Much of my time recently has been spent speaking with potential buyers of our worktops here at Kitchensfitted. DuPont Corian® is one that causes buyers some confusion and if there’s one glaringly obvious fact it’s that consumers are suffering from a massive deluge of misinformation and a total lack of sound education on the products they are looking to buy. Corian® worktops are a prime example.
Before I get on a roll with this blog let me alert buyers to the following exerpt taken from the Dupont™ Corian® Warranty which details the two levels of warranty offered to buyers by all approved Corian® fabricators as detailed on the Corian® UK website.
Warranty program
DuPont offers two levels of warranty protection for Corian® : on product level and on installation level. The product warranty is standard for all DuPont™ Corian® products and ensures that your installation will be free of manufacturing defects for a period of 10 years after purchase.
A higher level of coverage, the Limited Installed Warranty, is only available when fabrication and installation are carried out by a Corian® certified fabricator. This Limited Installed Warranty expands the product warranty and also ensures that the fabrication and installation of the finished product will be free of defects
For the record, all Corian projects undertaken for buyers of the surface through TFI Kitchensfitted for a warrantied colour, is covered by the warranty.
So, just to reaffirm, all residential colours are warrantied for manufacturing defects on the product alone but only Corian Certified Fabricators can offer the higher Limited Installed Warranty on the installation and fabrication as well.
OK, now we’ve clarified that important distinction, which all buyers of Corian® should be aware of before reaching a decision, I’ll begin.
When we first started offering Corian® worktops to buyers on the internet some 10 years ago, there were perhaps three or four other websites doing similar, now there are so many that the mind boggles.
The result of this is that some buyers are going ahead and placing orders for Corian® ignorant of the fact that if their project is not carried out to the directives issued by DuPont , the manufacturers, on the correct installation procedures, many will find their warranty of little use should an issue occur.
A recent conversation with a client saw me defending the precautions we have to take to ensure that the warranty remained valid. It went something like this:
Me – You’ve requested a recessed hob but the warranty on your Corian will not apply
Client – My retailer said they’ve done many corian worktops of this kind and never had a problem
Me – Well, with the greatest of respect, they won’t identify this as an issue until they do have a problem
Client – With 20mm Corian, why must we strengthen the top of the cabinets and appliance openings? My retailer said she’s done many of these without having to resort to this.
Me – Because, once again your warranty will not apply if they are left unsupported. This isn’t an issue with standard depth 38mm Corian worktops as they are fabricated with a sub-frame but if you require 20mm thickness this has to be done to retain the warranty and prevent any long term issues.
So, you get the picture, and on the subject of limitations here is a useful list to take note of if considering Corian® for your project
- Not all colours of the DuPont Corian colour palette are suitable for the residential warranty but any Corian® Quality Network fabricator must alert you to this when offering a quote on a colour that isn’t warrantable. You can still have it installed but you will be asked to sign a disclaimer to accept that warranty will not apply should issues occur
- If you have a gas hob, the maximum upstand height you can have for Corian® is 50mm if the hob is fitted 50mm from the rear elevation/wall. There is no such height restrictions of the splashback/upstand if the same dimensions are met for an electric hob. To consider a full height splashback behind a gas hob, the gap between the rear of hob and the rear elevation must be a minimum of 150mm and to overcome this at planning stage you could consider a breakfront design.
- Corian® sinks are available in 4 colours, Cameo White, Glacier White, Bone and Vanilla. Mixa sinks, with a stainless steel base, are available in a wider variety of colours but are made to order so may prolong your project schedule unless you place an order well in advance of your project.
- Corian® sinks, not Corian® Mixa Sinks, may be subject to thermal shock if exposed to the direct flow of boiling water, so to prevent this occurring it is best to simultaneously run the cold tap or to leave an amount of cold water in the sink bowl before exposing the material to this possibility.
- The maximum unsupported span for Corian® worktops is 1000mm and the maximum free overhang is 300mm. Any dimensions that exceed this, for instance above a 1200mm aperture for side by side 600mm built under fridge and freezer, will require additional support in the form of battens.
Any retailer who might tell you different from the above or any fabricator who doesn’t make you aware of any limitations in your project are not being made subject to the invalidity of the DuPont Corian warranty – you are and in time, not undertaking that bit of extra research may come back to bite you in the bum so check that all your warranties remain intact. There’s enough info about it on the official DuPont websites and there’s certainly plenty of info on here.
It may be that installations that do invalidate the warranty will remain issue free and we’re not being plain awkward in asking that precautions are put in place to ensure the warranty remains valid but it sure would grate with you if, in time, you discovered that the warranty you thought you had didn’t offer you the protection it could have if you’d been correctly informed from the outset
Another couple of important points I must drive home on this subject is that warranties on bespoke surfaces such as DuPont Corian® and Silestone exist only in the event of a manufacturing defect and not against any accidental damage that may occur. My advice is to tag accidental protection on to an existing household policy.
Secondly, my advice to all worktop buyers is to consider making your purchases using a Credit card providing buyers with protection under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
If you would like a quote for Dupont Corian® or just want to learn more about any of the worktops we offer then feel free to obtain your Corian worktop quote here in our request form or e-mail me.
DuPont™ and Corian® are a trademark and a registered trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates
