Large granite Island is no seam possible?
My island is going to be 78" x 70" including a 10" overhang. Cabinets are already ordered so I think I'm stuck with this size. I'm looking at Granite and want to have it seamless. The granite place I've been getting estimates from is saying that it is going to be very difficult to find a slab that will be large enough to have no seams. Are there certain types of granite or marble slabs that normally come in larger sizes? Would it be as bad as I feel it might look with a seam in an island that size? Any other countertop suggestions for a seamless island? I haven't settled yet on any one material, mostly because I like everything! Oh, and it's all one piece, no sink or anything.
Here is a link that might be useful: island plan
Kommentarer (24)
plllog
14 år sedanThey've been cutting larger blocks just for this purpose. It seriously limits your selection, but I've seen a few slabs that I think are that big. One I considered during a flirtation with granite was gorgeous: lots of movement in golds and reds. I wouldn't be surprised if that one was 8' square, or nearly that. That's in L.A., though.
User
14 år sedanThat's not an island, that's a sub-continent!
First of all, would something that large be able to enter your home and have a clear traffic pattern into the kitchen with 4-6 hefty sized guys too? The size of the available slabs isn't the only restriction on having an island that large without a seam! However, most granite slabs are around 5'x9', some are shorter, some are longer. But most are around 60" wide. Yes, some very few stones are coming in larger sizes, but you will be limited in selection, and you still have the transport and access logistics to deal with. I also have to ask you how you plan on cleaning such a large island. I'm tall and have a long reach, but I would barely be able to wipe the center of your island, and I certainly couldn't get enough oomph into scrubbing something if it spilled.
Perhaps you should put your cabinet order on hold until you can answer these issues.
eastcoastmom
14 år sedanIn my search for a slab to cover an 11 (!) foot long island with no seam I saw slabs that would have been large enough for your project. My advice is to check the area suppliers. You can call by phone as a starting point, but as some people pointed out to me, you are better off going in person - names can be inconsistent and you might find a slab that is not referenced on the phone (this happened to me more than once).
In my case there were places that were and were not willing to handle something so big - it seemed to depend mostly on the resources of the operation, although I was asked about access. Many fabricators will hesitate to go to their suppliers before using up their own supply - sometimes you have to make it clear that is what you want and that you will be looking elsewhere for it as well. You may have to pay a bit more for a special order if it's a slab that has to be brought in especially for you. Of course then there is the issue of finding a fabricator that has an account with a given supplier, but that was generally not an issue - I would mention fabricators and the suppliers would tell me if they had accounts with them (but won't usually give you a list of their accounts).
i know that some here may not agree or think of seams as a big deal, but I think KDs should advise when a seam might be necessary on an island and that granite choices might be limited without one.
flseadog
14 år sedanWhen we were looking for slabs in central Florida we saw some soapstone from Brazil and some quartzite---the real stone---that was 155" x about 75". The stone yard commented that it was unusual for them to have slabs that big but there was some demand because houses and kitchens were getting bigger. As you might imagine this discussion took place before the housing market crashed. We ended up using quartzite but our island is 108" x 48" so we picked a slab that was 120" x 60" because most of the granite we saw at 96" x 60" would have required a seam and we wanted a seamless island. The fabricator brought up all the points live wire oak has mentioned above about the problems of getting our large seamless slab into the house and suggested that we do it in two pieces. Our compromise was to have them do the cutout for the cooktop once the counter was in place (something that is not at all recommended on this forum but it worked out okay for us). The fabricator stated that they could not guarantee that the stone would not break if they did the cutout in the shop. I could barely watch as they maneuvered the stone into the house. It did indeed require 5 huge guys who looked like trained weight lifters and they had to use every bit of muscle they had to get the stone in place. So, getting a big stone into place might be doable for you if you can find one because there are no cutouts. Good luck in your search.
michellemarie
14 år sedanI saw slabs that large. Does your supplier have a website?
Make a list of all stone yards within a reasonable distance to your house and take a day to visit them. I think if you are persistent you will find something.
I also am going to have a mini continent in my kitchen and I absolutely do not want seams if they can be avoided.
Good Luck!
