We template and install granite across West University Place, including Colonial Terrace, Monticello, Pershing Place and Pemberton.
West University Place is a small city inside the 610 Loop, under 30 minutes southwest of downtown Houston in Harris County. Rice University and the Texas Medical Center lie just east of it, and Bellaire lies just west.
What granite is and how it performs
Granite is natural igneous stone, quarried in slabs mostly in Brazil and India, with some from Norway, Italy and the United States. It handles normal pan heat, and a trivet still protects the sealer. It resists scratching well, and a knife dulls on it before it marks. What granite asks for is a penetrating sealer. We apply it at install, and lighter stones want it again about once a year, dense dark ones less often. Small natural fissures are part of the stone, not cracks.
Colors and looks
Granite runs from near black to near white, through grays, browns, golds, greens and blues. Some slabs are evenly speckled, others carry long veins, and some shift color from one end to the other. No two slabs match, so you choose the actual slab we cut, and we lay the template out on it so the strongest movement lands where you look most. Dark polished granite shows water spots and dust more than a mid-tone stone, and a light stone hides crumbs.
Granite next to quartz and quartzite
Next to quartz, granite wins on heat and variety and asks for a little more upkeep. Both resist scratching well. Next to quartzite, granite costs less and reads speckled or flowing rather than marble-like, and quartzite is harder still. For an outdoor kitchen, granite beats quartz outright, because sunlight yellows quartz resin. We bring all three to the estimate so you can compare them side by side.
Sinks and cutouts in granite
Undermount sinks suit granite well, because the polished cut edge becomes part of the look. Drop-in, farmhouse and vessel sinks work too. The sink and cooktop openings are cut in our shop from the template. A cutout narrows the stone around it, so we plan the seams and the support around each opening.
Seams and edges in granite
A long run or a large island may need a seam. We place it at the sink or the cooktop where the layout allows, cut the joint tight in our shop and fill it with epoxy tinted to the stone. Speckled granite hides a seam well. A veined slab shows it more, and we match the veins across the joint where the slab allows. Up close, a seam is visible in any granite. Every one of our ten edge profiles, from eased to ogee to mitered, can be cut on granite.
What moves the price
Granite prices span a wide range because slabs do. Yards sell granite by level, and the level reflects rarity and yield, not strength, so a lower level is just as tough. After the slab come the square footage, the thickness, the edge profile and the number of cutouts. A full bullnose or a mitered edge costs more than an eased edge. Tear-out and the sink install are their own lines, and your estimate lists each one, so you can see where the money goes.
How a granite job runs
A granite job starts with a free estimate at the house, where we check the cabinets, look at the sink and the cooktop and bring samples. You pick your granite slab at any stone yard and send us a photo of its tag, and the slab is confirmed at template. Once the cabinets are set and level, our templater records the room with a digital template, and someone should be home to settle the seams and the overhangs. In our shop, we cut the granite to that template, polish the edges and cut the sink and cooktop openings. On install day, the crew removes the old tops and hauls them away, sets the granite, fills the seams and sets the sink, with the faucet holes drilled on site at install.
Where we work and how to start
The crew that sets granite in West University Place also works in Braeswood Place, Bellaire and River Oaks, and it cuts quartz and quartzite as well.
To get a granite estimate in West University Place, send the form below or call us. We bring samples, so you can see the stone in your own light.