Jan, might not be true for you, but I have seen it. Some designers take on the whole project, buy the slabs, take the mark-up and then hire their preferred fabricator (labor only) for their project.

Are you a designer in LA? I don't think you are. It is a big world out there with different business practices.

And no one is saying the designer has to give up her markup, just that they can get pricing from a slab yard just like a fabricator can.

@Jennifer Hogan, the best part of renovating is the planning, wishing, and hoping! I had white Formica for 27 years and it was just fine-no stains or scratches. Sometimes I think we overlook the tried and true for the new and different. But I always said I'd rather have plain Formica than speckled granite, which never appealed to me.

Further to the Danby, there are many different types, ranging from almost pure white to white with caramel coloring to green to heavily veined with green or gray. Some are more expensive than others (I think Imperial Danby is the most costly), but a lot of it is supply and demand. When I bought mine the saleswoman at the stone yard said it goes out as fast as it comes in. She called me when a new shipment arrived and I immediately went there and claimed 2 slabs. And because it is an American quarry using American labor and sustainable practices, it can be more expensive than imported marble.

No, not in llala land : )

Were i? I have a rule: "Bulls and Bears make money> Pigs go to the slaughterhouse" : ) The price of the slab? It's like the price of broadloom. .......and anyone who believes an individual designer will pay same as a fabricator? I'd bet a lunch on no.

I regress. If you want a thing? Divide how LONG you will have it/stare at it, enjoy it.........by the price. Period. Only the owner can decide the "value OF ANY ELEMENT IN ANY HOUSE.

The quarry was actually bought by an Italian company.

You guys should try the Bay Area of California…..

@Diana Bier Interiors, LLC - Once again, thank you for the additional information and for sharing your insights. I always find your responses on Houzz to be well thought out and helpful.

Wood countertops are not the nightmare some people claim, if they’re prepped properly. I’ve had them for 15 years with no issues.

Wow, I had no idea that the quarry was owned by an Italian company. It's still a national treasure!

Thank you for your kind words, @Jennifer Hogan!

UPDATE ON PRICE: For anyone in the future who may want to follow the Manhattan marble price factor in this discussion, I just had an excellent, though accidental, phone call with a really down to earth countertop repair person. (He is listed as a fabricator but is not and didn't stand to proft from the call.) I told him about the $205/sq ft quote for marble and he said it was actually a pretty good price. Good to know.

I'm now researching corian and other solid surface counters that will come close to matching the Farrow and Ball white tie paint color on our cabinets. I've learned that since we have a straight counter in a galley, the counter can be easily screwed and unscrewed from the cabinet bases for removal during the gas line construction.

Why not wood? A few reasons. For the galley counter opposite the sink side, we've planned all along on a walnut colored wood counter that matches the herringbone floors througout our apartment. It is from our cabinetmaker, though I think it is Boos, it is only treated with mineral oil. We had the same counter in our previous kitchen in a dry area and loved it. It is too expensive of a product for me to want to experiment with on the wet side of the kitchen.

While I could just get inexpensive wood for both sides, I am very concerned about the off gassing of good waterproofing wood sealers. Thanks to intense doses of chemo 20 years ago, I am now insanely sensitive to every smell under the sun and have to be extremely careful about what products we use. What smells fine after a day or two to most people will often still trigger asthma for me a month or two out. Not fun and seriously limits how we build and what we use. The interior woodstain on our cabinets has been off gassing for close to three months in the workshop. I don't want to do this again with wood counter sealer. That is one reason why I love being able to use mineral oil on the walnut wood side.

I'll keep you posted on my solid surface quotes, and I'll have my seat belt fastened so when the sticker shock email arrives I at least won't fall off my chair this time.

All I can do at this point is laugh. I just got a quote from a guy in Brooklyn for solid surface Meganite that comes to $213/sq ft!

I’ve heard Corian installed may be as expensive as quartz installed so I’m not terribly surprised. Labor costs are high in NYC where minimum wage is $15/hour.

I was hoping it would be less than the quote I got for Danby marble. I am now utterly confused about everything and going to take a deep breath and live with plywood countertops for a while after the cabinets are installed and the kitchen is put together.

For heavens sake. ..........help me if I don't really understand the agony. Nothing but nothing but nothing in a solid surface will be less than 150 per square foot and that is minus elevator etc NYC CONSIDERATIONS. Wood? That's different.

Get the kitchen you want the first time. Look at the counter, any as part of a WHOLE of the project. Live with the plywood for a bit. But in the end? You consider the delta in price between the settle and a love affair. Over the length of time you will be in this home.

