You should have no problems doing this as long as it is done properly. You can make the cutout to the specs. It will need to be done by someone that works with Corian and knows what they are doing. It MUST be done with a router sanded smooth and all the corners have the reinforcement blocks in place to prevent cracking. The cut out cannot be done with a jig saw or circular saw or it will crack. I fabricated and installed Corian for 20 years and in my opinion it is the best countertop material available. This will be a loud and messy project but it can be done.

Corian makes excellent counters, and induction cooktops do not conduct much heat to their edges which would rest on the Corian. However, if you put a blazing hot pan onto the Corian, you will get a scorch mark. So, keep hot pads and/or trivets as desired where in an emergency or just when distracted, you can avoid over-heating the Corian.

"Will the induction cooktop expose the Corian to any more heat than the gas cooktop did?"

No, but don't let your pot overhang the burner, please.

You'll want to leave 1/8" clearance between the appliance and the new cutout. regbob is correct in that all toolmarks must be removed and sharp edges rounded smooth. After the high-strength corners are installed, place heat conductive tape on the deck and down the inside edges. Trim any exposed heat tape.

Trivet use is recommended by all solid surface and engineered stone manufacturers, and the Natural Stone Institute; effectively making them equal in the heat-resistance department.

I am buying a new Wolf induction stovetop to replace my gas stovetop and I want it flush mounted. I’ve had corian for 25 years and I love it. I cook all the time, use hot pads when needed to rest down hot pans so I’ve never burned it but otherwise beat the stuff (drop things) (sometimes clean red wine and spaghetti drips the morning after) and it cleans up great. BUT the Wolf rep says I cannot flush mount into Corian. He says use quartz or granite. Is he correct?

No. Engineered stone is filled with nearly as much plastic as Corian, at 33%. Granite is more heat resistant the either.

Here's a flush cooktop in Corian. It's a showroom, but you get the idea.

So, when the unit needs a board replaced or other internal attention, how is the demonstrated deep silicone bond released for removal? I would have guessed that the put-aside vasoline coating was essential for efficient servicing.

"Engineered stone is filled with nearly as much plastic as Corian, at 33%."

According to this video, engineered stone slabs made at Breton plants worldwide using its patented process and used by "every reputable quartz supplier" are 94% quartz mineral. MSI uses Bretonstone slabs and confirms that is countertops are 93% quartz.

"All Quartz Countertops Are Made Using Bretonstone Technology

"Bretonstone Technology is a patented process created by the Breton company in northeast Italy. The process consists of blending pulverized natural stone aggregate with a mix of polymers, removing the air, and then heating and shaping the material into slabs that have the hardness and appearance of natural stone.

"Bretonstone Technology has been licensed to more than 50 companies around the world, including such famous quartz brands as Silestone, Cambria, and Caesarstone. While these manufacturers add their own flair and nuances to their engineered stone countertops, they're still working off the original patent, from Breton." -- The Spruce

I recall an issue brought up in another thread of some weeks past noting that percent (by weight) quartz is not percent (by volume) quartz. The latter would be a lower number; it would also better represent the resin fraction exposed to heat. As an extreme example, using ground up tungsten would lead to very high percent by weight with the same volume fraction of resin.

[Density (gm/cm^3) of quartz = 2.65, lucite = 1.19, tungsten = 19.3. Using quartz and lucite values will allow calculation of mass fraction from volume fraction. "Engineered quartz" resin density might differ somewhat from lucite.]

"According to this video, engineered stone slabs made at Breton plants worldwide using its patented process and used by "every reputable quartz supplier" are 94% quartz mineral. MSI uses Bretonstone slabs and confirms that is countertops are 93% quartz."

Brilliant marketing. You go to the marketing department and say, "Hey guys, this 33% plastic thing is never gonna fly." and they say, "No problem. We'll just go by weight instead of volume. It's completely irrelevant, but we're not lying."

You'll notice that I've been saying this for years here and not a single engineered stone manufacturer has ever challenged me. They can't so they don't.

So it was you who leaked the truth. :)

@Joseph Corlett, LLC: "You'll notice that I've been saying this for years here and not a single engineered stone manufacturer has ever challenged me."

According to its website 50-year-old Breton services 100 countries, has revenue of 250 million euros, employs 1,000, and produces 73 million square meters of product. And of course those are just for the wholesale product delivered to its brand customers. Do you really think it or its customers are going to spend $1 "challenging" you?

So there’s no definitive answer as to whether Corian is the same heat resistance as quartz in terms of flush mounting an induction you stove top?

"Do you really think it or its customers are going to spend $1 "challenging" you?"

I'm sure that if I said that Breton estone was made of grass clippings and asphalt, they'd waste no time correcting me. If you think estone manufacturers, especially Cambria, don't peruse these pages, you would be mistaken.

CB:

You can flush mount an induction cooktop in Corian, but don't let the pan overhang the burner and transfer the heat to the deck.

Estone may have a bit more heat resistance, however, when it fails, it is not generally repairable as is heat damaged Corian.

I have seen that word -estone-on Houzz a lot but I cannot figure out what it actually means and when I Google it either Estonia comes up or a computer company. So is that a generic term for Stone like granite or is it slang in the home building industry ….what does it mean?

Thank you!

