We are going quartz. I wanted non-porous and easy care

I will always prefer Corian and similar solid surfaces for a number of reasons.

First it is a quieter material. The only other material that is just as quiet or maybe more so would probably be wood. I am hearing impaired and kitchens with granite drive me nuts. I can't be in one with more than one other person talking. Plus someone setting down a glass or utensil can be like a gunshot to my type of hearing loss.

It's hygienic. No top dressing,no sealers, can be washed with bleach and even scoured if you stay away from high b gloss which isn't recommended for counters anyway.

It's seamless and can be "seamlessly" coved to a continuous backsplash or even to meet a backsplash of a different material.

It can be customized to whatever you dream up. Changing colors seamlessly,inlaid designs,curves,edge treatments,inlay edges...you name it.

The only downside is it is not as heat resistant as some other materials. More so than Formica but less so than granite or tile. But in reality it can take quite a lot of heat. You can also build in trivets for the purpose near the stove.

It's easily repaired and can be brought back to looking brand new if it gets scratched or stained but stains rarely happen because it is so non porous.

Corian is by far my favorite counter top material, but you'll find it doesn't get a lot of love around many TKO gardenwebbers. Or HGTV watchers, who want granite, even an ugly granite, over Corian. If you are remodeling for yourself, go for it. If you are remodeling for resale, I'd reluctantly go with granite.

I have LG tundra quarry in my laundry room and I love it! Although it is not the Corian brand, it is a solid surface material. That being said, the laundry counter does not get the abuse that a kitchen counter would with pots and pans etc. so would take that into consideration.

We had corian in our old house in all the bathrooms and
it was awesome.

I did not choose it for my kitchen because I live with
dim-witted children who could scatch the counter with a
knife or fork. Granite still gets scratched but not the
way corian could. Corian is a great option and after
hearing about WildChil's experience I can see where
corian would be the best option for sound effects.
Corian is lovely. Here are some corian countertops.

We are in the process of making some choices for all our
bathrooms in this current house. Corian, HiMac and Quartz
are all in the running. Granite is great but we need
something super durable for messy toothpaste
~boxer

Below are the Hi-Macs

We have Swanstone and love it. Quiet (our kitchen is above the master bedroom suite, and so noise reduction drove many of our choices including flooring), matte finish - important when direct sunlight hits your kitchen 365/yr, invisible seams (U-shape kitchen meant two large corner seams), ridiculously easy maintenance.

I suppose it can be bleached, but I've never found it necessary, even though we use a lot of spices such as chile and curry mixtures. We have a beige granite-look and it hides any scratches...hides dirt too, you have to run your hands over it to be sure it's clean!

Our sink is a Swanstone super-single in Tahiti Ivory and it's a gorgeous color, a very subtle mix of neutral beige with ivory flecks. We're very happy with both.

Unless you are going to sell in the next three years, get what you want and the heck with resale. Life is too short to waste time trying to please other people when you don't have to.

Having said that, I'll admit much depends on your local market. In ours, a lot of people still have the original tile counters, so although granite is one of the 'magic words' in resale, a very good experienced RE agent who specializes in my neighborhood told me solid surface was fine for my kitchen.

The reason was that unlike many who do piece-by-piece remodels and never get the chance to finish everything before they sell, we remodeled the entire house, including upgrading all systems, before we moved in. The layout and style of the house has a contemporary but not brand-new feel to it, and the agent felt that Corian was a perfectly acceptable upgrade in combination with everything else we'd done, ***in relation*** to what is in our neighborhood.

Although resale is important to us, it is equally important that we enjoy living with the choices we've made, since we don't have any plans to sell within the short-term.

Boxer: you find the greatest pics! I'm also considering countertops and was wondering: is quartz noisy? Not sure I'd like that and never even thought about it.

Can you have runnels carved into quartz?

Thank you Deedles,
You are too sweet.

I know very little about quartz. This would be a good
question to repost. I have not found an image but this
does not mean it is not done. Just have not seen it.

~boxer

I'd go with quartz over corian simply because it doesn't scratch. It's near indestructible in fact -- can take a ton of abuse and still look brand new.

It is as loud as granite. I wouldn't call it noisy by any stretch of the imagination but you can definitely hear a cup or glass being plunked down on it as it is a hard material. Wildchild's point is a good one to consider if you have hearing loss / hearing sensitivity.

Thank you for all of the comments. So much to think about! I appreciate the opinions as it seems that I rarely see corian discussed around here. Also, thanks for the great pictures boxer!!

