Granite Countertops in El Paso

Brazilian-imported granite slabs, expertly fabricated and installed to last a lifetime. COMAF has been serving El Paso since 1985. Call (915) 345-3774 for a free estimate.

Why Granite Stays the Preferred Choice for Desert Kitchens

One of the most frequently asked questions we hear from homeowners around town is why we still recommend granite for El Paso homes. The answer is straightforward: life in the desert is tough on materials, but granite rises above it all.

Just think about the daily reality for your kitchen surfaces here. We regularly break the triple digits, the air is incredibly dry for long periods, and we're constantly dealing with dust from the Franklin Mountains settling onto everything we touch. There are plenty of countertop materials that end up cracking, discoloring, or warping when faced with this kind of climate. Granite doesn't have the same reaction, though; after all, it was created at high temperatures under great pressure underground, so El Paso's climate is a breeze in comparison.

What Keeps Granite Intact for the Long Haul

We started fabricating and installing stone countertops for local clients back in 1985 as a family-operated shop. Over the years, we've seen how various stone options wear in El Paso kitchens. Here's how we find granite stands up to the other choices available to you:

• It doesn't fade due to the sun streaming in from windows, even when located in kitchens facing due west across the Westside.
• It doesn't damage or discolor when you set a hot pot right on the counter.
• Since the air is typically dry in El Paso, granite doesn't retain as much moisture as it would in more humid environments, which means the sealant will last much longer before needing to be refreshed.
• It's much more resistant to scratches than other materials from the fine dust that blows in from the surrounding desert.

According to the Marble Institute of America, granite countertops that have been properly sealed represent one of the most durable natural stone countertop surfaces that can be used in a residential kitchen. It's something we see every day in the kitchen projects we undertake.

Most homeowners don't consider this either, but because we import most of the granite that we use for projects right here in El Paso from Brazil, it's stone material with a mineral composition that may be even more resistant than domestic granite. The Brazilian quarries contain some of the densest granite on Earth. All granite slabs aren't created equal, regardless of whether they have the same name.

In fact, if you look back on all of the clients we've helped pick out a granite countertop material over the years for their El Paso home, 9 out of 10 of them have told us in years that follow that they're glad they decided to have granite installed in their kitchen instead of something else. There won't be any discoloration from the morning sun near a window or any warping around the range. Instead, your granite surface will look like the granite surface did on the day it was installed. Head over to our showroom on Gateway Blvd E for a quick test; we guarantee that you will be able to sense the granite difference even before we tell you about it.

The Right Way to Select a Granite Slab for Your Home

Typically, a homeowner will walk into our El Paso showroom on Gateway Blvd E looking to buy granite countertops with a color preference in mind. Maybe they saw a granite kitchen countertop that looked great on a friend's home, or maybe they found an image of it online. That's a good way to begin your search.

When you select a granite slab, every granite countertop material sourced from Brazil will have its own individual pattern and unique movement of minerals that is different from other granite options. As a result, we strongly advise clients to stop in our showroom to view the actual granite slab, not just a granite sample chip. You simply can't tell from a 4 x 4" sample how the veining pattern will look on your entire countertop. After over three decades of being in business since 1985, we are still taken aback when we bring a slab to our clients and it looks totally different from the little piece of granite they picked out at the showroom.

Here are some things that you should consider when selecting a granite countertop for your El Paso home:

• Color. Some granites are very patterned with lots of bold veins and movement and others have more of a consistent color. Think about the pattern on your backsplash and the cabinetry. Are the backsplash and cabinets very patterned? If so, your granite countertop should be more of a uniform color.
• Thickness. Most granites are sold in two thicknesses at this time; the 2 cm. and the 3 cm. Three-centimeter countertops are more robust and in some cases will not need plywood reinforcement.
• Type of Finish. Polished is a mirror finish. If you would like a surface that hides fingerprints and smudges better, you should choose the honed or leathered finish. This is especially important if you have young children in the home.
• Density or Porosity. Generally lighter-colored granites absorb more oils and water. If you do a lot of oil-cooking or prepare many spicy foods, your countertop is more likely to stain in spots. Consider a harder, denser granite for your kitchen.

Do you not know what granite is best? You are in good company. We are often asked this question at our Borderland showroom by El Paso-area homeowners. Many El Paso customers bring in cabinet door samples, flooring samples, and even paint chips to show us what we are working with. We bring in the slab and set all of the samples and the slab together so the customer can see how the whole design will work together.

Here is one piece of advice to share with the majority of people who visit our Borderland showroom: 9 out of 10 clients do not know that the same colored granite can look totally different in a different slab, and sometimes even from the same quarry in Brazil! This is why we tell all of our customers who come in to shop for granite: find the slab you love and do not wait. Your slab will be gone next time you stop in to shop. We rotate the slab inventory and the slab is one of a kind. Bring in any measurements you have with you to your showroom visit so our team can show you where to expect seams and help you decide where to have your granite countertop fabricated for your kitchen.

How Granite Countertops Get Installed in El Paso

Many of our clients will stop by the showroom and ask us, "How long does the installation process take?" It is shorter than most people think. We have been installing countertops for El Paso customers since 1985. We have this process down to a science. Basically it goes like this:

• Template – The fabricator comes to your house and they measure your countertops with laser equipment and take digital photos of everything. A countertop template only takes about an hour or so.
• Selecting your slab of stone for countertops – This happens at our showroom where clients will come in and see the full slab. We import stone from Brazil and this is where you choose your slab. This is not a small sample. When you pick your slab you see the entire slab. This is where you choose all the different color shifts and veining you want in your granite slab for your granite countertops in El Paso.
• Fabrication. We cut and polish your slab right here in El Paso, so it never needs to be shipped out. We'll finish it to your edge profile, including the cutout for a cooktop and the hole for your sink. This phase typically takes five to seven business days.
• Installation. We'll pull out your existing counters, position the new granite, and secure it with brackets and adhesive. Any seams will be blended in with matching filler, and we reconnect your plumbing immediately on installation day.
• Final walk-through. Together, we'll do a close-up inspection of every edge, joint, and seam to make sure we've hit the mark.

