Anyone familiar with Corian. How is the joint between a Corian counter top joined to a Corian back splash? Also, can you have the Corian back splash continue up to the bottom of the upper cabinets? About 18″ high. thanks to all who reply.
“Don’t take life too seriously, you are not getting out of it alive”
Replies
I've never worked with Corian, but the guys that installed it into our house used clear silicone caulk for the backsplash connection to the counter top. They were the Corian certified installers, so I assume they knew what they were doing. It's been five years, and the caulk is holding up well, even directly behind the sink, which stays almost constantly wet.
They used some colored epoxy to build up strips of Corian to make the profile at the front of the counter and to join the two slabs of Corian where the counter forms an 'L" shape. Even knowing where that joint is, I have a real hard time finding it.
Hope this helps.
The top is rabbetted and the backsplash drops into the rabbet. Do NOT do full Corian backsplashes unless you are into cracking callbacks. Our Corian guy does do them. They are $100 per inch. Not too many takers.
carpenter in transition
Tim,
That was exactly what I wanted to hear. What do you mean by cracking? and is that $100 per linear inch of backsplash 18" high? "Don't take life too seriously, you are not getting out of it alive"
"Do NOT do full Corian backsplashes unless you are into cracking callbacks. Our Corian guy does do them. They are $100 per inch."
I had a Corian counter with integral 8" backspash installed last year. Do you mean it's likely to crack? If so, why the included ten year warrantee? ie. why would a company warrantee for so long a product or job likely to fail? Also, when I've cut into Corian, it gave off a smell like it had polyester [as the binding resin?] in it. Now polyester does shrink over time. That could explain why it might be susceptible to cracking. How common is this "cracking" problem?
Jon
corian tops are made of acrillic plastic some other solid surfaces use poliester like avonite if your top crack its becaus something is wrong either it wasent installed corectly or youe drop somthing heavy on it solid surface tops are very resiliant to any defects once installed the only tings that will hurt them is extreem heat or cold when tops get cold they get brittle expecialy the poliester tops or if you set a hot pan on them the material expands so fast it cant get out of its own way and cracks cracks are not hard to fix expecialy if your installer gave you a repair peice like i allways do the crack is simply relived and pluged sanded and blended in if done properly you will never be able to find it later
>They are $100 per inch.
Really? Wow. I've seen the counters priced at $100/foot. Surprised a full backsplash would be 12 times that.
I've never seen a solid surface top deck rabbetted to receive the backsplash. I don't believe that is a DuPont approved method of fabrication. We always use clear silicone to adhere the backsplash to the deck......and never glue the back of the backsplash to the wall.
jocobe
Clear silicone caulk is the ticket but you only want a 1/16 inch gap or less. No bead just adhere the backsplash with the caulk to the wall and have the bead at the bottom be minimal.
The corian or "solid surface" material is pretty much the same all over. Wether it is Corian, Terrian, or whomever's material. It machines well with either carbide or HSS router bits. It smooths like wood with the same sanding except you need to get to the wetsand level to have the material look consistant.
Butt Joints and nosing's are done with "super glue" and I mean the real stuff, not that cough syrup you buy at the checkout counter. Real superglue with filler is needed and it needs to be refrigerated in order for it to stay to the right chemistry. Make a tight dry joint butter it up clamp it then machine it after it cures. You don't need this glue for the backsplash. It'll never be square enough or rigid enough to make that joint.
Corian splash is either integral (coved) or sit on full hgt. siliconed to wall with silicone at joint.
Around my area (Ohio) my fab. charges $60.00-$65.00 lin. ft. for full hgt. regardless of distance btw. countertop and bottom of uppers, although usually 16 to 18 inches.
They do approx. 100-130 jobs per month including 9 lowes & 12 home Depots, have never had a cracked bachsplash. As to the material, Corian is an acrylic resin, not a polyester. I think someone else asked that.
I have no idea if i am sending this to the right place,,first time
Edited 4/5/2003 8:30:03 PM ET by joe
Thank you all for replying.
