solid surface in Kitchen with lots of direct light?

13 years ago

Does anyone have experience with solid surface countertops in kitchens with lots of direct sunlight? We have a large southern facing window in our kitchen and in the winter we get fairly direct light on the countertops. One of the contractors who looked at our space told us that solid surface countertops would yellow with all that direct sunlight. This contractor also sells granite so I'm wondering if he was accurate. What about black solid surface countertops?

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Comments (5)

kitchenaddict
13 years ago
hi statgeek...

I had Corian for 11 yrs with lots of direct sunlight. It never yellowed, but it was a gray color. What type and color surface are you asking about specifically.

KA:)
jakabedy
13 years ago
I know the quartz products are not recommended for outdoor applications. At first I thought it had to do with the resin, but I think it is the discoloring that is the problem. There is a stone/quartz yard near our house and they display their remnants outside for people to look at. I have noticed that the quartz products of color (something other than the whites and off-whites) definitely fade with the sunlight. That's not to say the whites are safe, only that they didn't draw my eye like the darker colors did.

Of course, I went ahead and took a chance. We have a large skylight over our kitchen. It has a cover on it from about May to late September that cuts down 80% of the UV rays, but plenty of light comes through the rest of the year. We have Zodiaq quartz in Papyrus (an off-white putty) and I haven't noticed a problem in 10 months.
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I am looking to replace my 18-year-old counter top, which we got for free: white tile. My husband is in the business, granite, Silestone, Corian,Zodiac, etc. etc. he gets at a great price. So, of course, I want wood. Not going to happen. Also, I know that wood would have to be babied and I know I'll get lazy, or out-of-my-mind busy with Christmas dinner and place something scorching hot down on the counter and that's the end of that. I know myself. The white tile has served me well, you can put anything on it and it's fine. You just have to keep on cleaning the grout - it was a lot of upkeep and I'm glad to be replacing it. However, I swore I would never get granite, because I tend to not like to do what everyone else is doing. Well, wood is out, (darn!). I have natural cherry cabinets, still gorgeous, not replacing them. I saw a display kitchen with natural cherry cabinets and colonial gold granite and fell in love. I love the natural movement of the stone, I love the sparkle embedded in the stone, I love the relatively low-maintenance of the stone, and I love that it's a natural material. Ask yourself: what am I like in the kitchen - will I be careful? Do I want to fuss with keeping something continually clean? (i.e. white tile with grout - yikes!) We all have to make compromises to accommodate our manners in the kitchen. You want to get something that you'll love for years to come. You certainly don't want to have to babysit your counter tops! Take your time - do your research, make a decision that's a balance between beauty and brains! Good luck! Enjoy the journey!
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statgeek
Original Author
13 years ago
We haven't yet decided on a color for the countertops. The cabinets will be natural cherry shaker style. I know the trend now is to have black soapstone counters and I think it looks really nice, but I think I'd tire of looking at black, so I'm thinking something lighter--maybe gold or grey. In the midst of picking a color we're also trying to decide which material. The design we've come up with involves one of the counters being curved which is making the countertop part of the remodeling project expensive. It's a great design--there's just a lot of consider.
amysrq
13 years ago
This is the first I have ever heard of quartz changing color. I had a light Zodiaq in my last kitchen, but absolutely no direct sun. This kitchen, there is sunlight pouring in from south and west. I do have some kind of high-tech UV glazing, so maybe there is no problem.

What I can tell you is that etching is a big problem with so much direct light, at least for me. I had counters that etched before I replaced them with Cambria. Lots of people talk about how they are fine with etching on their marble but I suspect they don't have so much light streaming in, bringing the variation in reflectivity into high focus.
jakkom
13 years ago
We've had Swanstone beige granite-look counters in place since 2003. High UV index due to CA sun and 24' long, 14' high picture windows on one wall, east and south facing.

No problems with the Swanstone and we love the matte finish, invisible seams and easy upkeep. The glare in my kitchen, btw, was phenomenal, so we had the windows coated in 2003 with a film that cuts it by 50%, so there's still a lot of UV streaming in. The lights never get turned on from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset, unless it's raining, LOL.

We also have a Swanstone super-sized single bowl sink and a brushed stainless hi-rise faucet. The glare all morning off a chrome faucet annoyed me no end and I was so happy to get rid of it!

solid surface in Kitchen with lots of direct light?

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solid surface in Kitchen with lots of direct light?

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kitchenaddict

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amysrq

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statgeek
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