Need Information on cost of granite and laying charges....

[hegde19]

Thanks for the info Karthik, my contractor is asking me to buy the granite (he is not even pushing where to buy) that way he is very good. I was actually thinking to buy gang saw around 160-170 range. I had seen few couple of weeks ago while researching which we liked in this range. But next week or so I will do more research and post my experience.

-Santosh

[bloremanager]

You do not have to go to Jigani to buy granite. You can easily get good stuff near Sumanahalli flyover (going towards Vijaynagar) in Kamaskhipalya or BTM layout or Yelahanka etc.

The following are some of the things you may have to keep in mind before selecting good granite.

When you see a block that you like, ask them to wash the block with water (front side) as well as the back side. You can easily spot cracks as well as whether the granite has been colour coated. If the colour wears off, then avoid it
Smell the granite. If you get even a whiff of kerosene smell, avoid it. Go for water cut granite.
Check whether the patterns are uniform. They are more desirable and are more expensive.
Since these granites are always exposed to sun and water in the yard, some granite blocks which are more porous tend to pick up dust and water and may develop a clear yellowish rust pattern in some areas. Avoid them.
Granite blocks which are rectangular (almost similar length and width on both sides) are easier to measure. For the blocks which have odd angles and shapes at the edges, make sure you measure the clear rectangular areas only. There maybe cracks at the edges and any half decent granite supplier will not charge you for it and will only measure the clear rectangular portions.
Before shipping to your site, check the blocks again to see if there is a variation and reject them if you do not like. Measure again the blocks.
There are different finishes for the granite i.e. textured, laputtra, brushed, Honed, Polished, Leather, Silk, flamed, depending on the area their intended usage would be.
The labourers will ask for Rs. 2/sq.ft for unloading cost as an approximate at your site.
Black galaxy/Jet black/Indian tan brown - popular for kitchen counter-tops
Staircase - chikkuphal, black pearl etc

[hegde19]

We went to Jigani over this weekend. We liked a granite called Moon White. Below is the image of the same. What we are not sure is how it might look after laying. Can someone here let us know if they have used/seen this? What we are looking for is a bright floor.

Moon white

IMG_20160125_141651.jpg (355.91 KiB) Viewed 8571 times

[karjagir]

Santosh,

Moon white is an excellent choice. We had given this one a serious thought but finally the Brown sparkle won

Karthik

[hegde19]

Hi All,

Today we went to Jigani and bought Gang saw sized Milky white (or Kashmir white??) for common area (abt 800sqft). We were looking for white options and we did not have too many choices. We liked this one and purchased it. But we are a bit concerned now after researching, ppl are saying that its more porous and absorbs colors easily. We would like to hear from forum members on how to take care of this? is there anything we have to do while laying?

Nivas/Praveen, your valuable input will be quite helpful.

Unfortunately, while unloading workers broke one of the granite by mis handling..

-Santosh

[msananthu]

Did you buy this in MR Granite ?

Granite is also porous and will absorb if anything is spilled over it. The lighter the shade, it's more evident. The porosity depends on the stone. The best test is to pour water at the front /back of the stone & see for yourself how much absorbing nature the stone has. I did this when i was purchasing and where ever I could get samples of the stone, I would test them by placing a few drops water / coffee / oil at home for couple of hours.

[hegde19]

I bought it from Palace Stones. MR Granites had quite a number of white lots. But found them on a bit expensive end. We also did the water test and saw that it absorbed water, when it dried up it was back to same color. But do we have a choice if we wanted white color?

We are exploring options for surface sealants which might last longer and prevent color absoption.

Thanks,

[msananthu]

Ok !

I used Fosroc Nitobond SBR latex to be applied to the back side of the stone before laying. Mine was called Italian White in MR Granite and has the same absorption feature as you have mentioned. We went ahead in spite of it as it looked good.

[hegde19]

Thanks, we seem to be on the same boat. How is maintenance etc after laying? are you having to take care a lot? Is it possible to send a picture?

-Santosh

[msananthu]

The construction is finishing yet. We have applied a layer of POP on it as of now. Probably 6 months down the line I might have a better insight