Granite is a natural igneous stone, generally hard and heat tolerant, and porous enough to want sealer in a kitchen. You pick the actual slab on an Austin floor with 299 lots, then one crew templates, fabricates, and installs it.
Austin housing in Travis County runs from mid-century bungalows in the central neighborhoods to newer builds out northwest and southeast. Bungalow kitchens are often short galleys or L shapes with cabinets that can take a granite top if the boxes are still sound. Newer houses out the corridor usually have longer islands and more open rooms, so the slab has to work across a bigger surface and across seams. Granite is a common choice in both, for different reasons. You pick the actual slab in Austin either way.
Granite is a natural igneous stone that is generally hard and heat tolerant. It is porous enough to want sealing in a kitchen. Pattern and color are not uniform. That is why you stand on a real slab floor and choose the piece that will be cut for your cabinets. ATX Granite King is the crew that templates, fabricates, and installs after you pick. One crew start to finish. The floor is a direct importer floor in Austin with 299 lots.
Sink cutout and sink set are included in the fabrication. For rental grade and flip grade stone we work with a slab selection and fabrication partner so a rental does not have to pay for a showpiece slab. If you live in the house, you pick from the full floor. Call (512) 297-7493 or email info@atxgraniteking.com for a straight quote. We are reachable seven days a week. Dates are given in writing with the quote, not as a number of days on this page.
You walk a real Austin slab floor and pick the granite you will live with. Photos and small samples do not show the full movement, pits, or color shift in a lot. With 299 lots on the floor there is usually more than one option in a given look. We mark the slabs, then template your cabinets so the cuts match the piece you chose.
One crew templates your kitchen, fabricates the granite in the shop, and installs it. Sink cutout and sink set are included in that work. You are not handed off between a salesperson, a template guy, a shop, and an install sub. If something about the edge or the seam needs a decision, the same people who cut the stone are the ones in your house.
Granite is generally heat tolerant. You can set a hot pan down in most cases without a trivet, though a sudden extreme change is still a bad idea. It is porous. It wants sealer. Oil, wine, and some foods can leave a shadow if the sealer is worn. Wipe spills. Reseal when water no longer beads. That is the honest maintenance for a natural igneous top in a working kitchen.
Granite is a natural igneous stone. It formed from cooled magma and is made of quartz, feldspar, and other minerals. That mix is why pattern and color shift from slab to slab and even within one slab. In kitchen use it is generally hard and heat tolerant. You can usually set a hot pan on it. It is porous enough to want sealing. Liquids can leave a shadow if sealer has worn off. Sealer is a maintenance item, not a one time coating. You check by seeing whether water beads. If it soaks in, you reseal. That is the stone, not a sales pitch.
Most granite in kitchens is polished. That is the common factory finish. It brings out color and mineral depth and wipes clean with a cloth. Honed granite is ground flat and left without the high shine. It reads softer and hides some fingerprints. Honed still wants sealer. Some people notice water marks more on honed because there is no gloss to hide them. Leathered or similar textured finishes add grip and hide smudges. Texture also holds crumbs and needs a brush or more attention at the sink. You pick finish when you pick the slab on the Austin floor. The same block can look like two different stones depending on how it is finished.
Because granite is natural, the lot you see on the floor is the lot you get. A sample chip does not match the full slab. Veins can run out. Background can shift from one end to the other. That is why we have you pick the actual piece. With 299 lots on a direct importer floor in Austin there is usually a range in a color family. Some lots are tighter and more uniform. Some are wild. Neither is better. It is what you want to look at every day. We do not invent matching. If you need two slabs for a long run, we look for consecutive or similar lots on the floor before we mark them.
After you pick slabs, we schedule a template. The crew comes to the house and builds a template of the cabinets, walls, and obstacles. Outlets, windows, and plumbing get marked. In a mid-century bungalow in central Travis County the walls are often out of square and the cabinets may have settled. The template has to capture that, not a perfect rectangle from a drawing. Newer builds northwest and southeast of Austin are usually closer to square, but islands, overhangs, and appliance gaps still have to be measured on site. The template is what the shop cuts to. If the template is wrong, the stone is wrong.
