ARE SILESTONE kitchen countertops the best? i mean , easy to maintain, and durable?????

Question

i am in the process of re-modeling my whole kitchen , but my fiance and i are in a bind as to whether stainless steel or corian would be best to use??

he wants to go with the stainless steele countertops, cabints and appliances!!

i wamt something more homey, like creamy silestone or corian, accented with stainless steele cabinets and appliances.

BUT we just want something modern and durable.

i used to want white marble countertops until i read somewhee that they are easily stained etc....



thanks for any advice!!

Answer 1

If you got money to blow, go for granite. If you wanna keep costs low, but want something nice, go for Corian, which we have. Silestone is a very good product, its about the same, quality wise as granite. But it does cost a little less. Explain to your fiance that the kitchen is your domain, but that you two can compromise with its overall design. I say go with the stainless appliances, dark walnut cabinets and Silestone countertops. And since you can get them in about any color you want, you two have alot of options to work with.

Answer 2

Okay, I've answered this type of question many times so far... so I'm going to cut and paste:

Granite VS. Quartz
"Here's my informed opinion. I do design work in a renovation company - one of the things we do is kitchens - and many different types of countertops.
I like quartz better than I like granite - in fact I will be getting it for my own home.
Quartz can look like granite, however it is far more uniform so that seams and the like are less visible.
It has no fissures or pores - it's actually certified by the National Sanitation Foundation for food areas. Granite is not. (Silestone in particular has MicroBan in it's mix - so it is even more resistant to bacteria)
It never needs to be sealed - granite does.
It is as scratch resistant, or even more so, than granite.
Quartz has a warranty when installed by a certified installer; granite does not have a warranty.
There are many advantages of quartz over granite. That's why we are doing SO much of it lately - along with Corian (and the like)."

Counters with the least amount of maintainence
"Being a kitchen, bath, and renovation designer, I see a lot of countertops. My favourite at one point was Corian (pros... non-porous, easy to clean, invisible seams. cons... scratches easily but is repairable, must buff it every few years depending on usage).
But now, I will be purchasing Silestone for my kitchen (pros... non-porous, more difficult to scratch than granite, silestone specifically has microban - an anti microbial in the expoxy mix, very even in mix so that seams are less visible, never have to seal it or really take care of it too well for that matter!). Just keep in mind that your cabinets have to be beefy enough to hold these countertops. Corian is lighter than Silestone.
If price is an issuse, laminate is the only way to go... if you want something more scratch resistant in laminate, try WilsonArt DeepStar laminate... it's 3 times more wear resistant than other laminates, it's also more expensive."

As far as stainless steel goes... it's fairly expensive and can look very clinical - it is however a top choice for chefs (used in many commercial kitchens) as it is not prone to carry bacteria.

IF this were my choice for you... modern, homey, and durable - I would choose a more solid colour of Corian maybe from the "Select Series" - none of the really speckled stuff (looks more traditional). Or look at the new colours of Corian (they aren't on the website yet - seen at KBIS 2006) and they look kind of like concrete.

Anyway, hope all this helps in some way. :)

Answer 3

I wouldn't go with steel countertops. Those are for restaurant kitchens. They're for go, not for show, and they'll look like crap very quickly as soon as they start getting scratched up.

I am in the process of building a house, and I made my countertop selections last week. Originally I was going to go with Corian but I changed my mind and went with quartz instead. It's more attractive than Corian, and much less porous than marble or granite.

Answer 4

I would choose granite. We have them and love them.