Mission Hills kitchens were largely built from the last years of the 1800s through 1940, and any new countertop has to earn its place inside one. That is the task with countertops Mission Hills: new stone, old house, and the two have to agree. We have done many projects in Mission Hills.
Most of what we fabricate falls among granite, quartz, marble, quartzite, porcelain, dolomite and soapstone, and that is where our work concentrates rather than where it stops. Ask us about anything else and we will tell you what we can do.
Key Takeaways
- Quartz, granite, quartzite, porcelain and soapstone are the five materials Albert recommends for a kitchen.
- Old houses sometimes bring out-of-level cabinets and original tile tops laid over metal lath and mortar, and we have a way through both.
- A mitered edge is where most of Albert’s Mission Hills customers landed, with a few choosing a rounded 3/8 inch top edge instead, and either one suits both modern and traditional kitchens.
What We Find in Mission Hills Kitchens
Two things come up in these houses. Sometimes the cabinets are out of level. When cabinetry is new, the cabinet company typically levels it. When it has been in place for years, often put in by the builder, it is typically off level, especially when a tile countertop sat on it.
Our answer is to level the countertop itself on plywood underlayment, then build a larger mitered edge that wraps over the plywood so you never see it, and the plywood carries the countertop fully. The template still follows the cabinets the way they sit, because that is what the finished top has to fit.
The other is the original tile countertop. Under the tile there is metal lath set in a mortar bed, sometimes called a mud bed. All three layers come out, the tile, the lath, and the bed, and new plywood underlayment goes down in its place to carry the stone.
That removal is genuine demolition rather than a quick strip. For most kitchens it happens while we are there to template, and we settle the sequence with you at the estimate.
Access does not change the price.
Materials We Recommend for a Kitchen
For a kitchen, I recommend quartz, granite, quartzite, porcelain, or soapstone.
Quartz is about 90 percent ground quartz bound in resin. It is non-porous, it never needs sealing, and it shrugs off etching and stains. Heat is the one thing to respect: the resin can scorch under a hot pan, so please keep a trivet within reach. If you want to see what we work with in this material, look at our quartz countertop page.
Granite handles heat and daily wear without complaint. We seal it at install, and after that resealing follows how you use the surface rather than any calendar. The water test tells you when the sealer has thinned enough to need another coat.
Quartzite is harder than granite and does not etch, and it takes direct heat. Sealing is use-based here too, with about once a year as a reasonable starting point for a typical kitchen, more often for porous slabs and less for dense ones. One caution worth knowing: some stone sold under the quartzite name is really marble or dolomite, and it will etch, so it is worth being sure of what you are buying.
Porcelain is a finished surface layer over a body, which is why the edge is miter only. It is non-porous and never needs sealing.
Soapstone is naturally non-porous and never needs sealing. Mineral oil or wax is a cosmetic choice rather than protection; either one darkens and evens the patina if you want that look. We bring an oiled remnant to installation so you can stand in front of both finishes and pick the one you want to live with. Soapstone is also for bars and accent counters.
Softness is the trade with this stone. It will mark, and it can scratch, though scratches sand out with fine sandpaper. Some people come to love those marks as patina.
Marble and dolomite are bathroom materials. Marble is happiest in a guest bath or a powder room, somewhere the surface will not be worked hard every day, and it is not the call for a busy primary bath or a children’s bathroom. Dolomite sits in the same place.
We are glad to talk through other materials on request.
The Edges Albert Recommends
Most of my Mission Hills customers chose a mitered edge, and a few chose a 3/8 inch top radius. Both work in modern and traditional kitchens.
Our standard is a 2cm miter, built up at the front to 1 5/8 inches, and about 80 percent of our customers end up with it. That miter carries a light 1/8 inch radius along its upper corner, which is a different thing from the 3/8 inch rounded edge a few customers pick, and it prices the same as a plain eased or beveled edge.
A plain eased edge has the same profile as the mitered edge, but it has a seam in the middle of the edge that’s sometimes visible. The miter looks better because the seam is on the radius and looks seamless.