If the Danby seems perfect and you can afford to do Danby? Then you have the answer.

A remodel should hurt ONCE. When you pay, Not every morning in some " should woulda could" of regrets. Jewel box or cardboard box ? : ) Labor cost the same to make either. Much like a wallpaper rule:

If you are going to hang one? Make sure it IS great. Cost is the same to hang a "cheapie".

Hi Jan, Yes, I'd love one and done and to not have to think anymore about this. Maybe deciding on how to spend $8,000 is easy for you but it is not for me, especially when all you hear about are pros and cons of this material and that. Even harder when I have to consider busting the wall open a year after installation. I certainly don't want to agonize after this after the install. I'd rather hit pause now and figure out what makes the most sense.

Nobody is sneezing at 8 K. But if ANY top is 5K .......and in your eyes it is a bit "meh"? You have to stand back and ask yourself if you are in this place for even 5 years, it's 600 per year to love or not. Or a couple dollars a day. Danby, whatever vs. the five k delta.

Everybody agonizes on something, and while everyone makes compromises? Pick the spots for those.Even ask yourself what you spend on your hair lol.

I understand the gas repair. I am talking about the final top. A solid surface counter top isn't "screwed" to a cabinet base, btw.

Check this out : ) and the blog link........

all of that drama was starting to give me a headache! I am so excited that I finally found exactly what I wanted… as several of you commented, you should always trust your instinct, and now I will have the marble I have wanted since the very beginning of my search. 🙂

https://www.theglampad.com/2013/06/danby-marble-bliss.html

I had to laugh at the hair question: I cut and dye my own hair. Always have. Since covid Ive been cutting my husband’s too.

How would you attach a solid surface counter? My cabinet maker, one installer, and one solid surface repair guy said they all get screwed in. They said a few dabs of caulk/ adhesive can be put down in addition to screws with the final reinstall but that prior to the gas project they’d use only screws.

Spending the week at my parents’ and doing a lot of cooking. Wow am I loving the ease and mess I can make on their quart counters . I had never liked the look or feel or quartz but at least now understand part of the appeal, esp especially after having had marble counters for five years in our last home.

Kendrah:

Solid surface countertops are siliconed to strip plywood underlayment only with dime-sized dabs of silicone every 18" or so, according to the manufacturer's installation instructions. The strip underlayment can be screwed to the cabinets; the solid surface cannot.

I have never screwed strips to base cabinets. I have never NOT had base cabinets provide plenty of support for a top, overhang for seating excepted. Show me someone who can budge a solid surface top from base cabinetry/silicone dabs and I will show you Atlas. lol

That said, a couple guys with clamps and a utility knife? Off it comes, CLAMPS.....big round suckers with enough suction to pull an elephant off the face of earth.

Joseph, yes that is what the cabinet maker and installer suggested - screwing the plywood underlayment down, not the countermaterial itself. Thanks for clarifying.

Fori, I like your suggestion. Thanks.

UPDATE: I decided to go with Corian vanilla countertops created by a company in NJ. Just had them installed with a 5" backsplash. They look beautiful and are so easy to care for. The total cost for materials, templating, and installation was $1,400 and that includes a lot of up charges for traveling into Manhattan and bringing them into an elevator building.

Another Brooklyn company quoted me $3,200 for the exact same material, templating, and installation. Shopping around really paid off. If I had gone with Danby it would have been around $5,000.

I was concerned that the Corian would cheapen the look of the kitchen. I have custom cabinets from a local shop, sub-zero fridge, Boos butcher block on one counter, Franke sink, British brass hardware, and now this rather inexpensive Corian and I think it looks pretty good all together. It is so very nice not to have the stress of owning marble!

That sounds lovely! Will you please post a photo?

That DOES sound great, Kendrah! I'd love to see a photo too!

That sounds great! I won't be a slave to kitchen counters (or sink either) no matter how beautiful they are. No amount of counter beauty can make up for worrying every minute if something will etch - at least for me. Others feel differently. But for me, life is too short. And saving all that money is the cherry on the sundae.

Kendrah,

Care to share the name of your counter place?

I got the counters from Custom Counters By Precision in Passaic, NJ. Their "showroom" is a teeny little space with books and samples piled here and there. Just the owner pulling colors for us, no sales people. It was very refreshing to get down to business and no BS. He gave me huge scraps as samples to take home - 12" x 12 of one Corian and 5" x 24" of a Meganite piece that the manufacturer would only give me a 3"x4" sample of. They were quick to email me a quote, stayed true to the schedule and timing, I'd work with them again for sure.