Fabrication is done by the same crew from the slabs you stood in front of. They cut the tops, apply the edge you chose, and cut the sink opening. Sink cutout and sink set are included. Seams get planned on the template so they sit away from the main work zone when the layout allows. Granite takes a tight seam. You will still see a line if you look straight at it. That is the material. Edges are finished in the shop. Pieces are checked against the template before they leave. Then the crew brings them to your kitchen and sets them on the cabinets.
Install means setting the cut pieces on your cabinets, joining the seams, and setting the sink. The crew levels as they go and supports any overhang the layout calls for. They do not rebuild cabinets. Weak boxes or a run that is badly out of level show up at template or at set, and we tell you then. The crew gives dates in writing with the quote. There is no same day or next day claim. After the stone is in, they clean the dust and haul the old top if removal was part of the job. You work with one crew from the floor to the set.
Granite is heavy. Cabinets have to carry it. In older bungalows in central Travis County that can mean checking the boxes before you commit to a thick edge or a large overhang. Newer houses along the I-35 corridor usually have cabinets built for stone, but an island with a long span still needs support. That is a site fact. Granite can chip on a sharp edge if you hit it hard with a pan or a dropped object. A chip can often be filled. It will not vanish. Corners and front edges take the most hits in a working kitchen.
Porosity is the main ongoing tradeoff. Even sealed granite can stain if oil or wine sits on it. Dark granites hide some stains better. Light granites show them. Sealer needs reapplication. Frequency depends on use, cleaners, and the specific lot. Some lots are tighter. Some are more open. You cannot know that from a color name. You learn it from the slab and from living with it. Acidic foods do not etch granite the way they etch marble. Marble is calcium based and etches from lemon and vinegar regardless of sealing. Granite generally does not. Heat is generally fine in normal cooking.
Color and pattern are not consistent from photo to floor. The slab you like may have pits or a mineral blotch you missed under warehouse lights. We have you look in person. If you need a perfectly even field, granite may not be the stone. Engineered quartz is more uniform, is non porous, and needs no sealing. Quartz can be damaged by direct heat and by long UV exposure outdoors. Granite is the natural option with movement and with the sealing chore. For a rental or a flip we work with a partner so you are not buying a showpiece lot. Say what the house is for when you call.
Decide whether you want natural movement and a sealing routine or a more even engineered top. If you cook hard, leave spills, and do not want maintenance, granite will bother you. If the look of real igneous stone matters and you will wipe and reseal, it is a fit. Busy patterns hide daily wear in a family kitchen. Quiet open patterns show every mark. You have to like looking at the actual slab because that is what goes in the house. Photos on a phone are not the stone. Walk the Austin floor in person under the lights they have, then think about your own kitchen light.
Finish follows how you use the kitchen. Polished is the default because it is easier to keep looking clean. Honed or leathered can be right if you want less shine. Test water and oil on a sample if the yard allows it. Honed granite is still granite. It is not marble. It will not etch from lemon the way marble does. Marble is calcium based and etches from acids like lemon and vinegar regardless of sealing. Granite generally does not. Some slabs sold as quartzite are softer and behave more like marble. Real quartzite is metamorphosed sandstone and is very hard. Ask what you are actually looking at on the floor.
Layout matters as much as color. A small bungalow galley may only need one slab. A long island in a newer house may need two, and then you are matching lots. Seams on granite can be tight. They are still there. Plan where they fall. Overhangs for stools need support. Inside corners and cooktop cutouts eat into the usable look of a dramatic vein. Pick the slab with the cuts in mind, not only the prettiest face on the rack. We help with that when you are on the floor and again at template. Call (512) 297-7493 for a straight quote when you have a layout in mind.