That thickness at the front is a second piece joined underneath, and it does not make the slab itself any thicker where it spans. On a job with out-of-level cabinets, building the miter larger lets it wrap over the plywood we level the top on, so the support stays out of sight.
We shape ten named profiles in our own shop. Porcelain is miter only.
The Hills Above Old Town
Mission Hills rises in the hills above Old Town, a neighborhood of stately, carefully preserved homes, many from the early 20th century, with the century-old Mission Hills Nursery still at its heart.
From the Late 1800s to 1940
The story starts with a steamship captain who kept seeing the empty hillside from the harbor in the mid-1800s and eventually bought the land. The earliest subdivision map here, Johnston Heights, was filed in 1886, and George Marston filed the better-known Mission Hills plan in 1908. The houses that followed, mostly from the 1910s through the 1930s, are Craftsman, Spanish Revival, and Prairie. In 1913, Streetcar Line No. 3 reached its final extension along Fort Stockton Drive, West Lewis, and Pine Street.
The Historic Districts
The City designated two districts here in 2007. Along the 1800 block of Sunset Boulevard, Sheridan Avenue, and Lyndon Road, the Mission Hills Historic District gathers 75 homes. The Fort Stockton Line Historic District traces the old streetcar route along parts of Fort Stockton Drive, West Lewis Street, and Pine Street, counting 107 homes.
Inspiration Heights, platted in 1909, joined the National Register of Historic Places in December 2021. Pioneer Park on Washington Place occupies what was once Calvary Cemetery, one of San Diego’s earliest, which served the city from the 1870s until burials ended in 1960. The City converted the grounds to a public park in 1970 and moved most of the markers to Mount Hope Cemetery, while 142 of the original headstones remain in a section of the park, above graves that were never relocated.
Every Room We Do in Mission Hills
- Kitchens
- Bathroom countertops
- Fireplaces
- Barbecue
- Outdoor kitchens
- Outdoor fire pits
- Shower walls
- Shower curbs
- Shower niches
When an outdoor top sits in full sun, we set it with an epoxy rated for the outdoors, because an adhesive meant for indoor work will let the edges come apart and eventually drop away. The glue matters as much as the stone on those jobs.
Inside a shower niche, the framing is built by our crew and the niche surface is finished by us as well.
From Estimate to Installation
A Free In-Home Estimate, With Albert
A free in-home estimate is the usual first step, and if you would rather send drawings, we quote from emailed sketches and measurements too. Either way, Albert, the owner, is who you deal with throughout: the estimate, the schedule, choosing your slab, the slab layout, the appointments, and the details of the job.
Slabs are chosen through our network of partnered showrooms across San Diego County. When a color is available, we will direct you to the partnered showroom that has it in stock. Before you commit, we produce a slab layout from your measurements so you can see how many slabs the job needs and where the seams will land.
Templating and Tear-Out
We build a physical pattern off your cabinets exactly as they stand. In most kitchens the old top, tile, and backsplash are removed during that same visit, while bathrooms are usually templated with everything left in place and the old vanity top comes off the morning we install.
Please have the sink you plan to use on site before we template. Manufacturer templates can run off in their measurements, and having the actual sink lets us verify its true size, shape, and rim before anything permanent is cut. To see the whole sequence in detail, read countertop template and install day.
Fabrication in Our Own Shop
Every top is cut in our own facility on a CNC bridge saw and waterjet, and no part of the work leaves the shop. Our own team carries the job from templating through fabrication and installation.
Book matching is available in quartz, granite, marble, porcelain, quartzite, and dolomite. Soapstone is not among them. A book-matched job gets a shop sign-off before we cut: you come in, see both slabs laid out in the matched direction, and approve the layout in writing.
Installation
Install day sets your stone, joins the seams with color-matched epoxy, and puts the first seal on natural stone. Where the cabinets sit matters: new cabinets are typically leveled by the cabinet company, and when older ones are off level, we level the countertop on plywood underlayment and build a larger mitered edge that covers the plywood. From there, the water test is how you know when to reseal: leave a small puddle on the stone for thirty minutes, and if the surface darkens, it is time.