Cloud Swift
14 år sedanThe business model for fabricators on the East Coast that eastcostmom described tends is different than that typical on the West Coast. We are in the Sacramento area and our fabricator doesn't carry any slabs in stock. They gave us a list of the slab yards they recommend but said we could choose from any granite supplier in the area.
flsadog, 155x75! That's a huge slab of quartzite. That's pretty remarkable because back when we were looking we fell in love with a Brazilian quartzite and felt very lucky when we found slabs that were 124 x 64, big enough to do our island in one slab. It usually came in smaller slabs than most granites.
swickbb, you do need to be concerned about the path to your kitchen and whether such a large piece will be able to be maneuvered in to your kitchen. Our kitchen has a sliding glass door to the back yard so that allowed for our 99" by 52" island top to come in.
Remember that you will probably want a bit of overhang on the other sides of the cabinets. 1.5 inches is typical. If so, you will need a slightly bigger slab.
swickbb
Författare14 år sedanOMG. Thanks everyone. I feel sick thinking about the size of this thing! It didn't seem like it was that big on the paper LOL! I think it's like one of those things where you get exactly what you think about whether it's about what you want or not. I did not want a huge island because of the cleaning issue. Originally it was a different shape and then I kind of went with the island shape that Holligator had suggested over my original plan. The KD like it and it looked like it fit on the overall plan. I have a single length counter that extends like a T in the kitchen now that I could just not visualize around. Geez. This thing is going to look ridiculous. Cabs are already ordered. Only other thing I could do maybe is to just cover the countertops and that would give it an L shape? A wall is being built on that 72" angle side so people could sit there but I am assuming that I don't have to have that part built. Oh no.
vrjames
14 år sedanyou would find a large number of choices in the 70 to 75 tall range. That will not be the issue.
Working with the fabricator to be sure it can be transported into your particular situation is more important.
Blessings
plllog
14 år sedanSwickbb, Take a deep breath and look seriously at your plan. Construct the island out of cardboard boxes or sawhorses and plywood or something, so that you can see and feel what it will really be as planned.
Your cabinets are ordered but they're not installed. You can change anything before it's installed. It's better to "waste" a little money getting it right rhan getting stuck. But if you make it out of boxes you might find that cleaning is not that big an issue unless you're very small. Halfway across the island on the long side is still less than three feet. As long as you can reach the middle from both sides without lying on top of the island, you can clean it. And really, a mop does work.
On the other hand, if you decide you hate it, call immediately and have them put your order on hold until you can figure it out. There is no reason to put in a kitchen you hate!!
baloomyers
14 år sedanOur island is a similar size, only the shape is somewhat different (it's kinda like a squished baseball diamond). Ours has seating on one side (two bar stools between where first and second base would be and another two between second and third). The area with seating is raised to a higher, bar height and the rest is regular counter height. Perhaps something like this (the raised height for the seating area of your island) could help to avoid a seam?
vrjames
14 år sedanbaloomyers, your solution is a common solution, and remedies many issues when it comes to the need for larger slabs.
swickbb
Författare14 år sedanThank you all for your input. I talked to the KD again and he said I should have no problem getting the island in one piece through the door. One whole side of the kitchen is open to a great room area so that's not an issue. I really like the idea of a bi level on the island. It's really what I wanted in the first place but somehow that didn't happen. I thought the one piece looked cute -- until now when I realized it was that big. It's funny, I just came from a small raised ranch kitchen with a nice island for two, to this house where because of the openness it looks small but I guess it's bigger than I thought. I'll calm down and let the experts do their work and if I need a seam, then so be it. Maybe the contractor (if I ever get one) will have some ideas how to make it a bi level. I know one thing, my cat Beau Beau will end up in the middle where I can't reach him just laffin an laffin at me!
Cloud Swift
14 år sedanI really like having our island one level and making it two level to avoid a seam wouldn't have been an acceptable compromise to me. Perhaps because I'm short, I find it more comfortable to sit at a counter height island and I would feel too cut-off from seeing the rest of the room by a raised bar while cooking.
Also, I'm not sure I understand your layout, but I think you said that the seating area was the 72" side (the one that doesn't connect to the right angle corner. If you made it raised, it seems like you could just be making the problem of reaching the center harder. It would take a long reach to reach the lower counter from the side with the raised counter so whatever was lower would have to be cleaned from the lower edges.
