am I crazy to put granite in galley?

[Capt. Tobb]

I am bidding on a '81 50' SF and want to re do the galley with granite, it looks great and I can get it at a good price. I an concerned about weight and cracking. Other solid surface counters seem to show scraches and do not look as good(to me). I would gurss that there is aprox. 24 sq. ft. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Mike36c]

Consider silestone, it will flex ever so slightly, and will not burn or stain. With any hard surface it must be installed with small gaps and silicone to prevent cracking, not too difficult. I installed silestone in my 36 galley up (8.5' long!) and love it.

 

[MikeP]

Another vote for Silestone. We just had Silestone installed in our 53. We've had it in our house for 5-6 years and really liked it and its durability so we decided to use it on the boat.

 

[Capt.Erich]

I've refit several Hatts with granite in the galley, heads, cocktail tables, bar tops, etc. None have had any issues with cracking. You really need make sure it is properly secured. Also, if it is cut too thin cracking could be an issue for free standing tables or long over hangs for bar tops. Hatteras engineers put an aluminum plate under some granite bar tops to add regidity for the over hang.

 

[thoward]

Consider silestone, it will flex ever so slightly, and will not burn or stain. With any hard surface it must be installed with small gaps and silicone to prevent cracking, not too difficult. I installed silestone in my 36 galley up (8.5' long!) and love it.

Problem with stilestone is it will fade and discolor from sunlight. We were looking at putting it in our house and the sales guy asked us about the number of windows. Well, we have a ton of them and he informed us of the color issue if they get direct sunlight so we are going with granite in the house and boat.

 

[Banshee36]

I am in the process of putting Nevamar solid surface ( Corian by another name) counter tops in my rig. It is a half inch thick. To save on weight i am making ti one inch thick by using a layer of Coosa Board . I just about have the head vanity top completed and the Gally will be done soon. Damn wasy to work with so far. I used West systen to glue it up.
JW
I have a total of 6 feet of counter space going in the boat.

 

[MikeP]

This came form a home improvement site, it might be helpful:

Silestone advantages:

It is stronger and less likely to crack. You can get longer overhangs.
It is non-porous and not susceptible to mold. It has a more uniform
and predictable pattern of rock and thus makes seams less noticable.
It will not stain and doesn't need sealing. Lack of material flaws
makes machining less problematic. You can get some very bold colors
not available in granite.

Silestone disadvantages:

Susceptible to UV radiation damage, and should be protected from direct
sunlight.

Granite advantages:

Flow of grain is considered pretty by a lot people.

Granite disadvantages:

It is porous and can stain. It needs to be sealed regularly. Granite
has inherent material flaws in the form of cracks and pits of varying
sizes. It is important that you personally pick out the slab of
granite you want if you go that way, so you don't get an unwanted
surprise in the form of blotches, cracks, and pits.

Might be useful - we have had the silestone in our home kitchen under a skylight and have seen no fading so far over 5-6 years - may depend on the "color" chosen as well...

 

[53hatt]

Any information on weight differences between granite and silestone?

 

[Bertramp]

I have Silestone in the "home galley" and I think it's great, but my consideration here would be what does this stuff weigh ?

 

[MikeP]

Silestone® weighs about 15 lbs per sf and may have an unsupported overhang of up to 12 inches. Granite and marble weigh about 18 lbs per sf and may have an unsupported overhang of 10 inches
The above came from this website which compares various countertop materials:

http://www.badolatogranite.com/faqs.htm#1

 

[StratPlan61]

I have seen granite which was routed out on the back side and filled with an aluminum honeycomb material to reduce the weight, yet retain the strength. Not sure what they call it, but I bet that stuff is cheap?!?!?!?!? Ouch!!!

Bear'
1984 61' MY Strategic Plan

 

[Starman]

I am in the process of putting Nevamar solid surface ( Corian by another name) counter tops in my rig. It is a half inch thick. To save on weight i am making ti one inch thick by using a layer of Coosa Board . I just about have the head vanity top completed and the Gally will be done soon. Damn wasy to work with so far. I used West systen to glue it up.
JW
I have a total of 6 feet of counter space going in the boat.

I am surprised you are using West System given the fact that these different named solid surface companies all have a matching "caulk" . It is the liquid form of the exact same color of your product, and when hardened and sanded. it is near impossible to see the joint.

On another note, all of these solid surface materials, corian, formica, nevermar all need to breathe. Meaning when they are caulked to the top of the counters, there should be large holes cut in the plywood ( usually what covers the actual cabinet ) for this purpose.

There is a company in Fla that makes 1/4 granite with a 1/4 corragated aluminum base. You can take this 2X8 foot section, you on one end, someone on the other and twist it about 8" with out breaking.

The companies that sell this solid suface material speak of 20 year warrenties, Unless you mention it is going on a boat or you are doing the project yourself and have not went to a "school " to become certified.

 

[Capt. Tobb]

Thank all of you for the info. this is a great site.

 

[first230sl]

Capt Tobb - we have granite in the galley (counters and table) - has been there for 5 years. Looks as good toaday as the day it was installed.

No issues here.

Murray