By Katherine Salant
If you're one to agonize over decisions, choosing a kitchen countertop can take forever. You can get real stone like granite. Then there's the hot new thing - a stone-synthetic composite that is mostly quartz particles mixed with a binder. Or, you can get a 100 per cent synthetic solid surfacing material such as Corian.
There are more than 100 different granite stones to choose from, and Corian is available in more colors and textures than ever - 83 at last count. So far, the manufacturers of the stone synthetic mix offer a modest selection that numbers about 40.
All of these products would look terrific in a kitchen. Price might seem the easiest basis for a decision, but within each category, the majority of the choices fall roughly within the same price range, about $100 to $150 a linear foot of counter, installed (some materials are less than this and some are considerably more).
The least expensive countertop material, by a considerable margin, is still plastic laminate, but that won't make the choices any easier. The four major manufacturers - Wilsonart, Formica, Nevamar and Pionite - each offer more than a hundred colors and patterns.
Practicality might be a reason to pick one material over another, but none of these products are trouble free. Corian and plastic laminate will scratch, granite requires periodic resealing, and all of them will stain if food spills, especially such common staining agents as mustard, red wine or strawberries are left to dry on for any period of time. With effort, though, you can usually get the stains out. The only fool-proof counter top material that absolutely won't stain, will barely scratch and requires minimal maintenance is stainless steel, but your kitchen will look like a hospital lab, said stone guru and columnist Fred Hueston of Winter Park, Fla.
Granite
Zeroing in on specific materials, the number of granite choices available to you will depend on where you buy it. Home center stores such as Home Depot only sell about 15 stones. Many tract builders now offer granite counter tops as an upgrade, but they need to keep things simple when building 10 or 20 houses at a time, so they offer at most four or five choices.
The granite fabricators who cut the large stone slabs into kitchen counter-sized pieces for the builders and cabinet dealers, however, usually sell forty or more different stones, with a wide range of textures and subtleties that increase with price. For example, Luna Pearl, which is offered by many tract builders, is a light-colored stone with large black, white and gray flecks. It looks the same when seen from near or far or under different lighting conditions, and it is among the least expensive granites; the installed price of a counter top is about $75 a linear foot (on a par with a base grade Corian). At the other end of the granite price scale is Blue Pearl, a smoldering dark gray stone with large translucent chips that give it depth; different lighting conditions affect its appearance. Blue Pearl runs about $175 to $200 a linear foot, installed.
The color range with granites is wide, but as it is a natural material, there can be marked irregularities within one countertop. The degree of variation will not be evident on a small 4 by 4-inch sample, but even the most homogenous-looking granites can have large, dark, amoebae-shaped areas. To avoid any unpleasant surprises on this score, you should visit the fabricator and pick out the slab yourself. If possible, bring along samples of the flooring and cabinetry you're considering to make sure that all three work well together. You may find that you still like the countertop, but want to rethink the other two.
Although granite is regarded by many as an upscale look, it is surprisingly practical. It is nearly impossible to damage the surface with a hot pan or scratch it. As the literature says, you need to use a cutting board to protect your cutlery, not the granite. Granite is a porous stone, however, and it will stain if not sealed regularly. Even with the sealing, it will still stain if spills are not cleaned up promptly, but the sealing makes the stains easier to remove. The initial sealing will be done by the fabricator who cuts the slab to your specifications. Thereafter, you will need to reseal it about once a year, though in heavy use areas around the sink and cook-top, you may need to reseal it more often.
The Stone-Synthetic Composites
The stone-synthetic composite - Corian's Zodiaq, Formica's Crystalite and Cosentino's Silestone - are all made of about 90 percent quartz particles and 10 percent acrylic or epoxy binder. Some of the composites look like natural stone, but not one that you could identify. Others are so close to real granite that you're left asking, "Is it real or is it Memorex?" And some are even better than the real thing. If you've longed for the brilliance of quartz and the rich blue of lapis lazuli, Zodiaq's Celestial Blue or Silestone's Cobalt Blue could be your ticket.
Since the composites are man-made materials, they do not have the unexpected variation of granite or marble. Nonetheless, you should still try to see a large piece at a countertop fabricator's because making a selection from a small, 4 by 4-inch sample is difficult for most people. When you go try to bring along the flooring and cabinet samples as well.
The composites do not need to be sealed and fabricators who work with them say it's as scratch resistant as granite. But they can stain if food spills are not cleaned up promptly, said Hueston, who has tested samples in his lab.
Cystalite and Silestone counter tops are similarly priced at about $110 to $160 per linear foot, installed. Zodiaq prices are higher, ranging from about $120 to $250 a linear foot, installed. Since all three of these products are fairly recent market entries, their availability varies. To find a dealer in your area, check their websites, Zodiaq, www.zodiaq.com, Silestone, www.silestoneusa.com or call Crystalite, (800)544-6682.
Corian and the Solid Surfacing Materials.
The most widely available and widely known 100 percent synthetic countertop material is Corian, made by Dupont, but other manufacturers including Wilson Art, Formica and Avenite also make it. Known in the building and remodeling industry as solid surfacing materials, these are either a pure acrylic product or a polyester-acrylic mix.
Some of the solid surfacing materials are solid colors, but most have flecks that give it a textured look. In some cases the look approaches real stone; in others, especially with the greens and reds, liberties have clearly been taken with nature.
When a solid surfacing material such as Corian is installed, no seams are visible; as a result, the counters look as if they were created just for your kitchen. If you get a Corian sink as well, you get a continuous unbroken surface as you go from counter to sink, and this adds to the "made just for me" look. All the solid surface materials feel like silk and this adds to their cachet.
The solid surfacing materials are scratch resistant; if you do get a scratch, you can sand it out. Should you get deep scratches or gauges, the damaged area can be removed and a new piece installed. If the new patch is made from the cut out for your sink (the fabricator will give it to you), the repair will be invisible. Otherwise, the new piece will be from a different die lot and the repair may show.
As a practical matter, however, it is difficult for the average homeowner to sand out scratches so that they don't show because most people lack the right sanding techniques and experience. Rather than trying to get out every scratch, you're better off accepting the scratches as part of the patina the solid surfacing material acquires with age, observed Washington, D.C., fabricator John Murray. Hueston has found that the solid surfacing materials will also stain if heavy staining agents such as mustard or strawberries are left to dry on.
As with the other countertop materials, you should go to the fabricator who makes the countertops to see a large piece before making your final selection and bring your cabinet and flooring samples along.
The installed price for solid surfacing materials ranges from about $75 to $150 per linear foot of counter, installed.
If the lower priced granites, marble or solid surfacing materials still exceed your budget, Formica, Nevamar, Pionite and Wilsonart, the major manufacturers of plastic laminates, offer a very wide variety of colors, patterns and finishes. Some, such as Pionite's polished "Olive Organix," look like polished granite. When an Olive Organix counter top is edged with wood, "no one can tell," said one high-end builder in Florida who uses it when clients get in a budget crunch.
No plastic laminate is scratch proof, but some including Wilsonart's Premium-90, Formica's Sparkle, Pionite's Crystal and Nevamar's Crystal have subtly textured surfaces that are more scratch resistant than a standard laminate matte finish. These are well suited for kitchen use, but they can also stain if you don't clean up food spills promptly.
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