Solid surface countertops are upscale, elegant and easy to live with. The benefits of having them are numerous as well.
Solid surface countertops such as Corian, Avonite, Formica Solid Surface, Wilsonart Gibraltar and others can last well past the life of the 10 year warranty period. Here are a few simple tips to keep your countertops looking good and lasting for years.
- If you are cutting meat or produce or anything, you should always use a cutting board. Most of the time the countertop fabricator will make you a couple of cutting boards out of your sink or cooktop cutout material. If not, you can purchase a cutting board almost anyplace that has kitchen items.
- Put some felt on the bottom of any ceramic or other items that have rough bottoms. Usually these are items like sugar, coffee, tea conatiners or almost any ceramic decorative pieces. Even some plates have very rough bottoms.
- If you do eat at your countertop, like at the upper bar or penisula, it is a good idea to use placemats under your plates. This will help it to scratch less and is more practical than felt for the plate bottoms.
- Keep the hot stuff off of the countertops. No crock pots, no pots directly off of the stove, no plug in griddles directly on the countertop. This one is probably the most important tip. Always put hot pots on heat trivettes or cutting boards.
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Don't climb on your countertops to change light bulbs or get stuff from on top of the cabinets. It can cause them to crack. Use a stepping stool or a small step ladder.
All of these rules apply to granite, marble, and quartz countertops as well. While these materials are more scratch resistant, they are just as prone to cracking issues as the solid surface countertops are.
Another great benefit of solid surface countertops is the repairability, and the fact that you can alter it should it ever become necessary. By alter it, I mean you can decrease the size of cutouts for new cooktops or sinks. This means you will never be in the position of having to buy new countertops just to accomodate new appliances. Your existing tops can be made to work with whatever you are trying to do.
