baer beginnings: The Great Countertop Debate

After researching ALL the countertop options (from concrete to butcher block to the black stuff in middle school science labs), we knew that for us there were only 2 real options: solid surface (like Corian) or Granite. These are the easiest to maintain, most resilient, etc. and I'm very much a function-over-form type of person.

From the beginning, we thought we really wanted corian (or solid surface) counters because of their very clean look and seamless sinks. And we also thought we really didn't want granite. If for no other reason, because everybody does granite. So we wanted to be different. Yes, that's a stupid reason.

But the more we looked at corian, the more we realized we didn't want corian that was trying to look like granite. Scout and Ben have white corian counters with some tan flecks and it looks great, like a smooth solid surface, not like it's trying to be granite. But we couldn't really find a color that looked right with our dark wood cabinets. Plus, we realized that we could find a granite-guy and negotiate a great price that was actually not that much higher than corian.

So we looked at some slabs and got a couple of granite bids over the phone, making a guess on our square footage. Then I went to Triton Stone to pick out our slabs (Santa Cecilia) and ran into David Reina while there. I instantly knew I wanted to work with this guy - DR Custom Granite (http://www.drcustomgranitetx.com/). I would recommend David a million times over! He was a little higher than some other bids but I really wanted to work with him. In the end, I was pretty proud of how much I talked him down so that I felt comfortable giving him the business.

So yeah, I don't make it into many pictures (even though I swear I actually do a lot of the labor), but I'm the negotiator, the researcher, the scheduler, and the "mean one" who tells our contractors when something isn't up to par. I'm like the general contractor and Chris is part of my labor force. You know he loves it when I tell him that... :)

Here's David and his crew installing all our counters. I was so scared one of them was going to collapse carrying in these heavy pieces.

(Yes - those pendants are beautiful, aren't they? But we'll get to that...)

Cutting the hole for the gas cooktop. Man this was loud, much higher pitch than when we cut the concrete with the diamond blade. (Chris: Notice they're wearing eye and ear and protection. Take note.)