| There are many categories of countertop materials with many different characteristics and looks. I will try and explain some of the most popular ones below. |
| PLASTIC LAMINATE |
| Plastic laminate is generally referred to as "Formica" but comes in many brand names and colors. The color selections offered is awesome. With a bit of care and common sense it will give you years and years of good service. The basic drawback of plastic laminate counters is that your counters will have very visible seams. |
| SOLID SURFACE |
| Solid surface is a product generally referred to as "CORIAN", since this was invented by DUPONT in 1964. In fact the name "Corian:" is a derivation of the inventor's daughters name "Cory Ann". While Acrylic resin itself was invented in the 1930's, the resulting Dupont Corian product became one of the first space age polymers. DUPONT CORIAN is made up of 100% acrylic resin with a filler of alumina tri-hydrate plus coloring agents. CORIAN and the myriad of other solid surface brands that use acrylic resin, exhibit the best stain resistance of any countertop surface..period! DUPONT has tested the Corian product with about 200 staining agents including sulphuric acid and many other things that you would never use in a kitchen or bathroom setting. I have worked on and have tested Dupont Corian myself, for over fifteen years and I have yet to find anything that will permanently stain it. IT IS THAT GOOD! |
| ALMOST ALL MAN MADE COUNTERTOP MATERIALS HAVE A RESIN COMPONENT THAT FORMS THE STRUCTURAL BINDER OF ALL THESE PRODUCTS. THERE ARE TWO KEY TYPES OF RESINS THAT ARE USED. THEY ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT IN COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE. |
ACRYLIC RESIN
| This product is the better of the two resins. Its molecular structure allows the molecules to slide past each other giving the product more flexibility making the finished product less brittle and less prone to chipping and cracking. Acrylic resin is also u.v. stable in that it is unaffected by sunlight and is suitable for outside use. Acrylic resin also gives the product exceptional stain resistance and better performance when exposed to heat. |
| POLYESTER RESIN |
| Polyester resin is the second category of countertop resins. It has its positives and its drawbacks. It is more translucent than acrylic resin and it is far less expensive than acrylic resin. It is not u.v. stable and it is unwise to use it outside as it will fade and even "yellow" over time. It is also very brittle and is more susceptible to chipping and breakage. This is because its molecular structure is "linked" similar to interlocking rings, which reduces its flexibilty. |
| TECHNICAL STUFF |
| ENGINEERED STONE |
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| THE APPROVED AND LICENSED CONTRACTOR MYTH |
| It is a fact of life that if you are in business, you are hit with a daily barrage of advertising to bring in more business. A lot of these offer to put you on "Barbie's List", "Herman's List". As soon as you send them money then you are "approved" "screened" or "reliability proven". These "list" people then advertise that you have been checked out and you should patronize these companies. We are on "Angies List" as some of our customers have recommended us. We do not pay for this though. When you see a large colorful display advertisement in the yellow pages, guess who is paying for it. These generally cost up to $20,000.00 per month Our ad cost about $325.00 per month. Another very expensive way to advertise is to get a booth in a home show. These booths can cost you from $2,500.00 to $25,000.00 for a four day run. This is just the rent for the space. If you buy from a dealer who has a booth, either the price of your countertops just went up or the quality just went way down. The lastest trick to save you money is to eliminate the "retailer markup" if you will only come to their showroom and pay over $5,200.00 to join their buying group. Give me a break! A simple call to the Better Business Bureau will answer all your questions on that scam. The Houston market is so competitive, nobody pays retail in the first place. Whether we like it or not, the "Home Depot" and the "Lowes" stores, set the price in the market due to their massive marketing and high visibility. One of the two advertises "licensed and bonded" professionals, do their work. Unfortunately there is no licensing authority or license required in this market. Literally anybody with a pulse, a $89.00 angle grinder, a $20.00 diamond blade and a pickup truck, can be and usually is a granite "fabricator." Almost all of these guys are illegals and have no insurance. If they get hurt at your house, guess who pays. The unlucky home owner shopping for price alone, is their prey. These guys have a "tail light warranty" which means that they will guarantee their work until