Countertops - cheaper alternatives to granite?

[Anonymous]

I love wood. It is warm and beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Corian is a better product than granite. It was out before granite.
It has a lot of colors and you can get it to look like granite.

Really? A DuPont product predates natural stone? And dinosaurs are fiction too, right?

[Anonymous]

Ugh. Disagree. My friend's mother installed Corian and hated it. She said that if you looked at it wrong, it stained. Basic cooking stained it frequently including tomato products, wine, vinegars, and many other food products. She said she spent a ton of time keeping it clean. Also, the surface is very soft and scratches easily. She found that is you weren't careful with good knives, they could nick and cut the Corian because it was so soft. Moving knives and other metal around the sink could scratch the surface and after even a year, it was much rougher than the counter. We have Corian in our bathrooms and it is soft. We've had people put heavy bags with metal buckles, etc on the counter and pull them off and leave scratches in the surface. I have one gouge that we have no idea how it happened in our least frequently used bathroom and we have to find the time to sand it down and then repolish the surface to restore it.

Corian is only good if you are an infrequent or non-cook. If you use your kitchen frequently (or have active kids around your kitchen) then it isn't a good surface for you.



You are completely wrong. Corian stands up to everything and can be buffed out. I have had red wine rings come out a day after the party. I hate the look of them though. I would destroy them if I could just so I could buy something new.

[Anonymous]

Ditto looking at remnants and also going directly to the granite yard vice dealing with Home Depot or whatever kitchen/bath place directly as there will be a markup.

There are some of the more common granites where you might be able to piece together several remnant pieces, particularly if there is separation in your kitchen (ie broken up by appliances, on opposite sides of the room, etc.) I also like the idea of using a remnant for the island to contrast maybe with whatever other countertops you use.

I have a friend who swears by butcherblock but I still like granite. I hate to say it but I think 99% of people looking at a home to buy will want something a bit higher-end than laminate if you have already redone the kitchen...

[Anonymous]

I still prefer Granite. Though it might be a bit expensive, it's durability is incomparable. It will definitely last a lifetime with proper care. http://www.myinstalledcountertops.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When did granite countertops become so trendy? I personally really dislike them. I know I'm in the minority. I prefer wood, marble or even poured concrete to granite.

Poured concrete is cool! but pricey, no?

Stainless is cool, too - but probably just as expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have butcher block counters , with white cabinets, and it is gorgeous.

We've had it over 3 years now.

I personally think granite is "past its time" so to speak, sort of the crazy excess of the housing boom. In the future we'll probably look upon it how we look upon Avocado Green or Harvest Gold appliances.

Yeah - Sometimes I think there's no such thing as "timeless."

We kept our avocado bathtub b/c it's made well - and we worked around it when we remodeled. looks great, IMO

[Anonymous]

Granite comes in many colors and patterns so it is timeless because no other material can measure up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still prefer Granite. Though it might be a bit expensive, it's durability is incomparable. It will definitely last a lifetime with proper care. http://www.myinstalledcountertops.com

This is the second old post that has been resurrected in "Real Estate and Home Improvement" with a link. It's pretty obvious that it's advertising. Do we report these? Or is it OK on this forum?

[Anonymous]

We are asians with a big family so we use our kitchen heavily. Anything but a stone counter top would not stand up to the assault. The wood counters look great, but I would worry about staining, nicks, scratches, burns, etc. Granted we don't go out of our way to pour soy sauce on the counter, stir it with some steel wool, then set a burning hot pot down right on the whole thing, but not having to worry about damaging the counter and keeping it looking nice is a great feeling.

We are going to put in a second "work island" with a stainless steel top for doing prep work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Corian is a better product than granite. It was out before granite.
It has a lot of colors and you can get it to look like granite.

