A long run of granite is heavy, and it needs cabinets that sit level and stay level. Our custom and stock cabinets are built with all-wood boxes, which give the stone a solid base. Hold a door sample against the stone during your showroom visit, and you'll know quickly whether a heavily patterned granite looks too busy beside the door profile you picked.
Granite Countertops in Aurora, CO
Granite holds its color in Colorado sun
Granite countertops in Aurora sit in strong sun and dry air. At more than a mile above sea level, sunlight carries more UV, and granite's color comes from the minerals in the stone, so it doesn't fade under that light. Dry air has no effect on the stone at all.
Where the dry climate does show is around the sink. A splash by the faucet can dry before anyone reaches for a towel, and on dark polished granite that leaves a pale ring of minerals. Wiping up promptly and keeping the sealer in good shape covers most of what granite needs here.
At Cabinet IQ of Aurora, the granite slabs are in our showroom on South Havana Street, so you can hold your cabinet door against the stone before you decide. Cutting and setting the stone is done by our own people, so nobody has to coordinate a separate fabricator once your cabinets are in.
Granite & the rest of your kitchen
Granite rarely arrives on its own. It goes on top of new cabinets, and the stone and the doors are much easier to judge when you choose them together.
Stone gets measured on finished cabinets, so in a whole-kitchen project the countertop date is tied to how fast the cabinet work moves. We plan both as one project. The work is handled by a team that's licensed and insured, with over 20 years of experience in general contracting.
A designer draws your kitchen in 3D with the granite you're considering on the counters. Seeing the stone across the whole room, next to your floor and backsplash, is often where a slab that looked great on its own gets ruled out.
What to settle before your granite is cut
A handful of choices shape a granite countertop and its price. Bring a cabinet door sample, or a photo of the door you like, and most of them get settled during a single trip to Havana Street.
The free design consultation happens at 2495 S Havana St, Unit C1, so set aside part of it for the slabs. Ask to see a large piece next to the cabinet door you like, then look at it twice: once under the showroom lights and once near a window.
Bring a photo of your kitchen taken in the afternoon, when the light is strongest, along with your flooring color. Your designer then models the room in 3D with that stone on every counter, and nothing gets ordered until you've seen it.
In Aurora, the mountain view sits to the west, and so does the late afternoon sun. A kitchen with west-facing windows gets low, direct light across the counters for a few hours a day. Under that light, polished black or deep brown granite shows every streak and water spot.
A mid-tone granite with gray or tan flecks hides them far better. Where the windows are small or face north, a pale stone bounces more light around and keeps the room from feeling cramped. Whites with soft gray movement suit those rooms, though lighter granites tend to absorb spills faster, so coffee and red wine need wiping up promptly.
Polished granite has the deepest color and the tightest surface, and on dark stone it's also where dried mineral spots stand out most. A leathered finish is brushed to a soft texture that hides spots and fingerprints, which helps in a kitchen that gets heavy daily use.
A honed finish is flat and matte, with a calm look that suits modern and farmhouse kitchens. It takes up oil more readily than polished stone, so plan on sealing it more often.
Most kitchens use one edge all the way around, so choose it with your cabinet doors in view. A pencil edge, square with slightly rounded corners, keeps the clean lines of a flat-panel or Shaker door. A half bullnose curves the top and leaves the underside flat, so spills drip off the front instead of running back onto the cabinet face.
For a mountain-lodge look with stained wood, a chiseled edge is cut to look like split rock along the front. It's rough to the touch and catches crumbs, so it suits a perimeter run better than an island where people lean and eat.
Granite is sold in price bands, often called groups or levels. A stone quarried in large volume lands in the lower bands, while unusual colors, bold movement or a single limited quarry push a stone higher. Strength and durability stay the same across bands.
On top of the band, the price moves with how many square feet you need, which edge you pick, how many openings get cut and whether the layout needs seams. If you're weighing our quote against a big-box or flat-pack price, ask us to quote one layout in two different bands. The gap between them is what the stone choice alone adds. For everything outside the countertops, our Aurora kitchen remodel cost guide breaks down where the budget goes.
Four Aurora kitchens & the case for granite
Around Aurora, four kinds of kitchens come through our door again and again. Here's the case for granite in each:
| In your home | Granite’s advantage |
|---|---|
| West-facing windows with a mountain view | Hours of low western sun won’t change the stone’s color, while resin in engineered tops can yellow with long exposure. |
| A newer home in Tallyn’s Reach with a big family island | A speckled mid-tone granite hides daily crumbs, and a half bullnose edge is kinder to kids at the stools. |
| A cook who slides hot pans off a gas range | A pan pulled off the burner won’t scorch the stone the way it can mark a resin-bound top. |
| An acreage home out toward Watkins with stained wood cabinets | Warm brown and gold granites, with a chiseled edge, carry the lodge look through the room. |
If your kitchen sounds like one of these, bring photos to the showroom and we’ll pull slabs that fit.
Granite care for dry air & strong sun
Daily care is warm water, a drop of mild dish soap and a soft cloth. In Aurora, drying the counter afterward matters more than in humid places, because water left on the stone evaporates fast and leaves its minerals behind.
- Dry the faucet base and the edge of the sink after each wash-up, before mineral rings form
- Treat a chalky haze with a stone-safe cleaner, since vinegar strips the sealer along with the minerals
- Check the caulk line along the backsplash each spring, since wood cabinets beneath shift a little between dry winter heat and summer
- Wipe oil and red wine quickly on light granites, which take stains in faster than dark ones
We’ll tell you at install how often your slab needs sealing. A tight-grained black can go several years without a fresh coat, while a pale, open-grained stone may want one every year or two. If spills start leaving dark patches that take a while to fade, it’s time to reseal.
From showroom to install: what you get
It all starts at no cost: a design consultation plus a 3D model of your kitchen with the granite placed in it, before you commit to an order. After the cabinets go in, our crew templates the counters in your home, then fabricates the stone and sets it.
The one piece you’ll source yourself is the sink. Settle on the model before we come out to measure, because we size the opening to that sink.
Weighing granite against other countertops?
We also carry porcelain, quartzite and quartz. Quartz and porcelain need no sealing, and quartzite gives a marble look on a harder stone.
View kitchen countertopsGranite installs in Aurora & nearby
Our showroom is at 2495 S Havana St, Unit C1, in Aurora. Our crews set granite in homes throughout Aurora, plus these nearby areas:
Watkins, Foxfield, Tallyn’s Reach, Dayton Triangle, Hampden, Ponderosa East, Carriage Place.
Frequently asked questions
It feels cool to the touch, because stone draws heat from your hand faster than wood or laminate. The counter itself sits at room temperature, so it won’t chill food or dishes.
Yes. Clean and dry the counter, spread a penetrating stone sealer, then wipe off the excess within the time on the label. After that, leave it untouched and dry for roughly 24 hours.
It depends on the band. Entry-level granite often costs less than mid-range quartz, while rare, heavily veined granites cost more than most quartz. Ask us to price both for your layout.
A 4-inch stone strip along the wall is the traditional choice, cut from the same slab. Many kitchens now skip it and run tile from the counter up to the upper cabinets.
A neutral, mid-tone granite is the safer choice for resale, since it works with most cabinet colors a buyer might switch to. Bold, heavily veined stones are more personal and narrow that appeal.