Call (512) 297-7493 or email info@atxgraniteking.com. We are reachable seven days a week. Tell us the town, the basic layout, and whether you already have a slab in mind or need to walk the floor. The posted service area is Austin, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, Jarrell, Salado, Belton, Temple, Killeen, Harker Heights, and the I-35 corridor. If you are in that area we can talk about the job. The square foot rate is on this page, and the quote for your job comes from the crew. Call for a straight quote. The quote includes dates in writing. We do not give a timeline in days on this page. Bring a rough sketch or photos if you have them so the first conversation is concrete.
If you want granite, we send you to the Austin slab floor with 299 lots. You choose the actual pieces. We mark them. Then we template. One crew handles template, fabrication, and install. Sink cutout and sink set are in the fabrication. For rental grade or flip grade stone we work with the partner so you are not forced into a showpiece lot. That is a different path. Say which you are doing when you call. We do not invent extras. What you pick is what gets cut and set in the house. The same people you talk to on the phone are the crew that shows up.
Bring cabinet details if you have them, photos of the kitchen, and a sense of edge and sink. We still template on site because drawings lie and walls move. After the quote you get the plan in writing. If something changes at template, we tell you before we cut. That is the sequence. You pick stone in Austin, we cut it and set it. If granite is not the right material after you see the floor, say so. We also fabricate quartzite, engineered quartz, marble, dolomite, soapstone, porcelain slabs, and semi precious when that is the better fit. Call for a straight quote to start.
$38 per square foot, cut, measure, and install included. Jobs over 1,000 square feet: $30 per square foot.
Sink cutout and sink set are included in the fabrication work. Non standard work is still quoted before work begins. Send the rough square footage and the rooms involved, or call (512) 297-7493 for a straight quote.
Yes, generally. Granite is porous enough to want sealer in a kitchen. Sealer fills pores and makes it harder for oil and wine to leave a shadow. It wears off with use and with some cleaners. You reseal when water no longer beads on the surface. How often depends on the lot and how you cook. That is the honest maintenance. It is not a one time factory treatment. If you do not want that chore, engineered quartz is non porous and needs no sealing, with its own limits on direct heat and long UV outdoors.
In most cases yes. Granite is generally heat tolerant. A pan off the burner will not usually scorch it the way it can damage resin in engineered quartz. Extreme thermal shock is still unwise. Do not move a pan from a very hot oven onto soaking wet stone. Normal kitchen heat is what the stone handles. Use a trivet if you want extra caution on a slab you care about. Heat tolerance is one reason people pick granite. Direct flame or shop tools are not kitchen use.
No. Not reliably. Granite is natural igneous stone. The lot on the Austin floor is the lot that gets cut. Online photos are lit, cropped, and often from a different block. A sample chip is a few inches of a slab that may run many feet with shifting color and pits. That is why you pick the actual slab in person. If matching a picture matters more than the stone in front of you, granite will disappoint you. Variation is both the reason to choose it and the honest downside. Call for a straight quote after you see the floor.
Yes. Sink cutout and sink set are included in the fabrication work. We cut the opening for the sink you provide or specify, and we set it at install. Tell us the sink model so the cut is right. Undermount, drop in, and apron styles change the cut and the support needed. We do not guess the sink. Bring the specification or the actual sink to template if you already bought it. That keeps the hole in the right place. Call (512) 297-7493 for a straight quote on the full fabrication including that work.
The crew gives dates in writing with the quote. We do not list a number of days here because houses, slab holds, and shop load change. Template is after you pick stone. Fabrication follows the template. Install follows fabrication. You get written dates, not a guess. There is no same day or next day service. Call (512) 297-7493 or email info@atxgraniteking.com for a straight quote and the dates that belong to it. We are reachable seven days a week. That is how you start.
Tell us the rooms, the rough square footage and what you have in mind for granite countertops in austin. You get a number for the whole job, in writing, before anyone cuts anything.