M Miller - I hear you. We have dog sitters and guests at our place often and I hated being the marble counter police. Corian = freedom from being "that" woman.

We really need a photo!!!

Thank you for this thread. I live in NYC and found this very helpful.

FYI, I remember in a thread that Sophie Wheeler (a hilariously informative poster who can be quite blunt) say that most of what you spend in a countertop is not the material but the labor involved.

@Cheri, here are photos. Not sure why they are posting with such a distorted perspective p. Sorry!

@Lanika I so miss Sophie! Glad you’ve found this helpful.

It’s beautiful! Having all the appliances on one side gives you a nice long counter space on the other side, which is great! I love the ceiling lights too. And a window with a view! (Hudson River?)

Thanks Carole’s. When we bought the unit a year ago it had been an open space: living, dining room, kitchen. It was nicely done but I cook a lot and want to be able to hide my mess. Converting the space back into a galley also gives us so much more cabinet and counter space.

Yep, it is a view of the Hudson and the Palisades. Gorgeous. I feel so lucky to have nature surrounding our NYC apartment!

It's beautiful, @Kendrah and your counters are both lovely. Love all your knobs under the Boos - just perfect.

@Kendrah, beautiful kitchen!

@Kendrah

Your kitchen is beautiful. Love the colors. The countertop looks great!

Your kitchen is lovely and your counters are perfect. I will def look into Corian for our kitchen remodel.

Looks amazing!!!!

Really beautiful, enjoy your home. I was a super frequent driver on the Pallisades and grew up on the Hudson. Theres nothing like New Yorks fall folliage, enjoy the view.

You did a great job, Kendrah! I love that you returned the kitchen to a galley style. Open layouts are just not all they're cracked up to be. And such a smart decision to go with Corian, I can't believe the cost savings!

Enjoy!

Thanks, that means a lot coming form you, Diana the Danby Queen!

I am so happy with how the kagillion brass knobs turned out beneath the wood top. I hadn't planned on them looking like a design element but I think they are the most eye catching part of the kitchen.

Your kitchen is beautiful - I love it!

When pricing out countertops, you need to know what's included. For instance, many times, unless specified early on, a countertop price is materials, template, fabrication, delivery and cost to set top ONLY. It doesn't include tearout, haul away to dump, support plates, plumbing, releveling old cabinets, appliance rehook..... etc.

When you state cost per square foot....that is for installed material only. All additional labor will increase that per square foot cost.

@Kendrah, I laughed out loud at "Danby Queen"! I do love my Danby, but totally understand your decision to get Corian based on the huge price differential. It is a much better choice over speckly granite or fake looking marble/quartz.

However, as I've stated before, I do not baby the marble. It gets used and I don't worry about etches or chips. But I can live with them, and I respect anyone who disagrees and makes a different choice.

@Kendrah - I'm obsessed with your kitchen. It is gorgeous and timeless. Where did you get the cabinets and what color are they?? Thanks!

@sabrown - Thanks! I'm all about trying to make a timeless look. We worked with Superior Woodcraft for our custom cabinets in our kitchen in Philly and had them copy that design for our new home in NYC. I looked at tons of butler pantry pics and got really specific about the width of the styles, inset cabinets, and the molding, which they replicated from a salvaged door I had on my laundry closet in Philly. They are installing a built in bookcase in our living room next week to match.

The color is Farrow and Ball White Tie to match the walls in our kitchen and other living space. It was not a great paint for them to work with. Our Philly cabinets were Ben Moore Maritime White and looked great too. Superior is woman owned and run and they work around the East Coast. They've been in business for 60 years. It wasn't the smoothest experience this time around but I chalk it up to Covid. Their customer service is outstanding.

@kendrah - thank you! I'm in Boston and they have a rep about 75 minutes away from me so I contacted their dealer. Did you work with a dealer, or with them directly? Thanks!

Your kitchen turned out beautifully!! I can see why the initial price gave you pause -That's so little countertop for so much cash. Glad you found a more affordable and aesthetically beautiful solution!

@Sabrown, I didn’t even realize they had reps. I deal directly with Michelle Kennedy the owner. She has great design suggestions and never once tried to upsell me on anything. In fact, she discouraged me from getting an island in our old place. Whenever they have made an error, which is bound to happen, they take full responsibility and make the correction even if it costs them. I know they have done kitchen on the Cape. I have been to their showroom and toured their workshop. It is truly custom work.

Looks so nice!

Edited:

@Kendrah

Your kitchen is beautiful!

Reread through this post and found my answer.

Thank you for posting all.