Choosing Home Countertops
At Cook Remodeling and Custom Construction, we understand a remodeling project is an important investment in your home and your life. We want you to feel confident and comfortable throughout the room design and home product selection process. To help you in your decision making, we’ve written a choosing countertops guide to help decide what is best for you and your lifestyle in your kitchen, as well as your bathrooms, or even home office. This does not include all the possibilities, but is a good foundation to get started. The designers at Cook Remodeling will help you with selections.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
A countertop needs to withstand spills, scrapes, and even hot pans, how durable do you need it to be? There are a variety of surfaces to choose from, and even can be mixed to serve the needs of the space and added design detail. You may choose a different surface for a custom kitchen island to set it apart. We remind our Cook Remodeling clients to consider the shine of the surface. If you prefer a matte look, don’t pick a highly reflective surface! Know that if you replace just the countertops, you may not be able to reuse them when you remodel later.
Here is a guide of popular choices to help narrow your preferences, and is not meant to substitute for the recommendations of your design professional.
| Type | Does it Resist:
|
Benefits | Drawbacks | ||||
| Laminate |
|
low cost, easy to clean, lots of colors, can get granite, wood marble look alike |
difficult to repair, conventional has dark seam | ||||
| Solid Surface Quartz |
|
durable, repairable, easy to clean, consistent color, can have integral sink and edge detail, can get leather look no sealing needed |
lacks depth of granite, not a natural material- is man-made | ||||
| Stone-Granite Marble |
|
durable, granite is tough; can get slate, limestone, and granite in tile form to lower cost |
expensive, needs annual reseal, marble is too soft/porous for kitchen-substitute serpentine, inconsistent pattern and coloring, high heat contact can cause cracks |
||||
| Tile *grout is not stain proof |
|
wide variety of patterns, textures, materials in tile for unique detail | uneven surface, grout stains and may harbor bacteria, can chip, crack can be inexpensive or expensive |
||||
| Concrete |
|
great for contoured or custom shapes, can be colored, relatively inexpensive | heavy, stains easily, shows scratches, prone to crumbling, cracking needs regular resealing, will patina |
||||
| Wood: hard maple, red oak ash most common |
|
good cutting surface, can have inlay patterns | requires sealants, although naturally anti-microbial, do not use for raw meat | ||||
| Stainless Steel |
|
easy to clean, can be etched for custom look | can look institutional, can dent and be noisy, expensive | ||||
|
Benefits | Drawbacks | |||||
AZ ROC# 178018