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Counter tops Corian vs Silestone

mrsstats

mrsstats

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
410
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Location
Ronkonkoma, LI
Looking to install new counter tops. Do not want granite as my house is just a small converted bungalow. Want something with low maintenance that will hold up well. Any experience with either one?
 
I had Corian installed 18 years ago when I built my home. Basic white was all that was available back then. Had the intregral sink installed as well. Still looks like new. Would definitly recommend it, and am looking forward to building our retirement home and having a choice of colors. :)
 
I have had Corian for about 18 years in 3 different houses and we really love it. Maintenance is zero - all I do is keep it clean with any household spray cleaner.

In one house I had off-white Corian with colored trim and it was really pretty, but keeping it pristine white required daily cleaning with Clorox clean up. Now I have granite colored Corian and I like it much better. In 18 years I have never had Corian crack, chip, or any permanent discoloration.

I did scratch my current Corian pulling a heavy stack of 24 plates across the counter with (unknown to me) a sharp edge on the bottom of the bottom plate. My husband buffed it out without any problem. You can also have the distrubutor come out and buff your Corian if you ever need to, but I've really never needed it except with the plates.
 
With Silestone, you can have undermount sinks, which look alot nicer than built-in Corian sinks. I love my Silestone bath countertops...they look more like granite than plastic. On the other hand, my shower bench is made from white Corian. If you want a solid color, there's nothing wrong with Corian. Silestone looks very nice if you're looking for a more granite look.
 
Love any engineered quartz products ie: Silestone, Avanza, Zodiac. I have it in my kitchen and chop on it, spill anything like oil, red wine and don't have to worry about wiping it up right away. (kids, can you tell except for the wine) :)
I also am a fan of undermount sinks. Spills wipe right in the sink. It's a clean look too. Hope this helps.
 
If you get Corian, do NOT get a dark color as it shows all the scratches. In our area we can get a low end granite for the same price as corian. Good Luck!

Carolyn
 
Eric in McLean said:
With Silestone, you can have undermount sinks, which look alot nicer than built-in Corian sinks. I love my Silestone bath countertops...they look more like granite than plastic. On the other hand, my shower bench is made from white Corian. If you want a solid color, there's nothing wrong with Corian. Silestone looks very nice if you're looking for a more granite look.
Click to expand...

I agree with this poster. Unfortunately I know nothing about the maintenance of Corian, but on a purely looks basis, I also think the corian looks more "plasticy". We have granite kitchen and silestone bathroom and have so far not needed any maintenance. At the time we did the kitchen, the granite we chose was cheaper (on special offer) than similar corian, so price does seem to vary.
 
Another Corian fan

We love our Corian--have had it about 10 years and it's as beautiful as the day we got it. We also have the Corian sink and it's wonderful. :)
 
DonM said:
You can have undermount sinks with Corian as well
Click to expand...

That makes sense but I don't know why that wasn't offered as a choice when I went to Home Depot Expo Design Center.
 
We have rose corian in one bathroom and dark green in another. We've had them for about 14 years now. Wipes clean, no scratches and still looks brand new!

Laurie
 
I'm not exactly sure why you ruled granite out. I've had it in the kitchen and it looks great and never needs maintenance. I compared it to silestone, and thought they were both wonderful, but chose granite for the look. Nobody has mentioned this, but you can put hot pots on granite and silestone and you won't scortch the counter top.
 
Silestone

We just had Silestone installed. It's beautiful. We chose it because according to Consumer Reports , it holds up better against scratches and stains than Corian and because it doesn't need to be re-sealed every 6 to 12 months the way granite does.
 
Big Matt said:
I'm not exactly sure why you ruled granite out. I've had it in the kitchen and it looks great and never needs maintenance. I compared it to silestone, and thought they were both wonderful, but chose granite for the look. Nobody has mentioned this, but you can put hot pots on granite and silestone and you won't scortch the counter top.
Click to expand...

You can put hot pans on Corian too.
 
I've seen horrible scorch marks on corian. You can get them out, but it's a pain and lots of elbow grease. The big benefit is that the marks will come out, like with stains.



DeniseM said:
You can put hot pans on Corian too.
Click to expand...
 
To me, granite is the only way to go no matter what size the kitchen!
 
We compared Corian to Silestone and Silestone wins hands down for us as we think it looks nicer than Corian (not "plasticky," as mentioned above). Silestone has gorgeous colors. We're remodeling out kitchen and have chosen Silestones' Stellar Night which is black with glitter. So beautiful.
 
Big Matt said:
I've seen horrible scorch marks on corian. You can get them out, but it's a pain and lots of elbow grease. The big benefit is that the marks will come out, like with stains.
Click to expand...

Really? In 18 years or so of having Corian that has never happened to me, and I take pans right out of the oven or off the stove and put them right on the Corian with no problem...
 
Denise,
you have to put a really heavy and hot pan on corian to scorch it like cast iron that you used to blacken something. It comes out with sand paper.

My neighbor pulled a stainless steel pan out of a 500 degree oven and it was so hot she had to put it on the corian so it wouldn't burn her had through the pot holder. It left a mark. She called dupont and they told her to rub it out with fine sand paper.

I also saw this several times when working for a counter company in college. People thought that they needed to replace it, when all they really needed to do is sand it out.
 
Judy said:
We just had Silestone installed. It's beautiful. We chose it because according to Consumer Reports , it holds up better against scratches and stains than Corian and because it doesn't need to be re-sealed every 6 to 12 months the way granite does.
Click to expand...


This is why I chose Silestone, also.
 
Big Matt said:
Denise,
you have to put a really heavy and hot pan on corian to scorch it like cast iron that you used to blacken something. It comes out with sand paper.
Click to expand...

That makes sense - I don't have any cast iron cookware and the lighter weight stuff doesn't seem to do that. I don't usually cook anything at higher than 375 degrees eithers, so I guess that's why I have avoided scorching.

What would you cook at 500 degrees?
 
Thick steaks. Sear them on top of the stove and roast them in a high oven for about 10 minutes to finish them.

DeniseM said:
What would you cook at 500 degrees?
Click to expand...
 
Something to consider is granite tile. You can then have a granite kitchen or bath, but at a fraction of the cost of a solid piece. My friend just did it in her kitchen, all by herself. Cost was $500. She used 15" tiles, on the diagonal. They rented a tile cutter.

As for sealing granite, I'm at 12 months now, and our counters still don't need sealing. I did it when we first moved in. However, sealing is nothing to be afraid of. You pour on the sealing liquid, let it set the required time (an hour or so, if memory serves) then wipe it off. And that's it.
 
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