Hi, I am about to renovate our kitchen. In doing so , I will have new appiances. presently, I have white corian countertops and a black granite island. All decorators tell me I need to "update" the countertops, but I really love the corian. My first priority is durability (I do not want any maintenance). If I replace the corian it will be with Alabama marble. Can you offer an opinion on corian versus marble for countertops. Thanks.

 

Dear Hutchie:

Are you asking me to compare a piece of plastic with marble??... Talk about comparing apple with apple!! J

Look, I don't want to go into a dissertation about the virtues of one material over another one, but if you're looking for easy-maintenance as your main issue, and you treat stone as a commodity at the same level of a piece of plastic, then my advice for you is to stick to plastic. You have to love stone to get it.

That said, polished marble is a huge no-no in a kitchen. Honed could be a good choice, but…

The stone itself has nothing to do with it. It's rather a collective culture issue.

All throughout the Mediterranean basin marble is a very popular stone as a kitchen countertop and everybody enjoys it. (Limestone is not so popular, but certain types of limestone could be acceptable in relation of what follows.) In Northern Europe and all throughout North America , many like the way it looks, but nobody enjoys it!

How's that?

For the simple reason that In Southern Europe they never install a polished marble countertop (or a polished marble floor, for that matter). They start from a hone-finished surface and then they start using and abusing it and only care for it with a good-quality stone cleaner (like MB-5). The “worse” it gets, the better they like it! It's considered “aging.” It's like a pair of old blue jeans, if you know what I mean: a highly sought “lived-in” look.

While the looks of an old pair of jeans is very much appreciated in Northern Europe or in North America , too, the same principle does not seem to apply to stone. Most people over here expect their stone to look like brand-new all the time, and any “change” is not considered “aging”, but a damage that needs to be rectified.

Hence the problem.

The question now is: regardless of your geographical location, which one of the two groups do you belong to? J

May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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