Corian, Zodiaq, Granite-What's the best?(countertops)

[Desnik]

If you had a choice which would you prefer? What's the best, least amount of maintanence? I've never even heard of Zodiaq till recently. Anyone have that? What won't stain or get ruined from heat?

This would be for a kitchen. Also, would you use one of these for your counters in a bathroom? Or, Formica?

 

[tkyes]

I wish all of those were cheaper!! We are building a new house and I think we are going to have to do a laminate countertop to stay in our budget.

I'm interested to see what others like out of your choices though. Maybe someday we'll upgrade!


tamie

 

[DrCavin]

Granite will not be ruined from heat. Corian/Zodiac can be repaired if you place something hot on it in most cases, depends on how much damage was done.

We chose Corian because, granite tends to show finger prints pretty easy & with two small children we would have been wiping it down alot.

You can put either in a bathroom, cost is a big factor in doing this. You have other options that are less expensive for bathrooms & can look very similar to corian.

 

[cynsaun]

Ok, this I know!!!

We have granite in our kitchen, and we are having HUGE problems with it!! We have been in our house for a year, and right after we moved in, we noticed that the seam was coming apart, causing one edge to sit higher than the other! We have had the company that put the kitchen in back many times through the entire year, and it still happens. Well, now they are telling me that they are going to have to take the granite out and put new granite in! UGH!

We also have corian in our bathrooms, and we have not had ONE problem with it! When it's a dark corian, it closely resembles granite.

Both have pros and cons. Hot pots and pans can be placed on granite, but if you get oils on it you will see a stain. I set the olive oil bottle on the counter while I was cooking, and it left an oily ring! I've also been told tha someone had placed the chinese food containers on the counter while they were eating, and it left stains on it!

Don't get me wrong, I love granite, it is very beautiful and it is strong, but there is a lot of upkeep with it!

Hope this helps! Sorry it's so long! Good luck!

 

[jel0511]

One thing, if do go with Corian, DO NOT get a Corian sink. Corian is actually a very unstable material that can crack and split under extreme temperature changes. For instance, if you're draining a pot of pasta using a collander in your sink, you have to temper the sink before pouring out the boiling water or you risk having the sink split or splinter. My sister is a ceremic engineer, and she says that Corian is bought because of the seamless looks, but it's a very unstable material to use in the kitchen, with all the possible heat changes. Personally I like Zodiac, or Avanza. They are the same product, just made by different manufacuturers. Zodiac by Dupont (same manufactures of Corian) and Avanza by US Stone. Avanza is slightly cheaper than Zodiac, because you're paying extra for all the hype made by Corian. I wouldn't buy granite, since it needs to be resealed and I can't be bothered with that. The composite/resin countertops of Zodiac or Avanza are non-pourus like Corian but are just as heat and scratch resistant as Granite. It is truly the best of both worlds. I also like Avanza because I feel that they have better color choices than Zodiac, but that's a personal decision.

Edited to add:

I set the olive oil bottle on the counter while I was cooking, and it left an oily ring! I've also been told tha someone had placed the chinese food containers on the counter while they were eating, and it left stains on it!

This is exactly what will happen with Granite if it is not sealed properly and not properly maintained and sealed every 6 months. One of the reasons I've choosen Avanza.

 

[lazarru]

We are planning on doing our kitchen right now and we are faced with the same decision. In speaking with a friend that is working with a granite installer, and in fact just redid his kitchen, he said that the granite actually doesn't need to be resealed as much as you think if it's done right. In fact he said it can be done every 2-4 yrs, not every 6 months like some say.

Does anyone know what the cost of resealing is?

Right now we are leaning towards the granite, the thinking is if we are going to spend all this money on the kitchen, why go cheap with the counters.

 

[DrCavin]

I will disagree with you saying to not get the corian sink. We love it & have not had any problems of pouring hot water into it, at least not yet. According to Corian "Corian remains stable and undamaged in temperatures up to 212ºF"

Only thing we have noticed is if you have aluminum pots/pans they will leave a mark on the sink if you are not careful when placing them in it. Easily removed with a scotch-bright pad.

 

[jel0511]

"Corian remains stable and undamaged in temperatures up to 212ºF"

Very interesting as they say it remains "stable" right up to the temperature of boiling water. What they don't indicate is that if your sink is near a window, and the surface has been made colder than room temperature due to it's location, it does have the risk of splitting or splintering with that boiling water. I have done the research on this, also it does help when your sister is an engineer in materials, and can give you the lowdown on what is the best materials to buy. The odds of it happening are certainly not that great, but it is a risk that Corian, or most installers, won't inform their customers of.

 

[TimeforMe]

Originally posted by lazarru

Right now we are leaning towards the granite, the thinking is if we are going to spend all this money on the kitchen, why go cheap with the counters.

That was our thinking, too and that's why we chose Corian. I, too, will disagree with the poster whose sister is an engineer. We have a Corain sink (which looks beautiful!) and I've poured boiling water in it many, many times with no problem. I know someone who had a fire in their home and the sink actually remained intact albeit very dirty, but perfectly fine after cleaned up soo....who knows.

Several things I love about Corian: no seams, large variety of colors to choose from, can "sand out" scratches and scrapes whereas with Granite, you'd have to replace the whole piece. I also felt that corian is "warmer" and less formal than granite. Granite is also very nice, however, and really is a matter of preference. We have had our countertops almost a year and have no complaints at all. Just MHO, of course. Good luck with your decision.

 

[cynsaun]

Originally posted by lazarru
We are planning on doing our kitchen right now and we are faced with the same decision. In speaking with a friend that is working with a granite installer, and in fact just redid his kitchen, he said that the granite actually doesn't need to be resealed as much as you think if it's done right. In fact he said it can be done every 2-4 yrs, not every 6 months like some say.

Does anyone know what the cost of resealing is?

Right now we are leaning towards the granite, the thinking is if we are going to spend all this money on the kitchen, why go cheap with the counters.

I agree with this. Granite doesn't need to be resealed every 6 months.

We just moved into this house (brand new!!) a year ago, and the oily ring happened within the first month. I properly maintain my granite, but it is STONE, and stone does soak up moisture!

 

[m&m's mom]

The stains are mostly a result of the color of the granite. We have black granite all over our kitchen and island and do not have any problems. Supposedly the lighter the granite the more pouous it is.
I have a friend that has a black granite island and a taupey color granite on her countertops and the lighter color did show an oil stain for about a year and it worked itself out and now you cannot see.
I like granite better.