Decisions, decisions, decisions!

If you’ve hired a general contractor in the Naples, Florida, area to build a luxury custom home, then you’ll need to make a lot of them. And every decision you make will be instrumental in ensuring that your luxury custom home will meet your needs, tastes, and lifestyle for the coming decades.

With almost 50 years of experience building luxury custom homes in southwest Florida, the general contractors of Naples-based Carlson Harris know a thing or two about the decision-making needed for successful home builds. We could fill a book with tips about how homeowners should address the choices involved with each decision they’ll need to make. But we will start small here on this blog by only focusing on one. For today’s decision-making topic, let’s examine countertop choice.

“Countertops?” You ask.

Sure thing, because countertops are crucial features of kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and home bar areas in both a practical and aesthetic context. You can also choose from more than a dozen materials, including natural stone, manufactured stone, metals, and engineered composites. Your countertop choice will hinge mainly on personal aesthetic preference, but you should examine several other factors during your decision-making.

CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING COUNTERTOP MATERIAL

We’ve already touched upon appearance as a critical component of your countertop decision-making, but let’s examine this factor closer. Whether or not you already have a favorite countertop surface in mind for your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, or bar, make sure you consider how it will look with other room features, such as paint colors, lighting, cabinetry, appliances, and other fixtures. Additionally, know that what might look great in one room may not carry over aesthetically into another.

Along with appearance, you should consider how easy your countertop will be to clean and whether the material resists stains and scratching. The ease of cleaning and stain and scratch resistance varies widely among the different countertop materials, so choose carefully. Some materials rely on periodic maintenance, such as sealing, to ensure their stain resistance, so keep this in mind, too.

Like stain resistance, heat resistance is another essential factor to consider when choosing your kitchen countertops. You certainly don’t want to spend a lot of money on an expensive countertop only to find out that hot pans on the surface leave scorch marks or otherwise discolor it.

Because you’re building a “luxury” custom home in the Naples area, the cost might be no object. However, most people want to get the most for the money they spend, so you should probably factor in the value of your countertop based on its cost and what it provides you concerning the other criteria you’ve examined. For example, we’d suggest that quartz countertops offer the best value because it costs less than other popular options such as marble and stainless steel but ranks higher on most other metrics.

Last and perhaps least, you may want to consider how your countertops may affect resale value. And we suggest “last” and “least” here because, when you contract with Carlson Harris, we strive to build you a Naples-area luxury custom home you will want to live in forever.

POPULAR COUNTERTOP OPTIONS IN NAPLES, FLORIDA

Now we’ll review some popular countertop options for luxury custom homes in southwest Florida, with the material name followed by some general observations that can help you start your decision-making:

• Granite— its popularity is largely dictated by a vast selection of style options that number in the thousands. It gets high marks for resisting scratches, heat, and stains, though this partly depends on the quality of the sealer used.
• Quartz— engineered from natural stone by-products, quartz countertops come in dozens of different looks and colors. While relatively expensive, their stain and heat resistance, easy maintenance, and known premium on resale values make up for it.
• Quartzite—a natural stone known for its durability, hardness, and low maintenance. While easy to clean with soap and water, periodic sealing is recommended. Its popularity is somewhat limited as its only available in off-white and grey hues.
• Marble—typically quite expensive, perhaps marble’s most noteworthy attribute is the beautiful white hues and unique veining it gives to your countertops. Marble is not scratch resistant and can stain easily, though some protection can be provided by regular sealing.
• Concrete— this material provides seamless countertops and presents a modern look. While heat resistant, stains and scratches can mar its sealant, and cracking can occur if the home experiences excessive settling.
• Butcher Block— The wooden look of butcher block countertop lends itself well to traditional- and modern-style homes and offers a variety of wood types and hues that typically evoke a warm look. Butcher block needs to be properly oiled and sealed, though any nicks, stains or other marks can easily be addressed.
• Stainless Steel— This pricey material seems to ebb and flow trend-wise when used for countertops. It gets high marks for almost all metrics, though people tend to either love it or not with the appearance one.
• Limestone—this material tends to come with different price points when used for countertops and offers homeowners a moderate range of style options. While it is heat resistant, limestone is not as hard as other stones and is especially porous, making it susceptible to staining and scratching—regular sealing is typically recommended.

CONSULT WITH CARLSON HARRIS ON YOUR CUSTOM-BUILT NAPLES HOME

Suppose you’re looking for a general contractor in the Naples, Florida, area who can help navigate you through the numerous decisions needed to build a custom luxury home. In that case, we hope you’ll consider reaching out to Carlson Harris. We use a six-step plan to keep our Naples-area construction projects on time and within budget and guarantee the highest quality of workmanship. To learn more, contact Carlson Harris today at 239-352-2460.