The TZ collective have been very helpful in the past with advice so I thought I’d ask again :-)
We have a very big kitchen with a lot of worktop surfaces in a wonderful oak. The cost of changing them would be very expensive and unnecessary we think. However we’re not happy with the sink area which over the last 15 years or so just gets bits of water damage. We seem to be always cleaning and staining it and have made the decision to replace it with something more modern and less maintenance.
The area we want to change is around 2m by 0.9m. A chap that was highly recommended to us has had a look and suggested corian. We’ve never heard of this so thought I’d ask here. He’s fully booked until June so we’re not in a rush.
Below is a picture of our kitchen from a while back. We’ve since change the cooker and extractor for a cream smeg so looks different now. The sink area is to the right by the fridge.
Corian is good stuff and comes in a variety of colours/finishes that would suit your existing kitchen really well.
There are other materials that are similar that might have a different choice of finish and colour and maybe price.
From what I recall, materials like corian are hard wearing and relatively easy to look after.
Overall, I think it would blend nicely with what you already have.
We have a Pyragranite insert (natural quartz/resin combo) in our kitchen and SWMBO's pleased with it, IIRC it is similar to Corian.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I'm certainly no expert, but the issue I can see if you're thinking of Corian is it's thin profile, and if you're removing the oak work surface by the sink surely you'd want something the same thickness as the oak work surface it joins? It might look a bit off if you have to put a riser underneath to level it with the oak? For that reason I would have thought quartz or granite is a much better option (and probably cheaper too, as Corian can be quite expensive)
We considered Corian where we replaced our kitchen last year, several suppliers told us that a big advantage is the it can be repaired if it gets damaged or burnt, we chose ceramic worktops which are bombproof, the only disadvantage is if you inadvertently put something like a cup or glass down hard it might break
Hi Devonian , nice kitchen. We have recently moved into a new build and gone with Silestone ( quartz) . We selected a white finish with some flecks in like foil. It is really nice looking and the flecks sparkle and catch your eye. We went for Quartz over Granite as a few installers said white granite can stain with curry / red wine stains. Quartz is so impermeable you can should you wish prepare meat directly on it.
My palmwho is a kitchen fitter did a high end kitchen recently using Corian since he could buy a fully moulded splash-back and sink in a specific colour. It was a small section eg 2 m ish and was over £3k
Here is a comparison of Quartz and Corian lifted off the net
https://kitchinsider.com/corian-vs-quartz-countertops/
Steve
When we did ours I was lead to believe quartz was more durable than corian.
We have had ours 4 years now and its like the day it was installed.
Just moved into a house with a huge area of Corian and am impressed with it. Easy to clean and looks good. Not sure about the comment above about a thin profile, ours is about 2” deep
Originally Posted by craig1912
The thin profile worktops (12.5mm) are Zenith.
We had Corian fitted when our kitchen was replaced in 2008. Apart from a small dink where someone dropped a plate on its edge (that was me) it's as good as the day it was put in. Yes it was expensive (there was a lot of work surface to put in and initially I was reluctant to spend that much until Mrs Sish put her foot down) but all it needs is an anti-bac wipedown twice a week.
I won't bore everyone with pictures of the kitchen but happy to send the OP pictures directly.
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
Thanks everyone, gives us some good ideas as were fairly clueless ourselves.
Hi Toshi
Thanks for post - the fitter actually mentioned the riser due to the thinner profile and said he could work it in so we wouldn’t notice the difference. I’ll look into that more though for definite to be sure, though hopefully looking at the link below provided by Steve, it implies that it can be worked to make it look seamless.
Thanks Steve and thanks for the link, very handy indeed.
Hi
That would be much appreciated, I’ll message you. Thanks Stephen.
We have Corian. It’s very good but one gripe I have is that being a very light colour it does pick up surface stains very easily; although I do cook a lot of curries and Paella’s both of which contain turmeric, but even coffee from my coffee machine stains it. We get through a lot of bleach spray to keep it looking good. I keep thinking about using a cutting compound and my DA polisher to fully refurbish it. It is good stuff though and would probably buy again but in a much darker colour.
Indeed: Corian picks up stains pretty easy (at least, it did when we had a corian top in a house during the late 90s). For us the reason to change direction when we bought a new kitchen.
Then we had a Pyragranite-ish top. Perfect stuff. Lasted without a scratch for 17 yrs, including hot pans on the worktop. Highly recommended! Tons of colours and patterns as well.
Current house has a ceramic worktop. Installed by the previous owners of this house. Eyewatering expensive. I wouldn't have bought it myself (too expensive). But honestly, it's the best worktop we ever had.
M.
I've had Granite,Corian and Silestone presently which I prefer.
With Corian you can get a nice seamless join onto a sink which is nice.
Seems I’ve been beaten to it, a friend had corian and complained it was a stain magnet, tea, coffee, curry, red wine were always a pita to deal with.
We got Samsung quartz put into ours and it’s much more resilient imho.
Corian is nice, but we have Staron in the bathrooms, which is very similar, and granite in the kitchen.
It's just a matter of time...
Ours is whiteish and no issue with stains. Quick spray of Method cleaner does the job.
We had a corian worksurface at our last house. It was OK but an invisible join was visible - an installer error, most likely.
OUr current home came with a soapstone worksurface - I love it. It doesn't mark and has a lovely tactile quality that quartz doesn't have (hard to describe, but it is almost soapy!)
Lovely kitchen buddy.
We have had over the past 18 years, oak, black granite and now white mirror fleck quartz which in our opinion is just easiest to live with.
Pitch
Dekton is supposed to be the business if you want a stain proof work surface.
Same here, it is rather nice. I’m glad we went with it, despite initially being reluctant to pay the price for it.
Last edited by Justin Case; 16th March 2021 at 19:38.
We have Dekton, it’s bomb proof, just don’t put anything down hard on it, the wife has broken a few cups.
- - - Updated - - -
We have Dekton, it’s bomb proof, just don’t put anything down hard on it, the wife has broken a few cups.
Nice kitchen as it is.
Last edited by Justin Case; 16th March 2021 at 19:40.
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