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Excellent move, big believer in as open spaces as possible in apartments. We have used similar partitions earlier and they are a quick way up setup a zone, only issue being the sound insulation, but they are good for what they do.



There is a well known company AGL tiles which also manufactures this apart from Kalinga. A couple more but can't recollect their names. I would just suggest that you know what you are getting into if you buy this from a maintenance perspective- last I checked, they were prone to staining. Again, they look decent but i didn't want to change my lifestyle to suit something which gets used daily.
What we did was get a sample quartz of the light colours and made an oil stain, a turmeric stain, honey stain and left it for a few hours before trying to clean it. All the light colours were porous and the stains wouldn't come off. (We did this even with the light colour granites we liked.)

The other (lesser) issue with this was that the slabs were of fixed sizes, so one tended to pay extra incase the sizes did not match the kitchen countertops sizes.

Thanks ONE. What is your suggestion then? Regular granite? Or a darker quartz?

While we have not tested it with stains being left over for few hours, we have a white quartz stone in our kitchen since Sep-2019 as we were not happy with the granite provided by the builder.

It was not much of a life style change for wife as she is used to wiping away stains in a short while after finishing up the cooking. Till date there are no stains that have seeped in and the stone looks as good after close to 2 years of use. Typical Indian cooking with use of oil, turmeric, chilli powder etc etc.. Has held up very well.

Pragathi Granites near Dairy circle is where we got our kitchen slab. For a 10ft slab we were charged 18k including laying and cutting it for the sink in 2019. Brand i seem to forget but practically it has held up very well and the main point is that wife is very happy with it as the white shows any stains or dirt very clearly and she can steer the maid to do a second wipe down if it was not cleaned properly the first time.

If you are not convinced with white stone or a light colored one, you can look at the jet black variety with light texture or go with a slightly higher quality black grantie than the run-of-the-mill variety used as kitchen slabs to improve the looks.

Edit: One negative point - Plumbers or electricians who are careless and keep their heavy and soiled tools on the counter top tend to leave a stain which is very hard to remove. You will be able to remove 90% of it but not to the fullest extent. We faced this with a plumber who had come to fit the kitchen tap and placed his greasy wrench on the slab which was a task to remove the stain. Same goes for concrete stains on white quartz stone. Very difficult to remove.

My view is take a sample of whatever you like first and then check if it is practical- in this case take a small sample home to see if it stains based on your usage. Like Abhinav.s mentioned, their habit is to wipe as soon as work is done in the kitchen and it has held well. We weren't sure if we could do that with maids and kids so we didn't go that route. This might hold true for white granite as well, I remember this beautiful white slab with purple and black patterns which stained at home when we took its sample (the shopkeeper had already warned about the same)

If I had to answer your question from an aesthetic perspective, the one thing I find about quartz (in my budget) was the even pattern and the shades remind me of washrooms especially those in the airports. Once ingrained in the mind, very hard to get rid of the feeling :) I do remember that Hettich had expensive quartz variants with 25 years warranty but even they recommended immediate wiping. You may want to check if that has changed. Granite has beautiful shades and I selected the actual slab from the godown so that I knew the exact colour/shade/ pattern I was getting.

Good to hear this experience. We were told by the Quartz guys about this but we didn't think it would be able to manage it.

I think if you like it, you should go for quartz. We have had quartz countertops in our bathrooms for 9 years now and they have held up extremely well. They are medium brown in colour and have been used for some window borders as well. They have held up much better than the dark marble in one of the bathrooms for sure. Minimal staining and scratches. It also seems to get less hard water stains Vs the marble and cleans of easily. The same quartz on the window frame has been subject to mud from leaky pots but cleaned up easily.

We have a 3 room flat in JP Nagar which we give out on rent. Painting was always a problem with individual painters not being professional, undue dust, quality issues, cost over-runs, demands for tips and the great Indian flexible time/deadlines. I tried the new Livspace (They do interiors) painting service called 'Xpert' and am pretty happy with the result. They were within budget/very reasonable and professional (Turned up 'on the dot' at 10 AM, with value for my time being the most important - to me). End of day there was no line-up of painters asking for ''tips, saar''. The wall scraping machine with suction capabilities worked well. They neatly covered all my furniture with fresh plastic, avoiding damage. No fear of painters 'flicking' stuff since the Company is responsible/answerable. I see only positives. Anyone had good experience with a painting company? I believe there are many now

Asian Paints does a fabulous job: reliable, no-nonsense, high quality painting. You can even use their value-added services (textures, exteriors, wall paper, decals) depending on your requirements. We got our new place painted by AP last year and have absolutely no issues. The wallpaper we used selectively was the pick of the bunch. Highly recommended!

