I have Corian Burled Beach in my upstairs bath (2 yrs. now) and absolutely LOVE IT!!!! It is in the same group as Rain Cloud and I think that *elite* group of Corian is very nice.

My mother has had white Corian in her kitchen for 27 yrs. and it looks practially new. I say, go for it :)

I have Corian counters that are 25 years old, in almond. Like you said, there are a lot of scratches if you look closely, but they really don't show from a distance. I was planning on using it again in my remodel - until I fell in love (with Va Mist honed). I like the matte look because it
has a warmer feel which is what I was going for.

Your Rain Cloud is not a solid so it should show scratches less than mine. But there are a lot of people who think Corian looks like plastic..... (not me).

EOS is a competitors formula to corian. It is a little less expensive and 3cm thick instead of 2 with a plywood substrate. I would check it out as an alternative that looks the same as the corian brand name.

I have Corian (Caribbean) in my kitchen which is matte and a bone color which is slightly glossy in my bathrooms. I love them both. I treat with care, but they still look nice in my 4 year old home.

My experience has been that many people on GW don't like corian, but we spent a lot of time at a friend's house during our kitchen remodel and I really liked working on their corian. We ended up with DIY concrete counters and a wood counter for the island, but if you like corian, I say go for it. I'm now convinced that no countertop surface is perfect.

I have matte finish Tumbleweed on my perimeter counters (same group as Rain Cloud) and I love it. I had Corian in my previous home and knew I wanted it again. I was frankly surprised at the negative comments I read on this website about it. Maintenance is nil. I can wash it with anything I have on hand -- Windex, 409, bleach, soap, whatever. I find some of the shiny quartz counters to look a lot more plasticky than my corian. I asked for a thicker section around my sink so I could undermount it (I don't recommend a white corian sink unless you have a lot of clorox or comet on hand). I put hot cookie sheets on it but not super hot casseroles and the like. (I also don't put those on my granite island. Just can't bring myself to do it.)

On the other hand, if I had soapstone in my kitchen I'd want it everywhere! It is gorgeous, has the soft matte feel that I like, and it is heat proof.

I too am in a home during my renovation that has Corian on the perimeters and bathrooms and I love it!

It is white by the way, or just off white and is as clean as can be. No extra clean up involved for me and my messy family!

I am putting Rain Cloud in one of my bathrooms and Sea Shell in another. I love the look of the new colors, they look more organic.

I look forward to the easy clean up!

Thanks for the info. I am glad that it seems like a good counter. I would use soapstone everywhere, but I want a contrasting color on my white cabinets. I need to go and get pricing, I bet Corian will be about the same as soapstone where I live...

My mother and friend have new Corian counters and both look and feel great. But my 20 yr old white Corian sink looked awful-it had developed deep pores that wouldn't scrub clean, especially around the drain. There were also a few places that looked like they were about to flake off (but never did) where I suppose something heavy was dropped. I didn't try sanding-that might have cleaned up the stained areas. The same vintage corian in the bathrooms still looks perfect-even in the sinks.

I like the Corian Rain Cloud, but in my area it's more expensive than anything except the most high-end premium exotic granites. I could do quartz, granite, quartzite, marble for less. Everything else has come down in price in this economy, but not Corian and that's an E group pattern, so it's one pricey countertop. May be different where you live, but for me, it's definitely out of the running at that price when there are so many less costly alternatives.

I do agree that the Corian is more expensive than granite for me too! Got two lovely slabs of Bianco Romano for the same price as two vanities of Corian.

I wanted it though, and was willing to pay for the convenience of it.

Here are prices for installed sq. foot materials in my area (Midwest):

Per Square Foot
Hi-Macs $41 to $49 for stock colors
Hi-Macs Eden Series $56
Corian $43 to $67
Granite $50 to $85
****Mystera $61 to $69
Corian Private Collection $64
Quartz $66 for stock colors up to $88

****some VERY cool marble looking colors, but, I believe,has some polyester, not 100% acrylic, like Corian. Material is more difficult to fabricate, but once installed, is gorgeous and easy to care for! I have seen it in commercial applications.

+++Sinks, cutouts and other labor charges not included in prices above.+++

I've put Corian in 3 kitchens. Love the carefree ease of maintenance and cleaning. Lots of times you can get a free integrated sink thrown in too. When I redid one kitchen, I kept large pieces of the old Corian and made table tops out of them for the patio.

It's true that Corian may be more expensive then say Marble, but I am interested in it for it's properties like not etching, not as easily stained etc... I haven't seen Rain Cloud in person, but it is at least a strong marble alternative for me.

i have corian. scratches from previous owner are horrible. i looked into re-surfacing but contractor said it would likely scratch again. i saved my money and will put it towards new counters instead.

for prep & cooking the counter is great. but the scratches bother me. if the surface was scratch free i'd love it in the kitchen.

my bathrooms have a light corian - white or off white. very hard to keep clean, always water spots on the counter. the corian in my kitchen is maui, that on the other hand always looks clean.

i was doing shopping for a backsplash piece i am missing (the bridge across the range) and everywhere i went said corian is dying out. most places don't sell it here anymore and give it a bad rap. the only place you can get corian here is Home Depot. needless to say i am still missing the bridge piece :( i think the trend here is granite, it's all you see, i rarely see anything else.

my only complaint in my kitchen is the scratching - otherwise i do think it's a nice surface to work on.

I left 20 year old Almond Corian in place in an update 3 years ago. Now that I can afford to replace it with anything, I am sticking with it. I love the smooth, plain, clean, simple look that lets the food shine. It is in perfect condition.

Agree that there is little love for Corian on this site. Stone rules. But if you look at your stuff (towels, sheets, dishes, window treatments, fabrics, clothing...) and see simplicity and little pattern, Corian could be right for you.

Matte finish and lighter colors resolve much of the scratching 'issue'. A very shiny finish or darker color tends to look more "plastic" and scratches more. The refinishing process is simply passes with a orbital sander - finer grit gets shinier results. I liked mine much more after losing the shine and going to matte.

Good luck with your choices!