The actual install day often runs three to four hours for a typical kitchen, although larger countertops featuring islands or waterfall sides could take a little more time. We'll be sure to share that with you beforehand.

We come across this quite often in older homes throughout the Kern Place area: cabinet bases that are out of level. A granite countertop won't conform to a wobbly surface the way you can get away with for some of the lighter options, so we make sure everything's squared off before we lay down any stone. This little extra step is essential because granite countertops rest on your cabinets under their own weight. Without an even surface, everything else will be off as well.

Also, people sometimes don't realize we handle the full project from beginning to end. Demolition, fabrication, install. We don't ask you to bring in and manage several contractors all across the Borderland. Our team of El Paso granite craftsmen gets the work done.

Need more specifics about the timeline for your job? Just contact us at (915) 345-3774.

How to Take Care of Your Granite Countertops in El Paso's Hard Water Climate

Our water isn't for the faint of heart. El Paso has some of the hardest water in the U.S., and the high mineralization shows up on a variety of surfaces: the spout on your bathroom sink, the shower stall, the glass on your sliding patio doors. Your natural stone countertops too.

We get this question nearly every week. The homeowner spots a cloudy white ring forming around the basin or a foggy area around the faucet, and they're certain the countertop has sustained damage. In nine out of 10 cases, what they're seeing is just hard-water minerals that have built up in a crust-like layer on top. The problem doesn't actually involve any injury to the granite itself.

How to Care for Your Countertops

Hard water minerals are made up of calcium and magnesium. They settle on your granite after sealing, building up into a layer across the surface that can eventually stain through your sealer, so it's critical to spot these early on. When they come into the showroom on Gateway Blvd E to pick out their stone, here's what we recommend for granite upkeep:

• Remove any wet water spots that collect near your sink and faucet each day.
• Choose a cleaner that's safe for stone and avoid anything acidic like vinegar or household bathroom cleaners.
• Re-seal your granite countertops on an annual basis within the Borderland climate.
• Polish off any small mineralized areas with a soft microfiber cloth prior to them hardening and setting.

In the Borderland area, the annual application of a penetrating sealer is especially important for granite protection. The dry, desert-like air in places such as Coronado Hills and the Upper Valley doesn't retain humidity like a place like the East Coast, but the water contains higher concentrations of dissolved solids. Your seal is granite's initial line of defense. Granite is naturally porous before sealing, we obtain our stone directly from Brazil, and the most dense slabs still need that seal to withstand normal kitchen wear.

A well-applied sealant will allow hard water to wipe right off. Don't know if your granite seal is holding up? Put a few drops of water on the surface; if the droplets sit on the surface and bead up, it's OK, but if they soak into the granite and cause the granite to darken after a few minutes, the granite may need to be resealed. It only takes about 30 seconds to test and know if your granite requires resealing.

We've been serving the El Paso area since 1985 and have seen the damage that can be done to beautiful granite countertops if they are left unsealed, but we have also seen granite countertops remain in great condition 15 years later because the owner took the time to seal granite countertops regularly. You can overcome hard water in your granite countertop, it just takes a little maintenance.

Granite Countertops for El Paso Kitchens and Bathrooms

We often hear people saying they spent weeks looking at their kitchen. Maybe there is a peeling edge to the laminate countertop by the sink. Perhaps the kitchen is dirty. Maybe you want a better color than the one they used on the tile grout. We have heard it all before. Every day at our shop on Gateway Blvd E, we will get a call where the caller wants granite countertops, but hasn't been able to commit to the choice before.

Granite is great for both kitchens and bathrooms because it is great at handling everyday use, whether it's a hot pan on the stove or curling irons being set on the bathroom countertop. Kids spill on the counter? Granite can handle that too. We have been installing granite countertops for people throughout El Paso for decades. Maybe you just need a granite countertop for an older kitchen you are remodeling in Kern Place. Maybe you have a new construction home that was just built on El Paso's East Side, and you just need granite countertops for the bathroom vanity tops.

Here's what we tell everyone who comes to visit our showroom: granite countertops do not come in just one look. We get our stone straight from Brazil, so each slab has its own movement, depth and color. We cannot show you a picture of the exact slab you will receive on a computer screen, and every single slab we receive is going to be different from every other slab. This is not something that we are selling you, it is just how stone works.

Granite countertops are great for the kitchen, allowing the countertop to handle every day cooking without getting scarred or worn. If you pair that with a proper edge profile and a good undermount kitchen sink cutout, you end up with a countertop that looks great and clean for years on end. Granite countertops are equally as great in bathroom countertops for bathroom vanities, as it will handle any wetness and keep the granite from cracking or fading in dry Borderlands heat.

If you aren't sure if granite is right for you, we get a lot of callers and customers who say that to us too. Some kitchens need granite countertops installed on the entire kitchen and an island. Some bathrooms just need bathroom vanity top granite countertops in the bathroom. We have owned and operated a local granite fabrication shop for El Paso in El Paso, TX since 1985, and have worked on everything from kitchens to bathroom vanity tops to everywhere in between. You can find out the real difference between granite, quartz countertops or marble countertops from our staff and pick the right one for your home.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about granite countertops services in El Paso

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