The Ryan Granite Secret

Last week, during our period of agonizing over what kind of countertops to get in our awesome new kitchen, BF and I swung by the showroom of the local granite place.  Its the same granite place that Ryan contracts with around here for granite and Corian installation.

We weren't there for more than 5 minutes before the sales rep told us the secret: You are getting totally hosed if you upgrade to granite countertops with Ryan.

The sales rep estimated a total cost of about $2800 if we ordered granite directly from them after our home was built.  Ryan charges around $4,000 for all of the counters in the Ravenna, including gourmet island.
He shared with us that granite prices have dropped dramatically, and that most granites are now cheaper than Corian, which is not reflected on the upgrade sheet.  And prices may continue to come down.

So, by putting in granite counters after we close on the house, we will be saving ourselves around $1200.  And could use the laminate countertops for something else, like garage or basement workspaces.  Too bad we don't want granite - we want the more costly (and less pain in the ass) quartz countertops!  Those would cost us around $5,000 and while its nice to think about, I can't ever imagine myself spending that kind of cash on a counter.  Trip to Greece?  Yes.  Place to throw my junk when I walk into the house?  Uh, no.

There are, of course, good reasons to buy granite from Ryan, particularly if you want to have it and don't have the cash in hand.  Rolling up that cost into your mortgage and dividing it over 360 payments makes the cost per month almost invisible.  But, if you have the flexibility to do it later, definitely talk to your local granite place and see what kind of deal you can get so you can make an informed choice.

So, our informed choice is that we are going with laminate countertops (in Brazilian Brown - anyone have that color?) but upgraded the sink and faucet.  We got an extra deep, one bowl sink ($150) and a nicer Moen Faucet ($275).  If we upgrade, we will have to ditch the sink, but could keep the faucet.  But, since we won't upgrade for a while (if ever) we wanted to have a deep sink and workable faucet from day one.

I hope this is helpful for anyone else out there agonizing over countertops.