Granite vs Corian vs Silestone

[lordkenmore]

The funny thing is that the best cooking period of my life was when I was stuck with a limited kitchen--limited counter space, bad lighting, and a stove that only partly worked. Less importantly, the kitchen was not HGTV type quality. Yet, I managed to get by, and did the most cooking--and most adventurous cooking--of my life.

 

[hunter]

If I had the world's perfect kitchen I'd probably ne

I hear ya on that one; at the moment I have an electric range. The under counter oven is sitting on a chrome storage rack next to the stove and I have to unplug the range and plug in the oven manually when I use it. The counter tops need redoing and the cabinets are 1980s horror.

But it's a fun place to cook.

Goodness knows we do enough cooking, freezing, and canning in it.

I'd go nuts if I had one of these 200,000 kitchens mostly because they'd probably be so busy with molding and fancy cabinets and stuff they're impossible to clean!!

Hunter

 

[cadman]

Granite?

Only if it comes in Skylark Boomerang!

 

[firedome]

Hunter

You'll be pleased with the Kraft Maid solid plywood cabinets, it's not a real expensive upgrade, and they are very well made. We have them in our VT house in a burgundy painted finish, and in Hickory in the last new house we built. They are a very good company to deal with, and when one came damaged they promptly replaced it no questions, and even did so twice because the finish color didn't match exactly since every paint run varies slightly, again they didn't hesitate to re-do it two times no questions asked.

A good way to save some $ is to use the particle-board box version on the hanging wall cabinets as there are no drawers or counters to take a pounding, we saved some considerable bucks by doing that in the summer place and they've been entirely satisfactory, the new glues in the particle board stuff is much improved and KM assembly is top notch in all their cabinets even the cheapest, nothing like the junk from Loews etc. The one place not to cut any corners is the base cabinets however.

 

[cornutt]

We have granite. It's called Black Galaxy and it's about the blackest thing you've ever seen, with little flakes of quartz in it. It's extremely dense and doesn't need sealing. Every few weeks I hit it with some granite polish. You can set hot pans down on it. You can cut on it, but we don't because it dulls the knives.

Our appliances are black too. The cabinets are maple veneer, flat fronts, with black bar pulls. The floor is bamboo. We like it.

 

[michaelman2]

Stainless.....yes, can be industrial or institutional looking...kitchen is contemporary so it worked great. Had back splash and counter as one continuous piece...heavy as hell and was a bitch to install, but love it.

 

[hunter]

firedome..

Thanks for the info AND the tip!

Hunter

 

[whirlcool]

I remember the time before granite started to become popular, Corian was considered all the rage.
I have seen some formica that looks a lot like granite, from a distance. Same look, many $$ less.
Our neighbors have that quartz countertop material(Silestone). It looks like granite, but looks and feels like plastic. They bought it for safety reasons. It does not allow microbial growth to occur on it. But it's just about as expensive as granite.

 

[cornutt]

I remember when Corian was the thing to have, but we planned to eventually have granite long before it was popular. Granite is quarried around here, so in this area the cost of granite and Corian is about the same.

 

[norgeway]

St Charles Cabinets..

Came mostly with one piece stainless steel tops in the 50s and 60s, there are several kitchens in my hometown like that, fantastic...unless you happen to get a short in something!!LOL

 

[jerrod6]

I have Silestone quartz.  So far no problem with it.  You just clean it with soap and water or non ammonia Windex.  It doesn't show any scratches or cuts and doesn't need any special polishing but you are not supposed to  use any type of cleaner on it except soap and water or non ammonia Windex -  which  = OK by me.

 

At first I thought this stuff would be cheaper than Granite or Corian...in the end not by much....but I like the look and ease of maintenance and just no scratches, marring, polishing, or re-sealing.

 

Can't say mine feels like plastic...it feels more like stone.



 

 

[mrb627]

Quartz

I think the quartz countertops are beautiful. Anything with a hi-shine, gets my vote!

Malcolm

 

[hunter]

Youngstown

I've just bought an entire kitchen worth of Youngstown cabinets. We're both very happy about that; our 'mid century modern' place will look great with these cabinets!

The counter will be formica, of course!

 

[58limited]

...<a name="start_37668.561227"><strong>but you are not supposed to  use any type of cleaner on it except soap and water or non ammonia Windex...</strong></a>

 

<strong>I was told the exact opposite when I bought Silestone: I could use any cleaner except something really harsh like oven cleaner, as opposed to granite on which you are not supposed to use anything except soap and water or maybe Windex.</strong><strong> </strong><strong>That is one of the reasons I chose Silestone.</strong><strong>
</strong>

 

[retropia]

We went with laminate (Wilsonart, I think) when we redid the kitchen in '98. It has held up fine, although we are careful to not cut or place hot pans on it. They have a beveled edge option now for laminate which we used, as we have a breakfast bar that is open on three sides. The beveled edge makes it look more like a solid surface.

Our main concern with granite is that we prefer lighter colors, which are limited in granite. Most tend to be dark shades.

If I could justify re-doing the counters, now I'd go with quartz Zodiaq by DuPont. They have a pretty color in their Terra Collection called Calm Springs, which is a light blue/gray with flecks of clear recycled glass. If my calculations are correct, the cost would be about 40 percent more than what we paid for the laminate in '98, which isn't too bad. The price jumps fast if you go with any of the optional edges.