Corian – putting the record straight for potential buyers

Well it’s that time of year when buyers hit the High St’s and Retail Parks in search of products for the home, Corian worktops being among them.

Here’s a tale e-mailed to us from a buyer seeking a solid surface who was wise enough to do a little research before believing some of the spiel fed to unsuspecting buyers by some sellers.

“I visited a kitchen place today where the salesman tried to put me off buying Corian on the basis that the manufacturers were a nightmare to deal with and won’t accept any liability for blips that occur or for damage during fitting. He suggested there would be problems with them if we ever had to call them back in to honour the warranty.

Now I was shocked about this because I have read in a few places on the web that the product and service is generally good – personal styles aside – Corian is what it is and I like the seamlessness and the fact you can repair it. I have read Tim Foley’s excellent post on the pro’s and cons of using Corian and that brought me to this blog.

Is my salesman being difficult because he earns better commission on Silestone (his favourite surface!) or are there really problems with Corian service wise..? My guess is that he just doesnt get as good a deal and may well have had some issues but ….. we are now in a quandry.

I am still hunting for the kitchen by the way and havent made any decisions. I am also happy to buy the top independently.

Any advice much appreciated

Martin”

and my response:

Martin,

I sympathise with your plight at present and as for outdated sales techniques, in another guise, outside of what we do here on KitchensFitted, I’ve been the author of regular columns in some of our industry magazines in which I have written pretty extensively about antiquated pitches and how they belong to a bygone era when Arthur Daley types ruled the forecourts and showrooms.

Beware of misleading Salespeople

It’s an insult to the intelligence of modern consumers like yourself and the majority, yet still old methods appear favourite in an effort to secure orders.

I could write a book if I were to concentrate my answer on this issue but I’ll move on to try to offer a clear picture of your choices and how they may affect you in the future.

Of all the Solid Surfaces available to the buyer, I believe that Corian offers buyers the best deal because of the governance by which they approve only those skilled enough to fabricate and install their surfaces and for the transferrable 10 year residential warranty that exists to protect you should manufacturing defects occur within that warranty period.

At this point I have to say that my relationship with those who market Corian solid surface here in the UK has been pretty dire yet I guess I’ve not been flavour of the month with many manufacturers given my championing of the internet as the preferred shopping mall for modern buyers and how manufacturers must become more accountable and accessible to end users and not just a select band of their Internot retailers.  However this in no way affects clients who purchase Corian via KitchensFitted as we work in close partnership with a reputable and long established UK solid surface fabricator. Even recently I blogged about a client who, after six years, contacted us with a manufacturing issue which was quickly resolved under the terms of the warranty. This client, like many, would consider nothing but Corian for his future projects.

The truth is that there is no such thing as the perfect worksurface and no surface is stainproof, scratchproof or indestructible but some are better than the rest and I believe that in employing a policy of offering only certain Quartz and Corian worktops we made the right choice, certainly the statistics pretty much prove that and I can honestly say that issues over the years of our offering these surfaces have been extremely rare Should they occur we react immediately to identify the cause and if determined as being a manufacturing issue, the aim is always a quick resolve.

A very important point to raise here is that warranties from all surface manufacturers are limited to manufacturing defects and I advise all buyers of bespoke surfaces to tag their purchase onto an existing home insurance policy to insure against accidental damage which isn’t covered by any warranty.

OK, and so to the properties of Corian as the most recognisable solid surface in the world. It is a designers dream and its thermoforming properties allow designers free reign to conjure up any projects without restrictions. It allows for seamless integration of sinks, upstands and downturn end panels. It is a non porous solid surface that can be repaired and restored to its former glory should damage occur. Corian is a matt finish product as opposed to the sheen associated with granite and quartz and fans of the surface are very vocal in singing its praises many years after installation. Now I have a policy here of being completely open in my opinion and we are accountable to nobody for that so it’s only right that I should let you know why certain people do not opt for Acrylic surfaces and perhaps choose quartz or granite.

Corian is less resilient than quartz and will scratch more easily if mistreated. It is less heat resistant than quartz but this should never prove an issue with any surface if users follow the rule that any hot pans or surfaces should be placed on a protective board or on the steel trivets that we can fabricate into your Corian surface.

Corian sinks can be subject to thermal shock should the advice from the manufacturer not be adhered to (Never pour or run boiling water into a Corian sink without first filling the sink with an amount of cod water to counteract the effects this could have)

It’s important that buyers are made aware of both the aspects of purchasing any surfaces but in offering just Corian and Quartz surfaces here I am convinced we offer the two best types available to the buyer and that their disadvantages are minimal in comparison to the alternatives offered elsewhere.

A comprehensive reply Martin and I hope it helps you in determining which surface is best for your project