Countertop questions
28Oct08
For our kitchen we are doing a zero radius undermount sink like the one in the picture. We are looking for a white countertop material, but are having troubles finding one that can be square cut like the picture above. We had planned on doing a Silestone in zeus white, but were told by our installer that the smallest inside corner radius they can do is 1/2 inch or else it will crack. According to them the same goes for any stone and even Corian. We are finding the same problem with our flush mount induction cooktop. So the question….
Does anyone know a good white countertop that can be zero radius like the picture above?
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What about Paperstone? .
How about concrete? No cutting required, just build your mold in the shape you want it. I’ve done a few sample pours with white concrete and white sand. The final result was slightly off-white concrete. Could be cool to use quartz as the aggregate, and grind the surface layer down to expose some of it.
Post your question over on the kitchen forum–they are a wealth of information and have researched every conceivable countertop. If they don’t have the answer then it doesn’t exist.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath/
I would try Caesarstone. I’ve been to a few of their presentations, and its probably the best of the engineered stone choices. Their website shows something similar to what you are doing: http://www.caesarstoneus.com/showcase/showcase.cfm?id=7
I don’t think paperstone comes in white does it? Concrete may be a possibility but I really was wanting a thin counter. Carsarstone is very similar to Silestone and I think they will tell us the same thing. I have been searching over at THS but I may have to sign up and ask. I thought about 3form. They are local and may have just the thing. Biggest limit there is the 8′ lengths.
You can do zero radius corners with Silestone….we had it done in our kitchen.
Man, maybe I just need a new countertop place…
I checked with the local rep, and they said it can be done. 3form is great looking and all, but just too expensive.
Our only option for Silestone was to go through Home Depot. When I ordered the countertops they had to call the fabricator that they use to make sure that zero radius was possible. Btw, I didn’t stress that I wanted the top edge of the sink cutout to look like every other edge of the countertop (standard eased) and instead they rounded it over. I was going for the same look as in the picture you posted, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way.
If your counter installer is good at making invisible seams, you could always use 4 cut pieces around your sink rather than cutting a hole out of one solid piece. I hear materials like Corian can hide seams really well.
We did a similar thing on our granite counter which was an “L” shape. I wanted the inside corner to be a 90% angle, non-radiused, but the guy said that was impossible. Then I realized he was making the seam PAST the corner, rather than right at the corner. By changing the seam to two straight pieces butted against each other, non-radiused corner was created.
I was told the reason it had to be radiused in the first place was not because it couldn’t be cut that way, but because a polisher couldn’t get into that sharp of a corner. Maybe depending on your material (corian?) no polishing is required, so the radiusing shouldn’t be an issue. Either way, good luck.
Looks like these guys can do it… http://www.precisioncountertops.com/
They are about 4 hours away. I may have to rent a uhaul…
if you find a good deal on a white countertop material, please let me know.
Liam, check out 3form http://www.3-form.com/order-reclaim.php?id=4406
If you need a small chunk, a 3/4″ sheet 2 x 4 works out to be about $16 a square foot. Pretty good. I have stuff we could use to cut it down etc.
Be carefull with 3-form around water, they are usually layed with colored screen in between which wicks water very well, giving you a wierd edge.
Creedler,
You definitely need a new counter top place. Square edge is a standard detail for Silestone, granite,etc….
Have you seen IceStone: http://www.icestone.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=482
They have it at the Green Building Center. It is recycled glass and concrete.
have you seen alkemi? http://www.renewedmaterials.com/ don’t know if you can do what you are asking for . . . but it is a cool material.
Check out EcoTop: http://www.getwithgreen.com/2007/10/19/countertops-first-there-was-paperstone-now-there-is-ecotop/
Creede,
Sounds like you’ve already looked into Corian and sadly I can’t answer the radius cut question. Just wanted to give you a bit of feedback that we ended up getting LG Hi-Macs (corian) in an arctic white and we really love it.
Get your stone or corian or quartz water jet cut.
i’m probably a little more familiar with 3form than most non-industry people, as i have a friend who does design for them, and i even interviewed there last year. i think i even mentioned them in my blog when i was talking about my bathroom. but thanks for the suggestion.
costco has some sort of deal with corian, which might be worth looking into. i just picked up the literature from there about an hour ago. i’m not really sure what the offer is, but i’m gonna call about it when the time to do mine gets closer.
alkemi looks awesome, but it’s expensive. paperstone is a great product on paper (pun intended) but i’d have to rethink my cabinets based on their colour options. or i might just stick with my original plan for corian.
Check out this faucet–would look great with the zero radius sink.
http://www.us.kohler.com/faucets/karbon/index.jsp
Looks like you have gotten some good feedback. I think most materials should be able to be detailed with square edges like you prefer. Good fabricators can do it. You mentioned Precision, who are in our area, or Countour Countertops, also in our area. We sell Durat solid-surface (Corian like), which comes from Finland and has about 30% recycled content. It prices out about the same as silestone or cesaerstone, a bit more than Corian, but cooler. I did the 910 color (white with clear little flecks in it) with an integrated white LG-Himacs sink in my own kitchen. I will put a photo of that up on our Durat or Goodbuild site soon.
Hi, I did not see the link to our site in my post, so here it is: goodbuild.biz or durat-usa.com . We supply product nationally.
for a local contact who is versed in this type of detail (i ask him for it every time i do a kitchen) ask for Ryan at Rhino Tops (268-3336.) Rhino has done a few of these sinks and tops with a less than 1/16″ roundover. none have cracked yet and it has been a few years now. this is true for corian or any other solid surface makes.
Caesarstone in Blizzard. If you can live with something warmer, Eggshell is the least expensive.
http://www.caesarstoneus.com/gallery/_uploads/photos/blizzard_11.jpg