Have used multiple services including direct to the local guy. My last two experiences were with companies though - Asian Paints (AP) and Aap Ka Painter.

Satisfied with the quality of each though I think the AP guys work will last longer. Incase of AP, they had this warranty rate card where incase something happened due to defective paint work, they would cover x% of the cost based on the number of years elapsed. The AP guys also broke my wash basin and the contractor replaced it free of cost. Only thing I am not sure is if they were more careful in my house considering i knew someone in AP and they knew that too!

One thing with both vendors is that their charges are more than if we try to get it done from a local person with AP at that time being more than Aap Ka Painter.

If paint is properly applied to a properly prepared surface, it lasts... for ever! Whoever put it there. The ifs are big, though, and preparation is the biggest.

Wall preparation is probably the only skilled part in the entire process, painting colour is something which even we can do without any prior knowledge. Highly recommend it to be done with family in a wall(s) of everyone is upto it.

On a separate note had normal lime wash in our house long back which is extremely economical. If done correctly, it has a different look to it, with walls having a texture instead of being the plain/ sterile look which comes with paint. Unfortunately don't think many people can do a good lime wash today, and it has become synonymous today with cheap quality painting or "whitewash".

Hmmm, That is something which most painters seem to think!

No, it is not difficult, but it takes a bit of practice to do properly.

That's walls. Proper gloss work on wood is much more difficult.

Yes, the mantra is good surface preparation.

The reason why paint flakes and peals off is improper surface preparation and thick layers.

. The surface has to be smooth.
. The surface should be dry - no seepage.
. There should be no loose particles or dust.
. The paint should be applied in thin layers. Thicker layers will just flake off.
. Each layer should dry completely before the next layer is put.

Modern paints; at least from major manufacturers; have a synthetic base and rarely fade, unlike paints of 20 years ago.

By the way, I read some where that in Kerala one princely state had painted the interiors with lime mixed with mother of pearl dust nearly a century ago. The walls are still in pristine condition with surface as smooth as silk. That is talent and craftsmanship.

We have been allotted Govt housing which is spacious but old, not recently occupied and shabby.
Floors:- The floors are mosaic but of the darker shade. Laying of vitrified tiles is not allowed because of the breaking involved. Tile on tile is not a familiar topic with our tile layers and needs special skills. I am wondering if vinyl tiles are a good option.

Bathrooms:- Old, dark, porous stone tiles on the floor and kota stone on the walls. I am exoring PU paints for both.

Kitchen:- Kota stone on the counter top and mosaic flooring. Looks ancient.

Breaking of tiles etc is not allowed.

What can you suggest as a way to make this place look reasonably modern yet economical?
Looking for the sasta, sundar and tikau solutions. Thanks in advance

Tile on tile vs Vinyl tiles - both have the same effect on the underlying original tile. If you decide to remove the new tile/vinyl tinyl later, the original tile surface would be damaged/rough due to the cement/adhesive).

If you're going this way, tile on tile (ceramic/vitrified tile on top of existing mosaic) is better and work is easy when you use something like Roff cement, there shouldn't be any need for breaking the old tiles. Don't know why the tile layers aren't familiar with this, it's not something new.

If you get hold of a good mosaic tile polisher, the existing mosaic tile floor can be cleaned and re-polished too.

I prefer vinyl tiles; at the time of removal at a later date, it only leaves adhesive residue which is removable unlike the tile on tile cement.
I considered mosaic polishing as well but I am getting quotes of Rs 25 per sqft and finally I will only have a better looking mosaic while good vinyl tiles are only 50 per sqft.

Have you heard of non tile solutions for bathroom walls and flooring?
And an economical way to fix the old kota stone countertop of the kitchen ?

Thanks for the quick response.