I am a fabricator. Your sink will work with corian, quartz, or natural stone. My suggestion to my customers is always to determine the look you want and then evaluate different materials based on the material properties. All three materials mentioned make good, durable countertops but they have significantly different material properties giving various advantages and disadvantages. A stone fabrication shop will typically supply both quartz and natural stone as those materials require the same kind of diamond tooled process equipment. Corian is most often supplied by a cabinet shop as it requires the same process machinery and wood. A very large fab shop might supply all three. Good luck. A competent fabricator will be able to explain the differences.

I'm not sure what your specific issue is.

In terms of any counter top, ultimate decision would be a combination of function versus aesthetics (personal taste).

My only knowledge of matte/honed Caesarstone is from this forum but it does appear as though the product has significant maintenance issues and that it was released to satisfy a perceived aesthetic/trend need but is not functional.

My understanding (again based on extensive reading on this forum) is that honed granite or leathered granite provides a matte look and is easier maintenance - depending obviously on the exact granite selected.

I just finished a remodel and considered my options - I wanted to find my personal balance between function and personal taste/aesthetics.

For me, not being able to place hot pans directly on my counter isn't a huge deal as I had lived with formica for many years and never scorched the surface. My understanding is that it is not recommended that hot pans be placed directly on ANY surface because even granite could theoretically crack with a major temperature change.

I considered Neolith; quartz (aka Cesarstone); granite and marble and ultimately selected Black Galaxy Granite in the end. It's a fairly bullet proof granite; it's a fairly quiet granite and I have other design elements in my kitchen that are the aesthetic "stars"; it has a bit of sparkle to it so it picks up the other copper elements in my kitchen and since my kitchen has no windows, I always need lights and so the lights reflecting off the copper bling adds a nice element (at least in my opinion).

I am not recommending Black Galaxy but just trying to give a sense of my thought process as I finalized my decision. My neighbor has Blue Butterfly leathered granite and it's gorgeous but wouldn't work for my design. Another friend has Calacatta Gold marble counter but her kitchen is a very traditional kitchen and so it is a beautiful design choice for her button for me. Another friend has an MCM home and went for gorgeous concrete with recycled glass counters - if my kitchen were modern or MCM, aesthetically I would probably have opted for that with walnut slab cabinets.

Leathered and brushed finishes mute the speckled look that many granites have. It is a lovely finish but in my part of the Upper Midwest very hard to find. I paid to have my polished slabs leathered, it and raised the price one level.

We installed glacier white Corian in Nov, and I love it. I tested it before making my decision, and I was able to remove all "stains" (unlike the Caesarstone I tested). Like Helen, I don't care about not being able to put hot pans on the counter because I am well used to that. I love how the Corian looks, and I got a lot of compliments when I had a party recently. It doesn't need babying, and if it gets a deep scratch, it can be repaired. The only downside, as far as I can tell, is if one considers solid surface to be plasticy or cheap looking. I don't, and neither did my guests. For people who want dramatic counters, sure, stone is better. I've seen some truly beautiful stones here on Houzz. Sometimes I almost wish I went that route. But I wanted practical, so Corian made sense.

Corian and Formica Solid Surface have many "no speckle" options and can easily be repaired if a serious accident occurs. I've seen 30 year-old countertops that are pristine...and that is after several homeowners. If you want an easy to care for (wipe it down) long-lasting material those two products can't be beat.

Glacier white Corian looks great for floor transitions also, shower benches ,curbs, niche. You made a great selection

Cambria has beautiful Quartz countertops selections, you can see samples at Euro Tile and stone

My opinion: Quartz today is the hated Corian of tomorrow. I am a big Glacier White Corian fan. Otherwise, stick to natural stone. Find a calm granite, have it honed or leathered and you should be good. Virginia Mist, Via Lactea, Absolute Black, Steel Gray, should work well for you if you wanted a matte concrete look. Quartz is seriously overpriced and over-hyped.

PS the honed looking quartz products have uniformly horrible reviews. Do not under any circumstances buy those. That is not so much my opinion as a fact. Do your research and you will see.

Do you have a good fabricator? If so, I would talk through your options with him or her, asking for honest input. It sounds like we're similar to you - we wanted fairly regular, calm, light-colored counters. We prefer natural stone, but marble is a definite no. After talking with our fabricator and how best to balance our wants and our budget, he recommended quartz for the aesthetic we wanted, and he suggested a specific quartz with which he's had good experiences and which will disguise repairs, should they ever be needed. I'm a fan of interest research, but he was more useful than hours of internet research.

I'm personally not a fan of Corian, but that's just me. It feels like plastic & I ripped 88 sq ft of it out of my current home & went with granite. I know quartz is popular right now, but I just couldn't find anything that I liked. I would have LOVED to gone with a quartzite that we liked, but it was out of our budget. Take your elements to a stone yard & see what you like.