11770 Corian and kitchens

Does anyone know of a Corian fabricator (sinks and worktops etc.) in central Italy/Umbria? Alternatively, are the Ikea acrylic sink and worktop units actually Corian by any other name? I seem to remember that in England Ikea won't fabricate this kind of sink/worktop for you unless they are also installing the rest of the kitchen - or perhaps that was just for the "stone" worktops. Anyway, I can't seem to work it out from the current website!

Category
Building/Renovation

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 12:48

Check out [url=http://www.corian.it]Corian® Italia[/url]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 14:07

aAlthough Corian is a pretty wonderful substance, I don't really understand why you would want to use it in preference to a natural stone (here in Italy, where the Corian will cost probably at least 2x as much, and look like Corian). Scrap my comment if you are furnishing a hotel or an airport public bathroom - but unless the surface has got to be completely bombroof in the face of destructive eejits, or alternatively if you need the mouldable features of the material, I would think carefully about this choice. Probably Corian (sheet, unlikely moulded) is sold by a local marmista - you could ask!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 14:33

Yes, lots of Corian, I'm not so keen on, but the pure white version, that doesn't try to be anything other than itself, is very good indeed, in terms of both form and function. It has sculptural qualities (ooerrh!) it still looks good ten years on, back in our former place in England and most importantly it can be seamlessly integrated to sinks (Mrs Lupo insists on this) and can be cut out for hobs taps etc. Can you tell us more about Italian stone worktops/sinks at half the price - similar qualities? We know nothing about them!
PS read previous post again and realize you probably just meant work-tops and not sinks e.g. granite etc

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 14:47

Clearly (mentioning the seamless integration) you are persuaded by the 'mouldablity' of Corian, and there is no (affordable) way that this can be reproduced in natural stone. But the per sq m cost of a 'worktop' in granite (pretty bombproof) or Cararra marble (much less bombproof but arguably more beautiful if you like the aesthetic of Corian) is going to be one half of a worktop in Corian.
I don't really want to put you off Corian, and if you are immovable on the 'seamless' aesthetic then I'm not going to persuade you. However, by carefully designing (let us say) a kitchen sink or bathroom basin installation, it is possible to achieve a 100% as hygenic and 99% as easy to clean solution using natural stone, at about 50% of the cost compared with using Corian!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 16:19

For our Sicilian friends, I found this (a firm in Ragusa which does Corian projects 'su misura'). Also this pdf might be interesting to others, because it is about the best 'review' of Corian and its possibilities and versatilities that I have read (it's in Italian). I've learnt a bit about Corian tonight (thanks, lupo!) and it appears to be a material workable using 'woodworking' machinery, rather than 'marmista' machinery (I hadn't appreciated that feature of the product - it brings it almost into the diy field).

[url]http://www.ragusafalegnameriasrl.com/immagini/corian_catalogo_completo.pdf[/url]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 16:33

Yes, almost but not quite DIY. Our delightful English fabricators left us to cut holes etc according to our requirements, easy... but they have yet to tell us the critical bit: how on earth they make those invisible joins that make the material almost infinitely adaptable. Instead, I think they are waiting for us to set them up with some commissions in Italy!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 17:03

Ah, your question is about the 'thermoformability'! (Basically, I'd buy myself a bit of the raw material and sock it with a blowtorch - suck it and see is always my motto). Reading the pdf carefully was a real eye-opener - I had assumed that the 'integrated' basins were thermoformed with sophisticated large dedicated machines - seems not to be the case: it is simply that the 'joints' can be rendered 'invisible' with a bit of heat.

Good luck! (The only place which springs to mind for the 'raw material' in the Perugia area is "Mericat": I sense that you would enjoy this wonderful emporium if you haven't already been introduced - it's on the road which runs between the Perugina Nestle factory and Obi). Go round the back, not into the front shop.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 09:27

Maybe it's the Aberdonian ancestry, but I'm a granite fan myself. Last 2 houses in the UK we have put in dark granite worktops (including round the sinks) which were as pristine as new after 7 years and 10 years (and counting).

No matter what we put on them from red hot pans, spilt curries, etc, or whatever we dropped on them, never a mark.

Whenever considering materials proposed by my wife, my question is: 'will it still look good after 20 years?'

Doesn't solve the mouldability point unless you get a funereal mason...