I'm also not clear on where the cabinets are under the island. Depending on what cabinets you ordered, perhaps they could be arranged in a different configuration if you wanted. I'm not saying that's what you should do but if it is what you wanted to do, changing your mind now doesn't necessarily mean that the cabinets would have to be wasted.
When we thought we couldn't get large enough slabs of the granite we wanted to do our island with one, we did decide it would be fine with a seam. A good fabricator can do excellent seams. Usually the granite slabs are book matched. Granite slabs are successive slices of a block of granite. "Book matched" means they alternate which side of the granite they polish so that for two successive slabs, the sides that touched each other in the block were polished. Therefore the grain on one will be an almost perfect mirror image of the grain on the other. They can layout the pieces for each side of the seam on the two slabs so that there is a grain match at the seam. If they can do a tight seam, it can almost disappear and the result can look very good.
I'm glad that we were able to find big enough slabs to not need a seam. But the seam with book matched slabs would have been my second choice.
swickbb
Författare14 år sedanCloud swift thanks for your the lesson on the book matched seams. Now I have an idea of what the process is. I've uploaded another picture of my island with more detail.
My DH and I found a slab we both really liked - a Crema Bordeaux Leather but it's not big enough to use without the seam. They do have a bunch of slabs in stock so that would help as far as the seam goes. Now the problem is whether or not granite would actually work as well as we hope in our kitchen which is open and faces a gray/pink quartz/granite fireplace. The leathering of the Crema Bordeaux seems to look like it would work better than the polished slab because the colors are more muted - and a different slab lot as well. My idea is to bi-level the island with the bar level being a piece of raised tempered glass so you can see the granite below it and it gives it a more open feeling. We did also find a Bianco Romano that would work as a single slab for the island. It seems to tie in the fireplace better as well. At least when we hold the picture up to it! How in the heck do you pick the right piece with just a cabinet/floor sample and a picture? This is just crazy.Here is a link that might be useful: island plan
eyesofgreen
14 år sedanWe just started building our house and have designed the kitchen and got our granite qoutes I think we will have to have a seam The island will measure 85x74 with a 18x17 bar top it will have a gas cooktop and prep sink in it.
Here is a link that might be useful: my Island design
jlinajo
14 år sedanJust my thoughts on a big island, mine measures 92 by 119, yes that is almost 8 x 10 at the longest points. It is slightly diamond shaped without the point. It holds my large sink and dishwasher, under counter mw and 3 large drawers. The overhang is 15" and I LOVE it. It is the center of our house and great for entertaining. I myself cannot clean the center but my dh is 5'11" and has no problem cleaning the whole island which he does every few days for me. Many people tried talking us out of a large island and thought we were crazy but I am so glad I did not listen. As for the seam, we knew we would have one and looked for granite that would seem the best. That was white beaches and most people cannot even see the seam. If you had your heart set on a certain size don't let others sway you. Just my humble opinion.
msgreatdeals
14 år sedanI have crema Bordeaux and those slabs are a little larger than most. They measured 71w by 119 L. My bar is a little smaller than your island and it took 3 guys to get it in and then they said a prayer before they laid it down. He said sometimes they break when you do that. Good luck!
gizmonike
14 år sedanOur island is 60" x 143"! We had to have a seam, and our contractor suggested putting it at the cooking end of the island, away from the more public end with 18" overhang near our breakfast & family areas (open plan). The seam is 25" from the end, in front of our prep sink; it's book matched and barely there. I can't remember how wide our slabs were, but we were so lucky that the ones we liked the best happened to be so big. The granite is Kashmir Gold.
ebse
14 år sedanI think you should have a good selection. The main portion of our island is approximately the same size and we didn't have any problem. Our bar portion is (obviously) a separate piece.
Also, if you find a stone you love but is a small-ish slab, call other granite yards. Our choice was available in different sized slabs, depending on the lot.
got2findmoretime
14 år sedanThe main part of our island is 11' long. We have a drop down baking area for me (I'm short). They came and measured for our granite last week. The slab was 119" and the counter 132". We have to have a seam. It goes in on Tuesday....my fingers are crossed.
emknc
14 år sedanThis entire thread reminds me of that question in "Jurassic Park" posed by J. Goldblum's character: "Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD."
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