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best countertop material for bathroom sink?

16 years ago

We want to get a solid slab of something (no tile/grout) for our vanity/sink countertop. What holds up best in a bathroom with standard bathroom cleaners (DH would never volunteer to clean bathroom again if told not to use windex, etc)? Granite? marble? something else?

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mahatmacat1

16 years ago

We have corian in the kitchen and got silestone (engineered quartz) for the bathrooms. We wanted the softness of corian wrt clumsiness with dishes/glass, but corian in the bathroom was too expensive for my taste. We found silestone remnants and I'm very happy with them. Either one is pretty bulletproof; silestone will resist scratches better than corian, and as they say can be cleaned with pretty much anything. Silestone is harder to repair if it does chip out, though, which is a consideration.

Granite is good too, but for take-abuse-without-much-babying/sealing/get-the-stain-at-the-moment kind of living, I'd look at engineered quartz and corian. Marble (real marble) is a world away from that; it's beautiful and honed, feels delicious, but it ages with use ("patina") and you would have to be o.k. with that.

Another thing to consider is counter-depth porcelain tile...*if you don't have vast expanses of open counter* (nothing more than, say 24" at a time), you could have the *effect* of slab, since there would be no groutlines, and porcelain is as tough as you could ever hope for in a counter. Look at --ach! I'm blanking! I forgot a friend's name today--OH, got it: Crossville. Look at them for counter-depth tile.

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Comments (7)

gsciencechick
16 years ago
I used to be a Comet girl myself. But since we have a refinished tub, new toilets, and cultured marble vanities, I cannot use it anymore. It seems every new type of surface needs some special cleaner. Even the new mirror in the bathroom said not to use ammonia-based products!

I use Scrubbing Bubbles on the tub and cultured marble. I think Lysol Basin tub and tile cleaner can also be used, but I don't think they can be used on granite or natural marble. Someone will correct me if I am wrong.
iamnodiy
16 years ago
We used Corian in the Kitchen and bathroom for the same reason. you can clean it with anything. Our acrylic air tub on the other hand can only be cleaned with mild soap. It is suggested by the manufacture that you don't use anything stronger than what you would use on your body. Strong cleaners dull the shine.
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My name is Andy and have been fabricating solid surface in Southern California for 25 years. Solid surface will burn if a hot curling iron is placed directly on the material and left for a period of time. That said, we as fabricators don't have many calls about a burned Corian countertop in the bathroom. Nail polish remover with Acetone will technically make a mark on the Corian if left long enough. If you spill and wipe off there will be no effect. We actually use acetone to clean parts before gluing together in the shop. Corian is not effected by contact, but by prolonged, continuous contact. Hope that helps, Andy Olive Mill
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debrak2008, I have to figure out how to post a pic here first :P. But the countertop is those yellowish cultured marble top (you see a lot of those in the older houses) but it's not one-piece. The sink is an undermount sink, so it's just like the typical granite top with undermount sink you see now. BUT mine is not granite top obviously, and the sink is rusty and scratched. sjhockeyfan and weedyacres, Thanks for your link! Yes I looked on craigslist and saw some ads for prefab granite tops too. And my friend told me about this too. But my problem is I can't find my size, esp. the 72 inch SINGLE sink countertop... :(. And if I custom made that one, it's expensive. The worst is that I need one 60 inch (I found that this countertop is the only one that's the most typical size) and one 72 inch that's matching right, cuz they're in the same jack & jill bathroom! For the 36 inch countertop for the half bath, the problem is the depth is 1 inch more shallow than the typical tops, so it's 20 inch. And I can't go any deeper because the top is right next to the door opening so 21" countertop won't work! So yes, my house has some strange bathrooms and I figured either we spent more money to hire someone to renovate (but we don't have that funds now) the bathrooms, or we try to make small changes. Of course, I wish I could be as handy as most of the members here then the problem can be solved easily :( Anyways, thanks for all your answers! Please do share if you have any more insights. Thanks again!
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green-zeus
16 years ago
I have granite. I use a window cleaner with no ammonia and it does a good job on soap scum.

If you have young children and the top goes thru a lot abuse, maybe Corian is a good choice since any scratches can be buffed out easily.
premier
16 years ago
How hard is it to take care of granite in the bathroom. What happens if water drops are left on it or shaving cream or toothpaste?
green-zeus
16 years ago
premier----I have black galaxy in the bathroom and yes, the water spots show. I wipe them off with the hand towel and when things start getting ugly, I clean it with glass cleaner with no ammonia. Any countertop gets ugly in the bathroom---I find cleaning it a couple times a week is all I need.
mahatmacat1
16 years ago
We got "Ivory Coast" silestone for the master and it's almost impossible to see anything on it. I have to clean it by feel. I like that :)

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