Counter tops

mbalbritton

mbalbritton

#@$%!
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Lakeland, FL
Looking at installing new counter tops in our small kitchen.
We currently have old ass laminate that's falling apart.

We can't stand the idea of more laminate. Don't really care for granite. Buy I do like the Corian.

Anyone have experience with Corian?
 
The question is... are you going to sell your house?

If you're going to sell your house, just get prices from a few granite places and get some uba tuba or whatever. Buyers (and especially the realtors) want to see "granite", not "composite solid surface".

That said, we use composites pretty frequently, for everything from counter tops to window sills, reception desks, accent walls, you name it. There are several nice things about Corian. It's impervious, so it never needs sealed (granite should be resealed at least once a year). It can be worked with normal woodworking tools, including a router. It can be fabricated with integral backsplashes, integrals sink bowls, etc. It also will transmit light, so you can edge light it or even put a light under your kitchen sink to make it glow, etc.

Corian can be thermoformed... which is good (versatile) and bad (can't put hot things down on it). It patinas over time (and can be scratched), but can be resurfaced in place if you'd like to restore the original finish. Darker colors tend to require more maintenance.

You can put hot pots directly on granite. You can even use it as a cutting board, but it's hard on your knives.

There are a wide variety of Corian-like composite products. Corian is an acrylic composite, and typically has a solid color, speckled, or streaked/striped finish. DuPont also makes Zodiaq, which is a quartz composite. It's mostly quartz with an acrylic binder, so it looks like stone. It won't have grain like a natural granite or marble will (b/c it's made up of tiny pieces glued together), but it will be fairly uniform in color. Silestone is another well-known quartz composite manufacturer. Some companies embed straw or metal shavings or glass fragments in the composite. The possibilities are fairly endless.

Natural stones and composites both vary tremendously in price, depending on what color you want. So there's no hard and fast rule about what's cheaper. Generally, I'd guess that you could get a cheap granite for less than the price of a composite, but for just one residential kitchen, I'd bet the cost difference would only be a few hundred bucks.
 
Also, it's worth mentioning that if your kitchen is *really* small and the runs are fairly short, you might be able to get some smoking deals by using remnants. But it will require some patience and shopping around.
 
Do concrete. Thats what we did:
http://mattandallisonkelly.blogspot.com/2011/10/concrete-counters-part-3.html
a1.bp.blogspot.com__3KDKYaxjA8Q_T2zv9aH0uxI_AAAAAAAACLs_V23qk1roqDQ_s1600_DSC_9926.JPG
 
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At Lowes the Corian is the same price as Granite. Even if it were with in a few hundred dollars, I would go with Granite purely for the resell value.
 
Granite for the win
 
We just did about 43sf of peacock green granite (tier one) for $1400 installed.

We thought we wanted solid surface, too... But went with granite for the resale reasons. Now that we have it, we love it. We found a slab with big crystal blue inclusions in it that match the blue glass tiles in the back splash.

Also, we got quotes that were nearly twice as high. There might be fifty granite finishers and installers in your town, but there are only two or three stone wholesalers, and all the slabs are coming through them. The trick is just to find someone who does a good job for a decent price.
 
shawn said:
We just did about 43sf of peacock green granite (tier one) for $1400 installed.

We thought we wanted solid surface, too... But went with granite for the resale reasons. Now that we have it, we love it. We found a slab with big crystal blue inclusions in it that match the blue glass tiles in the back splash.

Also, we got quotes that were nearly twice as high. There might be fifty granite finishers and installers in your town, but there are only two or three stone wholesalers, and all the slabs are coming through them. The trick is just to find someone who does a good job for a decent price.
Click to expand...

We are looking to remodel our kitchen soon. Can you tell or PM a decent wholesaler or person to go through in the Raleigh area? Many Thanks
 
Wife hates Granite for her own kitchen and the Corian at Lowe's comes with the "molded in" sink that I really like!

I think Granite is more durable and has a higher resale like you said, but doubt I'll convince the wife to like Granite.

we have about 32sqft of counters and Installed with a sink we're looking at $1400. not to mention with the "L" shape we'll have 1 piece with corian, but 2 pieces and a seam with granite.
 
mbalbritton said:
I like the concrete idea. Wonder what the cost difference is with the labor for someone to come install it. I don't have the knowledge or tools to do that install. did you DIY it or have it done?
Click to expand...

Matt did it himself. If you read his blog there it tells all the steps they used to build it. I have looked into doing this same thing. Only question i had was thickness. Only tool that they used which you wouldnt normally have is a concrete mixer, but you could easily get around that.
 
mbalbritton said:
I like the concrete idea. Wonder what the cost difference is with the labor for someone to come install it. I don't have the knowledge or tools to do that install. did you DIY it or have it done?
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I'm sure its alot more. Ours was around 55sqft, and we had $300 in it. Like \/ said, all the steps are in the blog post I linked to. Its really not that hard, you just gotta put the labor into it.
paradisePWoffrd said:
Matt did it himself. If you read his blog there it tells all the steps they used to build it. I have looked into doing this same thing. Only question i had was thickness. Only tool that they used which you wouldnt normally have is a concrete mixer, but you could easily get around that.
Click to expand...
 
pikapp691 said:
We are looking to remodel our kitchen soon. Can you tell or PM a decent wholesaler or person to go through in the Raleigh area? Many Thanks
Click to expand...

I have done a lot of residential work in and around Raleigh... I'll send you the contacts for the folks we used. :beer:

For reference (and I'm a little proud of it)...
 

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mbalbritton said:
Wife hates Granite for her own kitchen and the Corian at Lowe's
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I would not recommend ordering any counter tops from Lowes, but that's just me.

Also, the $1400 price I listed above included the stainless sink, all finishing, templates, installation, etc.
 
trailhugger said:
I have done a lot of residential work in and around Raleigh... I'll send you the contacts for the folks we used. :beer:

For reference (and I'm a little proud of it)...
Click to expand...


Wow, compared to what it was, thats awesome !
 
I just purchased some used cabinets for out utility room and have been wondering what to do for counter tops. I don't want to put a ton of money in them but after reading this thread and checking out the concrete top blog I think that may be the route I want to take.

Thanks to the OP for posting this thread!:rockon:
 
mbalbritton said:
I didn't have a chance to read through all of it until now. That's a heck of a write up! Tell the wife good job!

I don't really have the space to do that right now, nor the time. But I'd love to try it.
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Thanks, I'll let her know! She's much better at taking pictures and posting updates than I am. We really like the way they turned out, how they look, and how durable they are. They could definitely be done outside on a deck, or poured in place. I originally wanted to do them in place so that I wouldn't have to pick them up. The 4ft wide one with the bar weighed nearly 500lbs, but with 4 of us, it wasn't that bad.
 
mbalbritton said:
Granite is $170 more. I actually talked the wife into it! :eek: and got laid.... all in the same day! :rockon:
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Wow, got the granite countertops laid and installed in the same day? Thats fast service!
 
If I ever do my own kitchen, it will be all stainless, no doors on anything. Might be ugly as he'll but dammit, I like to cook.
 
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