On Fri 20 Jun 2008 04:04:25a, kilikini told us...

> Bob Terwilliger wrote:
>> Jill wrote:
>>
>>> I'm getting sick of HGTV and all the home magazines screaming
>>> "granite!" for counter tops every time they do a kitchen remodel.
>>> Formica is dated, of course. I'd like a glass tile or ceramic tile
>>> counter tops. Sure, both are breakable but I don't plan to take a
>>> sledgehammer to the counters and I'm not that dangerous in the
>>> kitchen Mom's neighbor has ceramic tile counterops; she can set
>>> a hot pan right off the burner on it without bothering with hot
>>> pads. It's inexpensive, very attractive and touching up the grout if
>>> it gets grungy is a fairly easy cosmetic thing to do.
>>
>> I've got tile counters, and I hate them. I can't knead bread dough or
>> roll out pie dough on them. I'd much rather have something like a
>> phenolic resin counter. Or Corian.
>>
>> Bob
>
> I used to clean a house for a guy who had tile counters. I hated
> cleaning that kitchen! The counters were white tiles with white grout.
> I'd bleach and bleach that grout and still couldn't get all the grease
> stains out. (I don't think it was sealed very well in the whole
> installation process.) The grout never looked clean enough to me and
> many of the tiles were cracked so the cracks turned brown. No amount of
> straight bleach took that out.
>
> Now that you mention it, Bob, it never occured to me about rolling
> anything out, like pizza dough, on tile. You made an excellent point.
> For me, if money wouldn't be a factor in my choice of counters, I'd opt
> for Corian or marble. I really wouldn't suggest tile. And to go one
> step further, I have a tile floor in my kitchen - another case of
> installation disaster. More grout that wasn't sealed properly and it's
> not grouted high enough, if that makes any sense. I have to sweep,
> sweep, sweep in order to try to get dropped food crumbs out from the
> grooves. It's better to vacuum the floor than to sweep it. And, if you
> drop anything glass, the item shatters and spreads shards of glass all
> over the place. If you accidentally drop a pan, the pan dents, let a
> fork fall, the tines bend...to be honest, I'd rather have the cheaper
> linoleum. What I *do* like about our tile flooring is that it's a
> marbeled beige color and it hides spots *really* well until I can do a
> thorough mopping. If a tile floor is installed well, people wouldn't
> have the issues I have, but mine was obviously not done by a
> professional. LOL. (The tiles aren't even lined up right.) :~)
>
> kili

Marble is too "soft" to have high resistance to damage. It's also quite
porous compared to almost any other natural stone, even when sealed.

Many tiled counters are made up of 4x4" ceramic tiles, which can certainly
create a cleaning nightmare, and is not a good surface for rolling out
anything. Plus, many of those 4x4" tiles have a slightly contoured edge
which makes it even worse. Having said that, there are larger tiles of
natural materials like granite, quartz, soapstone, or other materials, that
are perfectly flat edge to edge and can be set with the barest minimum of
group lines. IMO, these are far more serviceable and they are far cheaper
than a large slab of any of those materials. Again, I would suggest a dark
group to avoid obvious staining.

If one is an ardent baker where kneading and rolling are important, a
separate section of counter could be outfitted with a different material,
even butcher block, so that the other surfaces don't pose a problem.

Modern laminates are not necessarily a poor choice. They have higher heat
resistance than they used to, are easily cleaned, are more stain resistant,
require no sealing, and are far more economical should replacement be
necessary. Many of the patterns available now are quite attractive.

Solid surface materials like Corian also have many good attributes and are
available in many attractive patterns. They are far more forgiving and
create less breakage if something is dropped on them than any stone
surface. They can easily sanded and rubbed with steel wool should
scratches or dings appear. There are also integrated sinks of the same
material which are easily maintained.

Making a decision on a countertop material can be daunting with the variety
available. Far too many people are "caught up" in the marketed popularity
of granite and other high end products.

I wouldn't recommend anyone rushing out to buy whatever is the "most
desirable" material of the moment. Take the time to consider your needs
and expectations first.


--
Wayne Boatwright
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Friday, 06(VI)/20(XX)/08(MMVIII)
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Condense soup, not books!
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