wi-sailorgirl, iIt seems like every fabricator has different ways of doing their pricing -- but keep in mind that they have to make one trip to your house to template and another to install, and there is time and labor involved in cutting a sink. (Even if they don't itemize those factors separately -- most don't -- my guess is that if you doubled the size of your counter, the price wouldn't double and your cost per square foot would be lower.) There's not much you can do about these built-in costs unless it's a standard size (e.g. 36" x 21" vanity top) and you can find one pre-fabricated to carry home, and that doesn't sound it'll work for you. -- Eric

We live in the PNW and have Pentalquartz like calumin and Kam76. It is made by Vicostone, a company out of Vietnam using the same method of manufacture, Breton of Italy. All the name brands use this same Breton technology to make their quartz slabs. You may have to hunt around to see who carries Vicostone in your area. It was much more affordable than the brand names. I think about $68 sf. We chose Tobacco/Bianco Romano BQ9420P, cream/taupe/grey with black veining and garnet dots. Our whole job of 36.5 sf, galley kitchen, with one seam, cost approx $2,500.00. We bought our Kraus undermount SS 30inch sink on line from Amazon, which saved money on the fabricator supplying the sink. They make a color called Oyster that looks similar to your Savory. They have other very pretty colors that you might like. I hope that you'll have luck finding an affordable quartz surface, because you'll love having quartz counters. :) Here is a link that might be useful: Pental/Vicostone link

storklady, Good for you for keeping the budget in mind. I bet the Wilsonart looks really good, even if it's not your first choice. It's hard sometimes to look at what other people on this site have done and then settle for less. We replaced floors on the first floor (including kitchen) last spring/summer, and hope to deal with appliances and countertops this year. I'm beginning to think that we, too, will have to settle for laminate countertops, instead of solid surface that I really wanted. But so far we've paid cash (or used credit card and paid off before any interest charges) for the home improvements we've been doing. Yes, I'd like to do a complete reno with all my wish list materials, but I like being virtually debt-free better (in a little under 2 years we should have the mortgage paid off early and then we will be debt-free). So, while understand the angst of giving up on something you dreamed of, I applaud your decision. It sounds like it was the right one for you.

I have white corian in my master bathroom, and a grey speckled version called Pepper Ivory in my kitchen. I am happy with both of them. Almost no chipping. Every now and then if I drop something sharp from fairly high up I do make a tiny ding, but that doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I have the satin finish, which does occasionally look "etched" (for lack of a better word). I can polish it out if I try, or more often I just ignore it and it goes away on its own over a few days as I keep normally wiping the counters down. I know some people have a deep hatred for this stuff...but it has held up well in my house for 5 years or so.