Joseph, I have been researching all the different countertop surfaces - looking for stain resistance - tea and coffee in particular; heat resistance -- toaster, coffee maker specifically, and not too fussy for maintenance/cleaning while still being attractive. Of course I have found that they all have their problems. lol. I had pretty much settled on quartz until I came across a recent thread where you mentioned Corian. This is the one surface I had not looked into because my mother installed their white in her home 25 years ago and she does have heat damage from crockpot use (we know better now), but particularly around her stove/oven. It is cracked and discolored on both sides probably from using the self-cleaning oven and home canners that were too large for the burners. However, I see now that those areas are repairable -- and then I started realizing in all these years that is the only problem with it she's had -- no tea or coffee stains on the bright white -- in fact, no stains or scratches at all. So, I say all of this to ask you -- do you recommend Corian in this application or is there something else better? If I go with Corian, is there a need to protect it next to the electric stove -- I do use a large canner once in a while that would tend to hang over a little. Should we install some other material as a buffer or just simply raise the height of the stove? Also, which finish is best these days? Mom can't remember the specifics of her counter anymore.

Corian and other solid surfaces remain some of the best available, despite being somewhat out of fashion. It kills me that in their search for the holy grail of white countertops, designers and homeowners will overlook the 50-year performance record of Corian to chase estone and natural stone that stains and are much more difficult, if not impossible to repair, especially inconspicuously.

Here's a "flush mount" cooktop in the Viking showroom in Lewisville, TX. Notice how the left corner is actually lower than the top; this will create a chip machine and crud catcher. Plus, the edges of the cutout are raw and the top is estone. The raw top edge will have microfractures and when the heat from a pan hits them, they're going to birth major fractures which will not be inconspicuously repaired. I don't recommend these flush mounts in any top.

It's a showroom; you're supposed to show the best. Ugh.

MreenS:

Don't forget, like DuPont, Corian's manufacturer, every single estone manufacturer requires the use of trivets as does the Natural Stone Institute, essentially and practically making them equal in the heat -resistance department.

Yes, thank you for all the information. Can you tell me if the finish affects Corian's ability to resist stains? Is one better than the other? Matte vs semi-gloss for example --

I have difficulty imagining anything causing a stain in Corian unless it was also capable of chemically attacking Plexiglass/Lucite. Some soap products might have aggressive chemicals and cause a stain if left in contact for days -- say under a soap dispenser. Food attacked by fungus or bacteria could conceivably develop some chemical reaction that would be stain like. If such a stain occurs, light sanding with very fine paper would likely remove it.

My guess is that matte is rougher than semi-gloss, so "stuff" might more easily remain with light cleaning. Technically, that wouldn't be a stain but a imperfect cleaning. Again, a real stain requires an actual attack of the plastic binding the powdered sapphire filler. Nothing you have will affect the powdered sapphire. There is one other material potentially present, the colorant in the plastic. It might be susceptible to color shift if chemically attacked.

Yes, thank you -- that realization and the repairability is what has me taking a strong look at Corian.

A matte finish will be the easiest to maintain. Any "stains" can be removed with mild abrasive cleaners like soft scrub, Comet or Ajax. Using a fine Scotch-Brite pad daily will keep the matte finish it had when originally installed. The other semi-gloss and high gloss finishes look great on some of the colors and might be the best option but they require more care and work to bring back the gloss if scratched. Even with the matte finish the tops will take on a semi-gloss finish and you will not notice it until you clean up a spot. This just happens from cleaning, people touching the tops and daily use. If you do clean up a spot and see that it is dull you can bring down the rest of the top to the original finish or you can use soft scrub and a sponge to put a shine on the small spot you cleaned. If you have had Corian or have it already you will see that it is a great choice for countertops if you have a lot of seams and the integral sinks can not be beat.

Joseph, Firmly on team corian now, liking dune prima and witch hazel -- got to see an integrated sink today and loved it -- just can't be trusted with draining pasta, I'm afraid. Saw a post where you recommended a Karran edge integrated sink. I'm thinking it may be the best of both worlds -- do you still recommend that one and if so, how do I get ahold of one?

You can pour hot pasta water into a Corian sink, just be sure to hit the disposal hole when you do.

I do recommend the Karran 540 integrated stainless steel sink. It's beautiful and functional. Your fabricator would order it from Karran.

Thank you -- I appreciate your help so much. :)

I don't have a fabricator yet, but want to avoid any errors based on my own lack of experience. I have been reading here and trying to learn what to watch for -- plywood edges on cabinets, heat protection over dishwasher, etc.

I see the sink is 40 lbs -- I would assume it requires some type of support?

The Karran 540 weighs 25 lbs and requires no additional support.

Great! :) Must be I read it wrong.

With respect to the earlier mention of Wolf suggesting to not install flush in Corian but it's OK for engineered stone, there is one factor we haven't discussed -- coefficient of thermal expansion -- α. If the Corian has a higher α than estone, then a drop in-fit at room temperature might be more of a force fit at colder temperature then estone would be. Something might fracture. Higher α could be accommodated by having a larger gap.

I have no data on these materials' coefficients of thermal expansion. In both materials some gap seems to be needed as it is unlikely the countertop material will have the same α as the cooktop's Ceran.

A sufficiently precise gap all around could be filled by a push-in o-ring that was removable. Vaseline strikes me as a messy way to assure removal with silicone fill. As I recall there are (were) specialized pastes for avoiding silicone bonding having greater viscosity than Vaseline.