Ugh. Disagree. My friend's mother installed Corian and hated it. She said that if you looked at it wrong, it stained. Basic cooking stained it frequently including tomato products, wine, vinegars, and many other food products. She said she spent a ton of time keeping it clean. Also, the surface is very soft and scratches easily. She found that is you weren't careful with good knives, they could nick and cut the Corian because it was so soft. Moving knives and other metal around the sink could scratch the surface and after even a year, it was much rougher than the counter. We have Corian in our bathrooms and it is soft. We've had people put heavy bags with metal buckles, etc on the counter and pull them off and leave scratches in the surface. I have one gouge that we have no idea how it happened in our least frequently used bathroom and we have to find the time to sand it down and then repolish the surface to restore it.

Corian is only good if you are an infrequent or non-cook. If you use your kitchen frequently (or have active kids around your kitchen) then it isn't a good surface for you.

I've had Corian for 10 years and cook every day and I disagree with EVERYTHING you have said. Ours stays clean easily and doesn't stain. After 10 years it has some light scratches in places but it doesn't scratch easily. We could get is sanded down to remove the scratches but I've not bothered to do that yet because they are not very noticeable. We have a dark green color and I still love it. I've certainly never had "heavy bags with buckles" cause any kind of mark at all. Are you sure you and your friend's mother have Corian and not another product?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Corian is a better product than granite. It was out before granite.
It has a lot of colors and you can get it to look like granite.

Ugh. Disagree. My friend's mother installed Corian and hated it. She said that if you looked at it wrong, it stained. Basic cooking stained it frequently including tomato products, wine, vinegars, and many other food products. She said she spent a ton of time keeping it clean. Also, the surface is very soft and scratches easily. She found that is you weren't careful with good knives, they could nick and cut the Corian because it was so soft. Moving knives and other metal around the sink could scratch the surface and after even a year, it was much rougher than the counter. We have Corian in our bathrooms and it is soft. We've had people put heavy bags with metal buckles, etc on the counter and pull them off and leave scratches in the surface. I have one gouge that we have no idea how it happened in our least frequently used bathroom and we have to find the time to sand it down and then repolish the surface to restore it.

Corian is only good if you are an infrequent or non-cook. If you use your kitchen frequently (or have active kids around your kitchen) then it isn't a good surface for you.

I have solid white Corian in my kitchen and it looks great - no problems with staining, and we are pretty messy. there are some minor knife marks from cutting right on the counter, not really noticeable unless you look, but they buff out easily with a scrubbie. I love the look - it's so clean and white - and have had no trouble with it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Corian is a better product than granite. It was out before granite.
It has a lot of colors and you can get it to look like granite.

Ugh. Disagree. My friend's mother installed Corian and hated it. She said that if you looked at it wrong, it stained. Basic cooking stained it frequently including tomato products, wine, vinegars, and many other food products. She said she spent a ton of time keeping it clean. Also, the surface is very soft and scratches easily. She found that is you weren't careful with good knives, they could nick and cut the Corian because it was so soft. Moving knives and other metal around the sink could scratch the surface and after even a year, it was much rougher than the counter. We have Corian in our bathrooms and it is soft. We've had people put heavy bags with metal buckles, etc on the counter and pull them off and leave scratches in the surface. I have one gouge that we have no idea how it happened in our least frequently used bathroom and we have to find the time to sand it down and then repolish the surface to restore it.

Corian is only good if you are an infrequent or non-cook. If you use your kitchen frequently (or have active kids around your kitchen) then it isn't a good surface for you.

I have solid white Corian in my kitchen and it looks great - no problems with staining, and we are pretty messy. there are some minor knife marks from cutting right on the counter, not really noticeable unless you look, but they buff out easily with a scrubbie. I love the look - it's so clean and white - and have had no trouble with it at all.

[Anonymous]

The pic in 11:15 is laminate, not Corian, which is one color uniformly through.

[Anonymous]

Depending on where you live, see if it's worth going to Floor and Decore in Richmond. They sell prefab granite for $6.99/square foot. You just have to have someone deliver it and install it which they say is easy to do. It's finished on three sides though so you'd have to do something like butcher block on the island.

I think this is what a lot of the 'design on a dime' shows have used, otherwise there is no way they are getting granite for that cheap- even when they fabricate it themselves.