Kitchen Counter Tops

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Kitchen counter tops and bathroom counter tops have come a long way from the laminates of the early 50s generation of home building. If you are building a new house or just remodeling your kitchen you have a variety of kitchen counter top materials to choose from. In fact there are at least seven types of counter top material to choose from. They all make great counter tops and the price range is from approximately $16.00 for laminates to more than $100.00 a square foot for quality granite and stainless steel.

Granite counter tops and corian counter tops are the most common kitchen counter tops in contemporary home construction or remodeling today. That is not only a quantum leap in technical development, it is also is a major increase in cost. Before you make your choice there are a few things to consider beside the price. The seven types of material used in counter tops are: concrete, corian, granite, laminate, marble, slate, stainless steel, tile, and wood.

Counter Top 002 The average modern kitchen has approximately 60 square feet of counter space. For an inexpensive laminate the price is approximately $1,000. For inexpensive granite the cost is $2,400.00. However, there is a large range of granite prices starting at $40.00 a square foot up to over $100.00. Corian seems to be the most popular choice with a price that ranges from $35 to $55 a square foot. For a 60 square foot counter top the price would be $2,100.00 to $3,300.00, depending on the back splash and sink size.

I prefer corian over granite. It is a solid surface material made by DuPont that first became popular in counter top construction in the 1990’s. It is a totally manmade product and is not porous such as granite. It is made of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate. It is primarily used for kitchens and bathroom. It is very versatile and can be joined, shaped and finished to nearly any design.

Corian is resistant to scratches and somewhat to burns and is easily repairable. Scratches, stains and light scorches can be removed with sandpaper. However, doing this tends to scuff up its matte coating so the preferred method is to use a scotch brite pad and an abrasive cleaner like Ajax or Comet so the finish blends better. If a counter top becomes broken it can easily be repaired by an inconspicuous joint using an acrylic resin which settles into the joint and is then belt sanded and polished to create the seamless joint.

Although granite counter tops are as equally attractive as corian, granite is not user friendly with glassware. Most homeowners that have granite counter tops usually go through a lot of glassware before they get the knack of dealing with glass and granite. Sort of the reverse of not throwing stones if you live in a glass house. Corian is much more user friendly when it comes to glassware. It is not porous and granite and does not pose a health hazard.

Tile kitchen counter tops are also popular because of the variety of attractive styles to choose from and it is heat resistant and reasonably inexpensive. As far as the other materials that is used in making counter tops; concrete, granite, marble, slate, stainless steel, and wood, are not as popular as corian, granite, or tile. Although they are considered chic and contemporary have limited applications and are not practical in the typical home. I recommend the corian counter tops for kitchen and bathrooms because of their attractiveness, maintainability, and more reasonable cost. Corian has a smooth non-porous finished that is easy to clean and is bacteria resistant.

Care of Corian Counter Tops