A kitchen usually runs about 7 days from template to install once the slab is selected. A bathroom countertop usually runs three days.
Why Mission Hills Homeowners Call Granite and Marble Concepts
Granite and Marble Concepts is family-run and 31 years old, and the team behind it has over 50 years of combined experience. We are licensed and insured.
We have done many projects in Mission Hills, and Albert stays your point of contact from the first estimate to the last detail of the job.
Frequently Asked Questions
What drives the cost of new countertops up or down?
Square footage is the number the whole total hangs on, and it sets the base before anything else. On top of that come the extras: the edge profile you choose, the cutouts your layout needs, and the tear-out if there is one. Two kitchens that measure the same cost the same, whether the stone is cut into two pieces or five.
My old cabinets are not level. Will stone countertops still work?
Yes. New cabinetry is typically leveled by the cabinet company, but cabinets that were installed years ago, often by the builder, are typically off level, especially ones that carried a tile countertop. We pattern the tops off the cabinets as they stand, then level the countertop on plywood underlayment and build a larger mitered edge that wraps over the plywood so it stays hidden. The plywood supports the countertop 100 percent. The finished stone ends up level; the cabinets underneath never had to start that way.
What is under an original tile countertop, and what happens to it?
Metal lath set in a mortar bed, sometimes called a mud bed. The tile, the lath, and the mortar under them all come out, and we put new plywood underlayment down in their place so the new stone has a solid, flat base. It is genuine demolition rather than a simple swap. For most kitchens the old top, tile, and backsplash are removed at the template visit, and we settle the exact sequence with you at the estimate.
What is the timeline from template to installation?
For a kitchen, plan on about 7 days from template to install once the slab is selected, and a bathroom countertop usually runs three days. Larger projects run longer. Please have the sink you plan to use on site before we template, so we can verify its true size, shape, and rim against manufacturer templates, which can be off in their measurements.
Does soapstone hold up in a kitchen that gets used every day?
Yes, and it is one of the five materials we recommend for a kitchen, alongside quartz, granite, quartzite, and porcelain. It is naturally non-porous and never needs sealing, so there is no resealing calendar to keep. The trade is softness: it will mark, and it can scratch, though scratches sand out with fine sandpaper. We bring an oiled remnant to installation so you can compare both finishes and choose.
Which countertops need resealing, and which never do?
The stone tells you. Leave a small puddle of water on the surface for thirty minutes, and if the surface darkens, it is time to reseal. Granite in a heavy-use kitchen often wants a fresh coat every 6 to 12 months, while a low-use area may go 1 to 2 years. For quartzite in a typical kitchen, about once a year is a useful starting point rather than a fixed rule. Quartz, porcelain, and soapstone never need sealing at all.
Can I put marble in a Mission Hills bathroom?
Yes, in a quiet one. Marble is at home in a guest bath, a powder room, or any bathroom that does not get worked hard each day, and it is not the call for a busy primary bath or a children’s bathroom, where water, cleansers, and products meet the surface every day. It can etch. I ask, “Will you still love this slab after it stops looking brand new?” If yes, marble can be a beautiful vanity choice. If every future dull spot would frustrate you, a marble-look quartz or porcelain suits better. Dolomite follows the same guidance.
Is the price higher for a house that is hard to reach?
No. Access does not change the price. What sets the total is the square footage of the new top, the edge profile, the cutouts, and the tear-out, and we go over all of it with you at the estimate.
Get Your Free Mission Hills Countertop Estimate
The easiest start is a free in-home visit, or send your cabinet drawings, a rough sketch, and a few photos by email and we will quote from those. Albert handles it with you personally, from the first call through the estimate, the slab selection, and the schedule.
Call (619) 202-0017 or email albert@graniteandmarbleconcepts.com. You can also visit our free estimate page to get started.