Anybody out there have any experience or preferences for kitchen and bath counter tops? Anybody heard of Mystera? How does it stack up against granite, quartz, Silestone, etc. And whats the best material for a shower pan? Thanks for any advice.
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According to their website Mystera is a Solid Surface product and thus more like Corian than Silestone.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
We just had Silestone installed about a year ago - love it. Same (relative) price as granite but no maintenance required.
The only place I have seen it is in a closet display. Very unique looking stuff. I happen to be waiting for samples to arrive. As stated, it is a solid surface material ala Corian.
Mystera is not exactly like Corian in that I believe Mystera is a polyester product and Corian is an acrylic product.
Mystera was one of the first to introduce the "swirl" type colors and the "wood" look colors. Corian and the others followed their lead on that.
It is soft so it does scratch and it can be resurfaced but it is time consuming to do, depending on the deepness of the scratch. All of the other good stuff that most of the soft solid surfaces are known for too: mold, bacteria, and stain resistant, class 1 fire rating, non-porous, and 10 year warranty (though Corian now has a 10 year installed warranty which means that as long as it was installed by a certified installer-which you have to be anyway-Dupont will pay not only for the material but the labor as well to replace it).
All of your "hard" solid surfaces (Caesarstone, Silestone, etc.) are the same. The only difference is in the colors and amount of sand compared to chunk quartz. All are very hard and almost impossible to scratch or chip. One company in the world owns the patents and trademarks for the recipe and the machinery to make engineered quartz surfaces and everyone else buys the rights to make it from them. If "Made in the USA" is important then go for Cambria-they have the only manufacturing plant in the states.
My preference is for the natural stones. You can't beat the combination of looks and durability.
But you have to decide which is best for you or your client, based on how it is to be used, aesthetics, and of course budget.
For shower pans, if we don't lay a custom tile base then I prefer one of the solid surface materials. They last forever and are easy to clean.
sully
Choosing countertop material seems to be something that is driven by emotion and looks, more than practicality. I think that there will never be a 'perfect' material, one that suits every need.
For the small kitchen, where the same counter serves all functions, it's pretty hard to improve upon Formica - as long as you also have a collection of special boards for cutting, hot pots, and rolling dough.
For these (currently fashionable) monster kitchens, where the counters are measured in acres (rather than square feet) ... I suspect that a variety of top materials is optimal.
For bartops, and places where food is served, cork does well. It's main 'plus' is that it has some 'give;' it's a bit harder to break a glass when you knock it over. Wood and Formica do well here as well.
For food prep areas, Corian rules. It's soft enough so as to not immediately ruin the edge of a knife that touches it - though a cutting board is still a wise thing to use. It stands up well to the acids in food, and will survive the most misguided cleaning efforts.
Near sinks, again, it's hard to beat Corian. Absolutely waterproof, the seamless sink is easy to clean ... and QUIET. Drop a dish in the sink, and the sound won't echo through the house. A distant second choice here is a metal counter, with the sink formed into the metal (Absolutely waterproof, but tends to be noisy, and shows scratches).
It's near stoves that stone and concrete really shine. You're not about to damage them, no matter how hot the pot. Nor will they be damaged by hot water spills. IMO, quartz and concrete are preferable to marble.
If you're into rolling dough, then only marble will do. For some silly reason, dough does not want to stick to marble. A distant second choice here is wood.
As for the epoxy / stone materials, I would treat them as solid stone .... with one exception. ANY epoxy will degrade in sunlight; I would not use them outdoors, or where they receive a lot of sun.
Now ... as to shower pans .....
IMO, the 'best' pan is NO pan. Instead, let the entire floor drain into the shower. The best flooring for this use is an epoxy-based terazzo. Chemical proof, mold proof, and the stones give plenty of traction to bare feet. A second choice would be dyed, sanded, and sealed concrete (but you'll need traction strips).
We've used Mysteria as wall caps, bench seats in showers, and recessed areas in showers in bathrooms.
Never seen or used it as a kitchen c-top.
I don't like products like Mysteria or Corian for kitchens because they can be damaged easily and while they can be repaired, at least Corian not sure about Mysteria, for the money you can find something more durable then plastic resin.
I wasn't aware Mysteria made shower pans? We use either ONYX marble or mudset tile shower pans, depends on your budget, on the cheap is fiberglass but I hate them.
Silestone is about 95% Quartz and the rest is resin, filler, and colorants. Other similiar products are Cambria Quartz & Zodiac by du Pont. These products do not require sealing as granite does. Though you can get some granites with an epoxy coating that do not require sealing of the surface, around me they have yet to seal the edges.
I'm guessing by your question about shower pans, these c-tops are going in your bathroom? What type of sinks would you like, what is the relative value of the house, what use will the bathroom see?
Where do you get the Mystera from?The closes place that I saw that has it is in IA..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Krings Interiors here in Lawrence can get it.
I've never seen it used as a countertop though, only accents like wall caps, shower bench seats, ledges in shower insets etc.