the tail lights on their trucks fade away. We get calls on a regular basis asking if we can fix jobs these butchers have put in. The home centers use legitimate fabricators like us but they mark up their prices another 20%. Since they always use the lowest bidder, so quality is not high on their agenda, and If you like the home center prices, you will love ours. We always beat their prices by a considerable amount. No matter which countertop provider you choose they always use subcontractors to do the installation and they are paid by square foot which means they don't spend a lot of time to do your installation. We use our own employees to install our jobs and encourage them to take the time to do the installation right with inconspicuous seams and level! |
| QUALITY IS ALWAYS, ALWAYS AN ISSUE |
| Like just about everything in life, when you buy granite, you pretty much get what you pay for. There are so many granite wholesalers and granite importers around they are hard to keep track of. There are few restrictions on who they sell to, and there are no guarantees. There are many different grades of granite, but there is no formal grading system. A lot of granite out there is "commercial grade", meant to go on the sides of buildings and in commercial buildings. It is relatively inexpensive and is quite a bit less than "a" grade granite. Unfortunately, the price of granite is the greatest issue with some importers, and they will buy anything that is a "deal". We only buy from reputable granite wholesale yards that carry the highest quality stone. Their buyers actually travel to the quarries and select each bundle and believe me the quality shows. We have developed long term relationships with these companies that has been built on total trust. |
| GRANITE SELECTION |
| One must use care when selecting granite for your countertops. When you select a slab, please keep in mind that nobody can "face polish" the surface so watch for dull spots or imperfections as they don't go away. Keep this in mind if you see a bad spot. Believe me nobody wins if you buy a sale priced slab because there is always a reason why it is priced lower. We always ask our customers to select the slabs prior to use, and we will be happy to go with you. We carefully select each and every one of our "program" colors and always buy the absolute best looking and the highest quality slabs available in the local market. You are perfectly welcome to select particular slabs from them also, in fact we encourage you to do so. If you really want to really save money and get excellent quality granite, please consider our program color granite selections. |
| One of the most advertised and most well known products, fall into the category of "engineered stone" or "e-stone" the originator of this product is "CaesarStone' which was invented in 1987, and now being sold in this market. The most advertised and most popular product is "Silestone" by Cosentino, which came out in 1998. We are a master fabricator of L. G. Viatera, which came out in 2004, and is an outstanding product. Other brands in this field are: "Dupont Zodiaq" "Okite", and "Avanza" "CAMBRIA", "TECHNISTONE". The engineered stone product is made up of 93% crushed quartz (crushed granite) and is 7% polyester resin used as a binder. It is a very good product and is very low maintenance and has a high stain and scratch resistance. Heat resistance is not a forte with this product. I have tested it at 400 - 500 degrees with no damage. It will not take continued heat like this and will darken if it is exposed to heat in the same place on a continuing basis. With normal use and common sense you should never have a problem. Although It should never be used outside, It is a great choice for a countertop! |
| The absolute cheapest way to get granite in your house is to use pre-made counters or "blanks". These are available from a lot of granite yards and are basically made of scrap granite, pieces of broken slabs, or granite that just did not sell. One supplier even brags that their edges do not fall off like others. Many have bad spots or cracks that have been patched in some way. We investigated using these several years ago with dismal results. First of all, the edges generally do not match from one piece to another. Colors may or may not match and the thickness's vary. If you are doing a small counter with one blank, this may not be a problem. If you try to do a kitchen you will end up with many mismatched seams. Since we could not guarantee the quality of these jobs, we quit doing them after two jobs. We will never sacrifice quality for profit....never! |
| DESIGNER SHOWROOM 6136 HIGHWAY 6 S. MISSOURI CITY, TEXAS 77459 (281) 403.6333 FAX (281) 403.6344 |
| TOWN & COUNTRY SHOWROOM FABRICATION FACILITY 1500 BRITTMOORE ST #503 HOUSTON, TEXAS 77043 (713) 647-0455 FAX (713) 713-6855 |
| COUNTERTOPS 101 |
| VERSUS |
