I'm interested in the point of this question. My GC installs whatever the client wants... primarily granite or marble. My kitchen cabinet company installs primarily quartz, and my countertop guy does soapstone exclusively.

"1. Which counter top surfaces do you install the most? (granite, quartz, Corian, soapstone, concrete etc.)"

I no longer fabricate, so I can't say.

"2. Which color(s) of #1 is/are the most popular?"

According to the presenters at the trade shows, white anything, estone, glass, whatever, can hardly be kept in stock.

"3. Would you recommend #1? If so, why? If not, why not?"

This is like asking "Which is the best car?" It is impossible to say without know your budget and lifestyle.

"4. BONUS question: If you are in the business to do so, which counter top surface do you repair the most and what are the reason for most of the repairs?"

Not a fair question. Correlation is not causation. I would only advise that the hyper-competition among fabricators does not serve the marketplace well. The longer you shop, the lower the price will go. This is not in your best interest, but no one seems to care. I'm going to charge a doctor several thousand dollars to fix an estone installation that his original fabricator should have charged him to do right the first time. Of course I'm getting the call because the original fabricator is out of business.

Question number one presumes that there is the possibility that an equal number of each type of countertop could be installed and that any of the people involved could install any of the countertops which is just not the case. Most lone fabricators install one or possibly two types of countertop they generally don't install all types.... (Although if they work for a shop between all of the fabricators in the shop they may have the capacity to install all the different types of countertops.) Another limiting factor is cost. Many people are very excited about Neolith but not nearly as excited about its cost, so there are overall fewer installations of it done than of other surfaces.

Do you intend to use your kitchen or is it really going to be just a showplace? For how long does it need to be a showplace before you plan on moving or having it redone? What are your needs?

I was simply trying to ask what surface is the most popular and what colors prevail as "loved" nowadays. Beyond that, asking what the advantages and limitations certain counter tops could bring. I feel that people in the "field" know the most so I came to ask the professionals how they felt and what they do on a typical day.

My personal kitchen will not be a showplace, but merely a place to cook and wash my dishes.

I'm not an expert, but I've just finished my kitchen (almost) and have read so much on this forum about countertops, so here's my two cents!

Which countertop material is most popular:

Right now, most people want the look of marble - white with grey veining. But without the hassle of marble (high maintenance). So there's three options: 1: quartz - which is engineered stone. This thing is pretty much bulletproof but doesn't have the "drama" of natural stone. 2: granite - still the best of the natural stone group in terms of maintenance and price point. However, a lot of people don't want the look of granite. 3: quartzite. Real quartzite is harder than granite, and some types look like marble (macauba, madre perla, super white, white princess etc). However, it's more expensive than granite and there's a lot of misinformation in the market place about it. Some stone yards will label some harder types of marble as quartzite, so a lot of people got screwed with that. Some thought they were buying low maintenance quartzite and find themselves with high maintenance marble. In addition, there's no guarantee that quartzite won't stain. Especially if it's white. There are ways to text for real quartzite. If you do a search on this forum, you'll find heaps of info.

Other types of countertops right now either doesn't have the look of marble (stainless steel, glass etc) or a lot of people feel (I stress the word "feel") that countertops like formica, laminate, corian, are not showy enough in a kitchen and put them in the laundry room.

I ended up with quartzite after a lot of research. I hope this answers some of your questions. And good luck with your kitchen remodel!

Thank you so much for your research and thank you for sharing the information with me.

These questions can't be answered.

#1 and #2 - these are largely affected by regional tastes and regional economies. These two question can't be answered the way you've worded them. You will get a different answer in Chicago, in Miami, in Boston, etc., and those are big cities. You will get a different answer in, e.g., rural Illinois than in Chicago, etc.

#3 - so subjective, it too can't be answered. Not only depends on regional differences, differences in lifestyles, and also each individual household and how they treat their counters - how they are being cleaned, how often and hard the kitchen is used, etc.

#4 Again regional, subjective, who can tell.

You also don't account for differences within the same material. For example, granite - there are thousands; some are completely non-porous and never need sealing and totally tough, while others are more porous and need more care. Soapstone - some are very soft, and chip more easily, some are harder. Butcher block - maple? walnut? is the user conditioning it or not? Is the user cutting on it or not? Quartz and other manmade material counters - same thing, there is variation not only in production, but in how each household uses it.

Your questions don't take into account the individual perceptions of the counter owner. For example, people have soapstone counters that may chip. Bothers some owners so they sand the chips out; other owners don't notice the chips or don't care. Same thing with marble - some are bothered by etching, others look at it as patina.

You would be better served by asking about a specific countertop you are interested in, and describe your household - how many, cooking a lot or not, are you the careful type or not, etc.