Let's talk about counter tops and sinks.

[DisneyPhD]

We have Corian countertops and the Corian 1/3-2/3 sink integrated sink. Our house is about a year old and we haven't had problems with scratching at all. I didn't want granite and the Silstone color choices our builder offered weren't to our liking.

How do you like the sink? That is the real drawing point for me. I keep thinking that 1/3 2/3 splits it up too much. What side is your disposal on? The smaller side? I guess it really is just a mater of getting used to it. I have always had a single big sink.

 

[MareQ]

According to our granite guy, the only thing we have to do is seal it once or twice per year, which basically consists of wiping some stuff on it. Really not that hard. .

Yes - I am always puzzled when people mention the upkeep for granite. We just sealed ours for the 2nd time - in 5 years.... We have Ubatuba

We have a double bowl Kindred undermount sink - equal bowls. It's really deep which was important to me. I use one side as a drain board as I despise having cluttered countertops.

I am in the middle of a minor kitchen remodel myself - what a pain and we're not even really disturbed. Just a new dishwasher - knocked out a lower cabinet - bought a big 6 burner restaurant style stove - have to have a new cabinet built there - then removed the upper cabinets - and as soon as the permits come through the wall behind the stove will be knocked down to a half wall. Sounds more involved than it really is - but we're stalled because the town hasn;t issued our permits yet - GRRRRRRR

In my old house I had tile - we replaced with Corian. I loved the look of it - but hated that it did scratch and that you cannot pot hot pots on it. When we moved here the builder put in plain old white formica - they lasted about 2weeks before we went out and got the granite. After having had granite - there's no way I'd ever g back to any of ther other materials!

 

[chris1gill]

We have two homes, I've put granite in both, stainless double bowl sinks in each with a moen faucet that pulls out to be a sprayer.... I did it in the first house and liked it all so much, put it in the second.... That would be my words of wisdom. Another word of wisdom? If you can find someone who works with the fabricators directly you can get some granites at 50 bucks a square foot, our first house we were lucky that way,good thing it's a huge kitchen... the second, not so lucky... paid rack rate....

 

[RUDisney]

I've got a Zodiaq countertop and backsplash. I'd do them again in a heartbeat. I have Corian in 2 of my bathrooms. I hate the sinks! Sure, it's nice to have it all as one piece, but they are buggers to keep clean. They are ecru and they stain all the time. I wish I had porcelain in these bathrooms like I do in the basement bathroom.

My MIL has a Corian kitchen. She's not careful about keeping the counters nice and it shows. Although, when she saw mine after she had installed hers, she told me that my counter looked plastic. Yep, Corian looks far more like granite than the Zodiaq.

I have a SS sink, 2 bowls with a 60/40 split. The 40% side is on the left with the insinkerator and it is not as deep as the VERY deep right side.

 

[MAKmom]

I need some ideas and opinions.

We are starting a kitchen remodel in the next few weeks. We have ordered Corian counter tops with the seamless double sink (both bowls same size.)

I am 2nd guessing this choice. Since the counters aren't ordered until the cabinets come in we can change it at any time before then. (about a month.)

Our other options is a kind of man made granite (Silestone, quartz) that has microdrem antibacterial in it. It cost about $10 more a SF, but the sink would a lot less so it would even over all. The seamless sink alone is 650. Rather a steep expense for us. I want it though, but I don't know how good of an idea it is.

What do you guys think? Corian or granitite? Double sink or big single one? Right now we have a stainless steal big single one. I don't love it, but it is nice to put a lot in. I am worried a double one will be too small.

Any words of wisdom????

I fabricate, Corian , Quartz & Granite. Do not get the Corian sink get a stainless steel undermount not matter what you do.

Lg Viatera is a Quartz top that is offering a free sink now. You can get a D bowl, Rectangle bowl or double bowl. It is about a $250.00 savings. It is the brand Lowes is carrying. Very nice product.

Zodiaq, Cambria, Avanza, Viatera they are all basically the same. Silestone advertises the antimicrobial but why do you need that? It is a chemical & unless you are doing surgery on your tops I see no reason anyone must have it. We fabricate Silestone also.


They way we pricing, our starting Level 1 Quartz comes out to about Level 4 Corian.

I would do Granite or Quartz before Corian. Shop around for prices.

My husband likes the sink & a half if you must do a double sink. The double sinks are small this way you get 1 larger sink. The higher end look is the D bowl. Faucets are going on the side now too. FYI

 

[redshoes]

DH and I built our home last May. We put Corian in our kitchen and bathrooms. I had a hard time coming up with a color that I loved in granite so we chose Corian. Ours (in the kitchen) is a dark gray color with flecks of brown, ivory, black, and white in it. I have noticed a few scratches from little things like throwing our keys on the countertop when we come home. But they are small and once I get the guts to buff them out, they'll be gone. We have just trained ourselves to not slide dishes across the countertop, to not cut on it, and to use trivets.