Joe, can a full height back spash, one that runs the full length btw counter top and bottom of upper cabinets be coved? and how is this joint made? thank you"Don't take life too seriously, you are not getting out of it alive"
Gary--With window sill notches and uneven upper cabinets to fit around, not to mention if the top has an integral sink or stainless undermount it is just too difficult to do, so we limit coved splashes to 6''-8''
joe ask your sales rep about new liquid cove kits they can take you places youve never put tops befor it uses a liquid resin compund almost like a patchin compound put your backwall in and your top to it cove kit makes the joint
Corian is an acrylic, like Hi-Macs, Staron, and several others.....Surrell, and others, are poyesters....plus, there are hybrids.cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
Here's my 2 cents... when I do full backsplashes, I leave them an 1/8" shy of the upper cabinets so that there's no pressure on them. Also be sure to sand out all the saw marks from all your edges to eliminate points from which fractures can run. Clear silly in the joint is the way to go, I block my splahes up 1/16", tape off both sides of the joint, strike the excess off flush with the face of the splash, that way there's no unsightly bead, then carefully pull the tape. Another thing to do is install the splash to the wall with dots of silicone, NOT wild and crazy lines everywhere. The silicone can outgas in all directions, you use less, and it's actually stronger. Best of luck with it........BUIC
When I got out of the kitchen installing bussiness almost ten years ago they came out with a new idea at the time. After attaching the backsplash to the counter be it caulking or a seam kit, we took a piece ot corian 1/2 x 1/2 the same color and used a seam kit to attach it and then used a 45 degree router base with a special cove bit in it to blend in the counter and backsplash. It looked great but had to be done right or lots of sanding.
Good luck
Rupert
If I understand you correctly, the 1/2"X1/2" piece is add to the top and backsplash after it is set into place. If this is true, I would not recomment it. You never want any soild surface to go from a thick piece to a feathered out piece because this is where the glue line will show. Especially in a corner that may or maynot be 90degrees and it is very hard to apply pressure to "pull"to that two sided joint tight. I have done many kitchens, but I have not done a full height splash with a cove. Coves just started to get popular when I got out of the solid surface business. We were getting beat up by the large companies that did substandard work. One Home Depot stoe had a display where you could easily see the seem 6 feet away and the tope was not even close to being flat. Big old dishes ground in to the surface where the 2 joints are. Plus the stuff was was just too d#*m heavy.
That method (glueing on a strip in the 90deg intersection of the deck and the splash, then coving it), is standard practice, and accepted as good practice by all the manufacturers I know of. You can do in place, with a handheld router in a special jig, or you can shape the cove on a shaper, and then glue it into a wide rebate, and the splash part gets glued on behind it. Again, accepted prqactice.
All:
loose splashes and a bead of silicone is accepted.
hard seamed, integral splashes, with 4" or tall splashes, are accepted.
They may have a cove at the intersection of deck and splash, as described above.....or the splash may be glued into a rebate (no cove)....or the fabricator may use a v-groove to run one v-groove in the deck, on the top, at the back (for the splash), and one grovve at the front, on the bottom, for the drop edge.....you run a bead of adhesive in the groove, fold the approriate pieces up, or down, and you have nice 90deg joints that require very litle cleanup. Mostof the production fabricators do a lot of their work this way.
If you have CNC equipment, some shops will do a combination at the splash....two v-grooves (but at a different angle), seperated by a strip with a cove shape ....so when you fold it up, you get an integral coved intersection, bigger than can be done with the handheld rounter jig.
If you're lloking for more info on SS, there is stuff on the ISSFA website (fabricators assoc.), and the Solid Surface magasie website.cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
Actually, I the post I replied to in April had a typo in it. I was trying to respond to a 1/2"X1/2" piece of solid surface material applied into the corner of the top/splash and then coved. I have seen this done many times and most of them came out very poorly with glue lines exposed. The trick is to get the seam "inconspicous" just as you would a normal seam in a counter top. I have been out of the solid surface picture for a while and I didn't realize that there were "liquid kits" now available for doing coving. I have used them for inlays and some patching of damaged tops, but not for coving...
corian back walls are not as comon and most installers are scared of them youdo not have to worry about them cracking if they are installed corectly use the thinnest peiceavailable 14" prefered adhere it to the wall with silicone so it extends below the top of your countertop then scribe your top to it for a regular but seam i like to use axiom translusent silicone hard to find but works good for a coved backwall its easier to use a liquid coving system hope thi helps good luck
Here is my situation. These splashes are for granite tops. The wavy one is from 1/2" Corian, and the other is from 3/4" Corian, both thicknesses available in the white color I want (Glacier White, price group 1). I plan to silicone them to the painted wallboard, and tool a nice white bead of white silicone where splash meet stone. My problem is with the cost. I need two sets of the wavy edge model, and one of the other with the little shelf and finger routs. I am being quoted almost $900 for the job, furnish only.