An interesting fact about Corian. To many it may be "out" pushed aside by the "quartz revolution", but I can tell you it is actually the newest "in" thing among high-end European contemporary kitchens. They are using it for the whole kitchen. Doors, drawers and counter tops with integrated sinks. Only one color though. Glacier white in a matt finish.
John

Corian Rain Cloud and Witch Hazel are beautiful! If we didn't do marble we were going to use one of those but for now we are going with marble.

Good Luck!

Jdsign is right about corian in high-end European kitchens. A project I worked on had a Boffi kitchen with all corian countertops and a very large island with doors and drawers faced in corian. The corian shipped from Italy is bonded to an aluminum substructure and is only 5/16's thick. Very modern kitchen and very large. If white is your thing this would be the perfect kitchen. Corian island is about 16' x 54" and is amazing. Cleanup is easy and these people entertain a lot. The owners had the counters seam here as Boffi's install is just to butt them. A 16' slab seamless is impossible in other materials.

Lannie, yes exactly. Boffi is what I was referring to. The super large doors and drawers are about one inch thick made up of a thin layer on either side of a honey-comb aluminum center. Very cool kitchen. Poliform/Varenna just came out with one also. Theirs is 3/4" solid with router-in handles.I saw them here in their Los Angeles showrooms. I'm in the process on making some sample doors to show clients. Where was your project?

I had Corian and it was ugly but a great material. I thought I'd hate it, knew I'd be replacing it, and treated it badly. It refused to be damaged. Loved the integrated sink. If you find Corian you like, don't be swayed by the granitophiles. Get the integrated sink (water stays warm and crystal doesn't chip!). Not in pink though, please.

For the past 10 years, I've been in a kitchen with white Corian. It has an integrated sink.

It is super easy to keep clean. I agree, it is a "warmer" material than stone. I've seen three problems with my Corian, but despite those issues, would consider using it again if I were building out a contemporary kitchen. The problems:

1) The person living in the house before me cut right on the counter, so there are some small knife marks. I've heard these can be repaired, though -- I just never looked into getting this done. I would never cut directly on a countertop (unless it's butcher block), but a friend who also has Corian was cutting into a frozen stick of butter on her countertop, and it made a knife mark.

2) I like the integrated sink with respect to cleaning, but I have had several dishes/glasses break. Previously, I was used to a stainless steel sink, and I think that type of sink is more forgiving than a Corian sink.

3) There is a ring on my counter where (again) the person who lived in the house before me must have set a hot pot. I haven't had problems personally as I use hot pads/pot holders, but just something to remember.

Go with what you love, especially if you'll be living in this space for awhile! Don't worry if you don't think it's the "in" thing. So many of what's "out" comes back "in" anyway (except I hope we don't see avocado appliances any time soon!).

Good luck!

We have ECO by cosentino (silestone?) a recycled porcelain-quartz bound with a corn resin. Odd, right? We LOVE, LOVE it! Takes abuse, stays beautiful. My mother is a Corian lover- has been in 4 kitchen with Corian in probably 30 years! Can't go wrong with either type of material. Certainly not "out". It's just that granite is everywhere.

Jdesign our project was about 20 miles north of NYC. My original impression was to much white, but when finished I will say the white Corian counter and island cabinets were unlike any kitchen I have ever seen. Normally we install the kitchens, but this was done by a Boffi installer. It took about 9 days including setting of appliances with help for 4 days. I will say that the installer was in no hurry and treated every cabinet install with the up-most care. Counter tops came with sink installs from Italy. Even the Gaggenau cooktop came installed in a stainless counter. I will say I was disappointed with their sinks which are stainless. As for as Corian being used for the counter it was the ultimate for this kitchen. The client had it seamed here rather than the Boffi install of butting it with visible seam. Like I posted earlier a 16' island with no seams is amazing! The client has large parties and it becomes a buffet table with tons of food on it. At the end of the day cleanup is a snap and the kitchen counters look as good as new. If stained or scatched a little buffing with pad and all is good. This is one kitchen that stone would not work in. Modern design in my opinion works better with solid surface. I think granite and marble work well in some kitchens, but not to the extent that I see on GW. It seems to be a must have upgrade or standard in new home construction. My take is install what makes you happy not what will impress others.

We are going with quartz. Boxerpups, I like the pics you posted. I'm not sure if you know or not, but the 2nd pic showing an island that has a light counter top, that has avocados on it, do you know what surface that is? Color name?
Thanks

I read an article just yesterday that Corian is really picking up in popularity over that past few years or so. They offer many colors and some that are similar in design to granite etc. they said one of the reasons it has become more popular is that you can get an even match at the seams and comes in hundreds of color options.

We are having Corian in the Tumbleweed pattern installed in our new build.

There is a reason architects specify solid surface for hospital operating room wall cladding and never specify natural stone.