Home Renovation Q and A: Can a Granite Counter Top be Re-Used when Replacing Kitchen Cabinets?
You love your granite counter tops. You have had them for quite a while now and they are still as beautiful and practical as the day they were installed. You know that they also add perceived value to your home now that the time has come to sell up and move on. And in fact they are often very high up on a home buyer’s ‘wants’ list, so they really do give you an advantage.
You just wish that you could say the same for the kitchen cabinets underneath which, quite frankly, are looking more than a little worse for wear. You would actually like to replace them because they really are an eyesore that might turn buyers off, but the thought of damaging, or even having to give up, your beautiful granite counter tops is unbearable and makes little sense since they are such a draw for those looking for a new home.
Solving the Counter Top Dilemma When Replacing Cabinets
The good news is that with the expertise of a good kitchen cabinet installer, one who knows their kitchen counter tops as well, you can replace your old kitchen cabinets without harming your granite counter tops.
There are several keys to the success of such a project though. The first is choosing new kitchen cabinets that essentially follow the same “footprint” of the ones they will be replacing. Although this may limit your choices at the kitchen cabinet showroom a little, most homeowners with granite counter tops will be happy to make that trade off and once the home is sold the new owner will never even know.
The second is finding an installation company that really cares about the quality of their work and is willing to put in the extra effort and care it will take to get the project done. Some kitchen remodelers will tell you “no” right away if you ask them to undertake such a job because they simply don’t want to deal with the extra hassle.
The biggest challenge when replacing kitchen cabinets while reusing the same granite counter tops is the safe removal of the granite counter top from the old cabinets. Granite is indeed very tough stuff but if you drop a slab of it it is still likely to crack or chip with the force of the fall. Re – installation after the new kitchen cabinets are in place can be just as tricky, but not so tricky that a confident and experienced installer cannot handle the task. And the potential payoff in terms of a faster sale at the price you want? Practically priceless.