For our kitchen sink we did a Moen undermount sink. I love it! We chose black and it doesn't stain, it doesn't scratch, it is easy to clean. I can't say enough good things about it. This is it:

http://www.moen.com/browsecatalog/productcatalog/configurator.cfm?skurefno=316129

For our faucet, we chose this one in black:

http://www.moen.com/browsecatalog/productcatalog/configurator.cfm?skurefno=319992

 

[DisneyPhD]

I fabricate, Corian , Quartz & Granite. Do not get the Corian sink get a stainless steel undermount not matter what you do

Can I ask why? We are looking into the man made granite kind of sink right now. What do you think about those (any sink I will get WILL be undermont. )

We are not going to go with the Corian anything at this point. I do have counter tops for my double sink in the upstairs bathroom and really like them, but Siltstone or granite is sounding better and better for my needs.

 

[cryssi]

we upgraded to granite when we built our house. I really didn't want tile b/c of the grout. I totally love it the pattern we picked b/c it's very different. Anyway, my mom has had granite for years. What is most important to do is make sure that you don't leave anything oily on the countertop, as that will permanently stain. Granite is ver porous. Dark water spots will go away, but the oily stuff... I have a clear, glass cutting board by my stove that I keep oil and stuff on.

I will always get granite, for sure.

 

[Galahad]

Yes - I am always puzzled when people mention the upkeep for granite. We just sealed ours for the 2nd time - in 5 years....

But that's two times more than you have to do with Quartz, with no stains and no heat marks.

 

[MAKmom]

Can I ask why? We are looking into the man made granite kind of sink right now. What do you think about those (any sink I will get WILL be undermont. )

We are not going to go with the Corian anything at this point. I do have counter tops for my double sink in the upstairs bathroom and really like them, but Siltstone or granite is sounding better and better for my needs.

I hate the Corian sinks you have to be careful with them. No tea bags or it stains etc. You can bleach it out. I have one now & will do stainless steal next time. I have never had a stone sink so I do not know anything about maintenance. We have installed them only. Cast Iron & stainless steel are popular around here. The Stone & Cast Iron sometimes require a cradle to be built

 

[MAKmom]

But that's two times more than you have to do with Quartz, with no stains and no heat marks.

The granite should be sealed every year it is not a big deal. It also depends on how you use it. You have kid PHD so seal it. I think the Quartz is beautiful, it is stronger than the granite.

If you do the stainless steel undermount discuss flushmont or some rim showing if you pick a sink with a rim. There is another recent thread on this on the CB

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

The August Consumer Reports I got in the mail today is on Kitchens! They rank Quartz #1, followed by Granite. You may want to pick up a copy, it has details on everything. I have not read it all yet, but we are contemplating some work and it will come in handy.

 

[ndelaware]

We went with granite and a cast iron under-mount sink. We are very happy with them.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Can I ask why? We are looking into the man made granite kind of sink right now. What do you think about those (any sink I will get WILL be undermont. )

We are not going to go with the Corian anything at this point. I do have counter tops for my double sink in the upstairs bathroom and really like them, but Siltstone or granite is sounding better and better for my needs.

I had a black man made granite sink and it was awful. It always looked dull and dirty no matter how much I cleaned it.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I hate the Corian sinks you have to be careful with them. No tea bags or it stains etc. You can bleach it out. I have one now & will do stainless steal next time. I have never had a stone sink so I do not know anything about maintenance. We have installed them only. Cast Iron & stainless steel are popular around here. The Stone & Cast Iron sometimes require a cradle to be built

I got such conflicting information on corian. They said in the store IT DOES NOT STAIN. That is a selling point for it. Then I hear people say you have to be careful with it. I agree with a PP who said they couldn't find the color they wanted in other types so they went with corian. That was a selling point for me at 1st.

I called HD and made an appt to change our counter tops. The sink they have in stock that is man made granite might be too big for our cabinet (and that order is placed and being made as we speak so I can't change it now. We will have to see how much more it is to special order one. I have no desire to clean my sink and try to make it glow or shine. There is something in it too often.

 

[jrmasm]

Again, not all granite needs to be sealed. There is a test that you can do (leaving lemon juice, oil, red wine etc on a sample) to check the stone you pick.

I didn't go with quartz because it had a noticeable (to me) scaley finish.

 

[720L]

I had a corian sink and hated it. I had to scrub that sink practically every time I used it. Cookie sheets would make black marks on it, spaghetti sauce would stain it. Now I have stainless steel--much better, but now I'm dealing with a scratched up sink that isn't fixable. Oh well at least you can't see the scratches unless you look closely!

 

[Smileybug]

We have Silestone/quartz. And I love, love, love it!! You can't hurt the stuff. And it cleans up great!!

We are also in the process of building a new house and I will be having the same thing installed.

 

[geffric]

 

[DisneyPhD]

We went to HD today and changed our order. With the extra 10% off we got what we wanted for only $60 more then the Corian order (and that includes an extra $ edge.) It would of been a few hundred less if we went with the free edge. We wanted something softer and went with a double bull nose.

We got Silestone called blue Sahara. We also got a black undermount man made granite double sink. It was only 260 compared to 650 for the corian one.

I am very happy with it. I hope it looks and is as great as I am dreaming it will be. Now to get the old kitchen packed up and cleared out.

Thanks so much for the help! The sales associate was asking what made us change our mind. I told her I asked around both online and with friends we knew. She said that was smart doing some research before hand.

I love the Dis!