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The kitchen countertop is your major work space. |
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You prepare all of your food here. You want it to be easily cleaned and sanitized. It should be colorful and reflect your personality. The selection of your counter should be done carefully and deliberately. It is a major upgrade and expense, so you must do it right the first time.
by BruceContryman
You prepare all of your food here. You want it to be easily cleaned and sanitized. It should be colorful and reflect your personality. The selection of your counter should be done carefully and deliberately. It is a major upgrade and expense, so you must do it right the first time.
There are any choices to make in selecting counters for your home improvement project. Do you want a natural stone, an engineered stone, wood, tile, Solid Surface Acrylic or Laminate?
Natural stones like granite, limestone, and soapstone have a depth and beauty of a polished surface that is hard to match. They do require upkeep of cleaning, sealing and waxing as they are porous and will become discolored if not properly cared for by the user.
An engineered stone usually uses quartz as a filler with a resin, to bind it together. They come in many beautiful colors and blends of rock. They are heat, scratch and discoloration resistant. They are easy to clean to make them sterile and do not require waxing.
Solid Surface Acrylics come in many different colors such as Corian or LG Hi-Macs, they are a fabricated counter. They are durable and easy to clean. You can take a fine sand paper of 400 grit or higher and lightly sand out the stain if the surface becomes discolored. They can be bonded together to make a seamless counter and the sink can be built into it.
Wood counters have a gorgeous look and feel to them such as teak, maple, cherry, walnut or mahogany but they require upkeep and care. You must take care of them as they can be scratched, burned or stained.
Tile counters can be assembled in many different colors, patterns and sizes. They are durable and easy to clean, except for the grout between the tiles that can become stained so they need to be sealed. This grout is hard to keep clean. The tiles can be broken or chipped, so you must be careful with them.
You can build a concrete counter in your kitchen in any shape you want. A form is built to hold the wet concrete until it solidifies. It requires a lot of skilled labor to make a quality counter. The concrete is porous and can stain easily so it must be sealed and waxed.
Laminates are durable such as Formica or Wilsonart and come in many styles and colors. They are stain resistant and easy to take care of and clean, but they can be burnt.
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