On Tue, 6 Jun 2006, Dee Randall > wrote:

>Saturday I went to a store, American Flooring, and saw for the first time,
>granite tiles. The salesperson said they were for cabinet tops, and that
>the seems could be put together as nicely as the seams on a 'boulder' of
>granite. I was really surprised.
>
>These tiles about 12 x 12 were much, much thinner, (at least the sample)
>than the larger slab samples, and it was also available in the color/texture
>of my choice that I desire in the slab granite.
>
>I've done a bit of googling on this, and basically I've seen them used for
>flooring, but not actually used for/on cabinet tops. I asked him how the
>edges were done, and he told me that they were nicely edged - perhaps a
>pencil edge), but Geez, they were thin!

They are used for flooring. I wouldn't use them for a counter. And even for
flooring you have to be sure they are sealed. Any oil on them and it soaks
it and leaves a permanent stain. While water will evaporate out, dark
things like red wine and grape juice would leave permanent stains. The
problem on counters would be the seams. If any staining liquid got into the
grout it would be absorbed sideways into the granite even if sealed on the
top. Now there may be some, other than the Ruby Red/Imperial Red that I
know doesn't absorb, but with everybody talking about sealing I would have
to presume that they are few.

Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).