ᐅ Kitchen consultation: granite countertop and Siemens appliances?

Hello,

we received a quote for our kitchen.

The kitchen has the following features: Nobilia white high-gloss, handleless.
All wall cabinets open upwards.
The rest mainly consists of drawers and few cabinet doors (and one corner cabinet).

We decided on a granite countertop. What are your experiences with granite countertops?
We only know advantages, with price being the only downside.

All appliances are Siemens IQ700. What do you think of them? They should be good quality, right?
Induction cooktop, 80 or 90 cm (31 or 35 inches)?

Thank you very much for your opinions.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

Your experiences with granite countertops?

Positive. You just need to be careful with stains.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

All appliances are Siemens IQ700 models—what do you think of them? They should be good quality, right?

You can definitely cook with those. Siemens, Neff, Bosch, and others are sometimes essentially the same and they work well.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

Induction cooktop: 80 or 90 cm (31 or 35 inches)?

It doesn’t really matter. You need to know if you have the space and if you need it. The 90 cm (35 inches) often has 5 cooking zones instead of just 4 on the 80 cm (31 inches).

Granite is not just granite.

There are many different types of granite. Some have inclusions, which makes them more interesting (in my opinion) but also more delicate to work with and handle. However, if you choose a Nero variety (such as assoluto or impala), this is usually not an issue. In these cases, you only pay for the square meters you actually need.

If you want something special (which is usually only available from a stonemason and not from a kitchen showroom), you typically have to buy the entire raw slab, even if you only need a small piece from a second slab. However, it might be possible to negotiate this with the stonemason.

Here in the forum, someone also has a shell limestone countertop, which relates to the topic and material they used outdoors. I find that really interesting, too. If you might be interested, you can ask them about their experience. I believe it was @Climbee

Pwnage619 schrieb:

We decided on a granite countertop. What are your experiences with granite countertops?
As far as we know, the only downside is the price; otherwise, just advantages.

With proper installation, granite is very durable and resistant.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

All appliances are Siemens IQ700 models. What do you think of them? Their quality should be good, right?

They are. Just make sure you like the user interface and operating concept.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

Induction cooktop: 80 or 90 cm (31.5 or 35.4 inches)?

As long as your countertop workspace doesn’t become too small, larger is generally more comfortable. Flexible surface induction is great; Siemens also offers this.

Yes, the induction cooktop does not have fixed cooking zones; the entire cooking surface can be used.

Regarding the granite slab, I don’t know the exact name, but it was definitely black with a smoky pattern (probably not very helpful). The surface was continuous and without any inclusions.

He told us (if I understood him correctly) that it is not a full granite slab, but only the top 2 cm (0.8 inches), while the bottom 2 cm (0.8 inches) are a substrate material. This makes it more affordable while still having a total slab thickness of 4 cm (1.6 inches).

For the IQ700 appliances, I wanted to ask if you would particularly recommend certain features? The IQ700 series comes in many different versions. What do you think about the HomeConnect function?