It goes without saying, but there is nothing wrong with beautiful slab stone and high quality installations like you can see at rnen’s site. From perusing his site and being somewhat familiar with the industry, I think it is safe to say that he has a high quality product and service. It would not be fair to comparision shop him against home depot, Lowes or probably most other options and yet he sounds reasonable.
The granite squares are just a budget conscious and in my case (sometimes) DIY option.If the luxury is similarly taken down a notch throughout a house it really adds up. It is also cheap/safe enough to put in rentals and yet pleasing to somewhat discerning tenants.
I don’t agree that it is only a half step up from tile. It is still granite…an obviously great surface.The grout lines are much fewer and very small.Of course it is true that most those who are willing to go top of line would not want them.For me a twelve by twelve installation is a small step down from slab(depending on the quality of each job), and the full tile back splash makes up for the difference to some degree if respecting budget is still factored in. You could even say the grout lines in the granite and tile back splash compliment each other in a charming sort of way. I like the full mortar bed with granite tiles, which doesn’t come with slabs. A cracked tile or chipped tile can easily be replaced.
