Corian or ???

[joth]

  On 04/09/2019 at 10:25, puntloos said:

 

This is an interesting point, thank you. I wonder if you can have a contemporary 'sleek' design that does allow for such marks and scuffs, up to a point.  For example, a white worktop indeeed seems asking for annoyance, but some darker materials with a more noisy pattern seems helpful to obscure such problems.

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Kitchen designers like white / very light worktops as they reflect back out the light of the spotlights pointing down at it and make the whole area so much lighter. We want a very dark worktop but our designer did warn about this. I had been thinking dark floor and work surface, wall and units all lighter, but now pondering the floor needs to by brighter too. 

Too many interconnected choices!

 

[Temp]

  On 05/09/2019 at 20:38, Bozza said:

Have a look at Bushboard Encore

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Three small samples arrived Saturday and I gave them a torture test of ketchup, vinegar and wet copper coins for three days. They survived a lot better than our travertine would. Surprisingly the whitest "Ice" version seemed to withstand staining the best. Sure there were marks, particularly under the coins which were green around the edges, but cleaning with a bathroom cleaner removed them easily enough. 

[ryder72]

Not a big supporter of corian. Highly overrated product for kitchen worktops. Originally developed for architectural cladding applications its found acceptable in hygenic applications such as bathroom and kitchens.

 

but the product is very soft, easily scratched and burnt (though repairable).

 

If one were to lay criteria to develop a good worktop surface i think scratch and heat resistance in a kitchen would be very high on that list.

[Dreadnaught]

@ryder72, out of interest how would you choose to rank worktop materials? The ones that come to mind are Dekton, quartz, marble, wood, and no doubt you know of many others that I don't.

 

I ask because I will be specifying a kitchen for my new build in the coming months and I know very very little about kitchens. In fact, all I know is that kitchens sell houses, so I want one that will look highly desirable to a potential buyer.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Dreadnaught

[Oz07]

  On 11/09/2019 at 18:12, Dreadnaught said:

@ryder72, out of interest how would you choose to rank worktop materials? The ones that come to mind are Dekton, quartz, marble, wood, and no doubt you know of many others that I don't.

 

I ask because I will be specifying a kitchen for my new build in the coming months and I know very very little about kitchens. In fact, all I know is that kitchens sell houses, so I want one that will look highly desirable to a potential buyer.

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Cheap and easily replaceable I'm beginning to think!

Do they now do a thin solid laminate?

[vivienz]

A friend is having her kitchen done shortly and has purchased thin solid laminate from Worktop Express. Beautiful and harwearing with a very contemporary look due to the thinness of it.

[Oz07]

Reasonably priced too I bet

[gravelld]

Personally never had a problem with scratches in Corian. IIRC we were advised it depends to an extent on colour - we had a concretey grey kind of colour with very subtle "flecking". Any scratch just came out over a few days and a rub with olive oil. Would definitely buy again, far better than any other surface I have used.

Edited September 12, 2019 by gravelld

[vivienz]

I think she paid about £950 for 2 x 3m x 645mm and 1 x 3m x 950mm. She subsequently also bought upstand.

 

My own laminate worksurfaces are holding up very well in new kitchen and have turned out well.

[Dee J]

Slate is remarkably good. Just basic mid-grey Chinese slate with a matt surface. Unsealed it just seemed to work. Heat and stain resistant and any scratches seem to disappear. Main work surface in my previous house, still looked good after 10 years.

[ryder72]

  On 11/09/2019 at 18:12, Dreadnaught said:

@ryder72, out of interest how would you choose to rank worktop materials? The ones that come to mind are Dekton, quartz, marble, wood, and no doubt you know of many others that I don't.

 

I ask because I will be specifying a kitchen for my new build in the coming months and I know very very little about kitchens. In fact, all I know is that kitchens sell houses, so I want one that will look highly desirable to a potential buyer.

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I think granite is great if you want something in blacks or greys. Polished granite can be a pain but a lot of people overlook textured black granite which looks superb and is low maintenance.

 

If you want 'colours', then quartz is a great alternative. Great price /value blend.

 

Dekton is a good product but expensive. But I feel aspects are missold. Its extremely brittle and chips very easily with chips being very difficult to repair. I dont like the fact that a lot of their colours arent through coloured so edges and cutouts are a different colour to worktops. Drainer grooves also bring out a different colour so arent recommended. Mitred built up edges are impossible to do without very large bevels provided the colour difference is accepted. In summary not my favourite product.

 

Corian - as said before. My least favourite worktop.

 

Wood - great. very environmentally friendly. If you can put up with the maintenance there is no reason to not have it.

 

Laminate - Hugely underrated and falling out of favour for lack of snob value but unbeatable for the price.

 

On balance, Quartz is where the market is right now.

[Adrian Walker]

  On 11/09/2019 at 19:39, Oz07 said:

Cheap and easily replaceable I'm beginning to think!

Do they now do a thin solid laminate?

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The counter top is the most important. Corian is nice, and easy to work with and has a good feel - but its not that hard and easily damaged

[Jenni]

Hello. 

Resurrecting this post to ask about worktops. 

Mine needs to be 4050mm long, very wonky wall but up to 720 deep. Cut out for overmount stainless steel sink. 

 

I had in my head wide/full stave oak, but have gone off that idea. My partner suggested corian (his parents have it) as it is precisely templated which would be needed.  

 

Any recommendations please?

Is dark coloured corian a bad idea?  

 

Thanks, Jenni. 

[Big Jimbo]

IMO, wood worktops in a well used kitchen are a bad idea. As for corian. It is expensive plastic, that scratches, and goes dull. Get yourself some real granite. If you stay for another 40 years, it will still look great. It will be templated to fit your wonky wall.

[Jenni]

I didn't know granite could be cut to precisely fit a wonky/wavey wall. If it can I'll get some quotes. 

That size may not be liftable though!!