[Shop-talk] Alternative kitchen countertops?

[Jim Franklin]

On Jan 30, 2013, at 9:27 PM, Brian Kemp wrote:

> Jim - If your existing counters are structurally good,

This is a new install; old kitchen was gutted.
>
> You could also look at tile.  Whatever you have, I would definitely have a
good bead of kitchen silicone caulk around the sink/counter joint.

My first choice actually was tile. Rectified porcelain is $5/sf and will allow
1/16" grout lines. There were 2 issues- corners/edges and making them look
neat, which was solvable by Schluter products, but started approaching $1000
and a ton of work. And the other issue was the undermount sink and keeping the
sharp inside corners of the counter clean where it'd rest on the much softer
corners of the sink. Still an option, but if I can get a solid surface for
$1500... (rapidly realizng this is unrealistic).

1 cm thick Porcelain "sheets" are becoming common in Europe to use for
counters, but haven't made it here yet. They make 24" square tiles, but I need
24.5" for the wall counter and 25" for the island, and with the proper tools I
could route a curve to match the radius of the sink corners. I'm guessing I
need a wet saw of some type to do that...

>
> My concern with the resin would be scratches and melting from hot stuff.

Yea, heat resistant to 355F, which isn't that hot, really. I'm not the type to
dig out a trivet when I'm holding a hot pan, and I'm certainly not going to
remember to do it beforehand :-)