Things to know before choosing a countertop
Picking a new kitchen work top doesn’t have to be drawn out, but you’re going to want to make sure you know about all of your choices. Here are some things to think about before buying a new countertop.
Wilsonart laminate has to be the #1 choice out there. A tiny layer of sandwiched plastic/paper that’s been squashed under tremendous pressure, and then bonded to a structure of particleboard. You may have grown up with one. They’re relatively durable, affordable, come in almost any color and they work!
1/2″ thick acrylic gained a lot of steam in the early 90’s, and is stillgoing strong. It’s hard to keep track of all the brands out there, it boggles the mind. It’s a huge step up from laminate, and the one piece sink is a large feature to many consumers.
Engineered stone/quartz: There’s a growing number of manufacturers that will produce man-made stone slabs for you. The machinery to manufacture the engineered stone is usually licensed to one company per country. You can get slabs from Italy, Spain, China, Korean, Israel, USA, and Canada quite readily. It usually prices out like a level 3 or level 4 natural stone, but you can have plenty of color choices within the same price range. Most stone professionals will be delighted to fabricate the color of your choice.
Natural stone: Usually referred to as “Granite Countertops”. The polished slabs are currently imported in mass from Italy, India, China, Brazil, Canada, & and a few varieties from the USA. There are thousands of varieties available, and each block or batch can be different than the one that came from 20 yards away in the same mine. With careful planning, one can make appointments to visit several locations to find the perfect mix of colors, depth, swirling, graining, texture, and randomness that can has yet to be matched by solid surface, laminate, or engineered stone.
Some consumers can pick the variety of stone quickly, others may take their time. It’s common to discover that you’ve find several “perfect slabs, and making the final selection can get serious. Picking the fabricator is actually more difficult than picking the granite. You’d have to go out of your way to pick a “bad” granite, but thousands of homeowners have picked a “bad” fabricator. Ask the fabricator how long they’ve been in business. Have them describe why their tooling provides the best fit and finish. What are the names and experiences of the templater, sawyer, polisher, installers? Do they have samples of their work in a showroom to look at. Many of the top fabricators belong to industry trade groups like the Marble Institute of America (MIA), or to the Stone Fabricators Alliance (SFA). Many small shops like Granite Chicago or larger ones like Granite PA turn out artisic quality work because of the experiences and knowledge that are shared within these organized fabricator communities.
Selecting a replacement worktop can be enjoyable and if your existing counter top is bringing you down, we hope to see you in picking colors!
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