Countertops - cheaper alternatives to granite?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Their website doesn't have any information on this. Can you elaborate on the sizes of the prefab granite? Do they come in premade lengths and you'd only have to finish one and what about L shaped countertops? Do they ha e a decent selection of Granite? I'm intrigued.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hate granite! Try Silestone or composites. I also love the black counters they use in science classes. It looks very modern and they are functional.

More expensive than Granite in general, unless you are talking about high end exotic granites.

[Anonymous]

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

No, it's Corian. If you had bothered to just look at the link it is:

http://solidsurfacerestorations.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/chemical_burn_in_Corian_003.18493910_std.jpg

And despite the handful of people who have not had a problem with Corian, there are dozens of web-sites devoted to the care of Corian, how to polish out scratches, how to handle burns, and how to repair damage. Many, many people have had damage to Corian. I'm glad that you don't, but the issues with Corian are frequently noted not only here, but also on other web-sites. It is one of the most care-intensive surfaces out there for countertops. That doesn't mean that if your careful that it won't hold up, just that it requires you to be more careful than anything other than laminate. Even wood is more durable than Corian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Their website doesn't have any information on this. Can you elaborate on the sizes of the prefab granite? Do they come in premade lengths and you'd only have to finish one and what about L shaped countertops? Do they ha e a decent selection of Granite? I'm intrigued.

I called the other day about it and talked to someone in the design center but have not seen the selection in person. The store does have tons of variety in everything they sell so it wouldn't surprise me if they had several options. My understanding is that it is finished on three sides (the fourth side goes against cabinets) and it comes in 21 square foot sheets. It is fine if you need to cut it and piece it but not to be used on an island since it would have one unfinished side. They explained that it is 2 cm some places and 3 cm other places. I went to a fabrication shop for counters last week and saw how they make countertops which comes in thin sheets into counters- it was amazing to see the thin stone turn into slab through the fabrication process.

[Anonymous]

I'm actually thinking of just doing laminate. It looks a lot nicer than it used to.

[Anonymous]

Epoxy Resin or Phenolic resin is definitely becoming more and more popular. Here are two places online that helped me and (at least one) shows a photo gallery. http://www.onepointesolutions.com/laboratory-furniture/lab-tables/epoxy-phenolic-resin-tables and the other is http://www.epoxyresintops.com/epoxy-resin/epoxy-resin-countertops

Hope that helps!