoors.
The cost to bullnose the edge tiles was $300.
Many people DIY, but our GC had a tile sub and I really don't know what the cost was for the substrate and install.
HTH. -Kim

I think Don means epoxy grout should be used for countertops. I think also that its the one place that Bill V. will recommend epoxy grout, believeing it to be a great product, but overkill in most other instances.

Think Spectralock!! And Bob's right. A countertop is the one place it really wouldn't be overkill.

As far as Bennissimo Or Bordura, or ANY of those systems where they have premade edge pieces-- here's the problem-- If you could order just the edge pieces, and get the rest of the stone locally, you'd be styling. The edge pieces are still alot more expensive than having pieces bullnosed at a local stone shop, and then just adding skirt pieces, but they also look alot nicer than just normal bullnosed tiles, too, so they SHOULD be more expensive. However, the problem is that if you get the edge pieces, you have no choice-- unless you want shading problems, you HAVE to get the tile at the same place, and then not only are you paying inflated rates for the tile, but you also have shipping involved for some pretty heavy material, so that by the time you're don'e, you could've gotten slab for just about the same price. IOW, they've pretty much priced themselves out of the market.

Can the grout be kept flush with the surface instead of slightly lower? That would help in cleaning I'd think.

It's next to impossible to do, because when you go to clean off the excess, you're always going to take a little off the joint, as well. No way really, around it.

Folks, bullnosing really isn't that expensive, all things considered. If you do the work yourself, it'll cost you usually about 10-12.00 a piece. If you have an installer do it for you, try and find someone who has the equipment, and knows how to bullnose on site. That'll save you down time, as well as being able to make the bullnose on site will insure that the pieces are accurate, especially if you start getting into things like undermounts.

just like I post it at the other thread, if you live a places like california, you can find places that sells cheap prefabbed granites.

I haven't been able to find prefab. Anyone know of any in the Philadelphia area?? kimkitchy, your kitchen shows exactly the results I was hoping for with the tile!! I was hoping to do a brown or black with dark grout and your edging is exactly what I would want. I also didn't realize you could do an undermount sink with the tile. You guys have my hopes up!!!!

ALot of installers will tell you it can't be done. Obviously, they're wrong. :-)