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Hey Gang, I anyone familiar with 1″ thick cast tops that boast 14″ unsupported overhangs,no seam-blocks,mitered corners and no corner blocks anywhere ,one thick slab period. the cost to us fabbers…..135.00 per ft. 25″x 48″ lot of field seams because of weight. More to this story later Thanks David G.
$ 135 per foot? OUCH! Even linear that is heavy….10′ top $1350? Someone must be paying the fabricators a lot more than I get to have anything that even resembles savings with this product.
I’m back from working a home show Sat. and was able to look into the “new guy” with I” casted tops. Lots of raised eyebrows among other kitchen center folks. They are aware of this product locally but time will tell how it performs. Not to be slanderous but the fabricator in question continues to be re-inventing himself again from his last endevor of tile setting, this time with solid surface. I couldn’t get past the “non compete” contract he presented me with nor could my attorney. After the the second time I declined to sign this person informed me that this product would be taking over the competition in my area . We will see I guess.. I was mostly wondering if this type of material is common anywhere else . Was scares me is the warranty. Whgo will fix it? I think he is his own WSA. The stuff is 185.00 a lft. installed plus sink + install of 500.00. All the strength at the glue joint is reliant on the 1″ of surface at the glue face. Give him more rope if he needs it. ( his previous boss’s advice). Thanks David G.
P.S. Hey Andy , How do I get my smilin fish I I I I mean face up there ? Good to put a face with the name. Right Gordon? Cheers, David G.
David G. wrote
P.S. Hey Andy , How do I get my smilin fish I I I I mean face up there ? Good to put a face with the name. Right Gordon? Cheers, David G.
You need to click on “My Setting” and add an “Avatar” to your name.
If this guy can sell @ $185 per foot plus install I need to move my shop next week.
Do you have a link to the product so we can check it out?
Before you box up your dust masks are you prepared to pay 4.50 + tx. for a gal of milk. Don’t even ask about beer. In the intrest of onesty though ,we pay dearly for shipping here. That does affect some cost. Trucks leave here empty and Subarus come to die. I really do hope to learn more about this type of product and I’m trying not to be slanderous even after my last conversation defending my position . The direct threat of competition was entertaining though. David
All, Just learned the correct term for this counter material. Cast Polymer. Looked at some great sites. Whats the diff if any? Why don’t we see more of it around if it’s so great? Who certifies the stuff? David G.
Cast Polymer is a fancy word for Cultured Marble (man made marble), 25 + years ago the Cultured Marble guys started making thier own home brews of Solid Surface. Some still do today, this must be what you are looking at.
KarlC@BTP wrote
Cast Polymer is a fancy word for Cultured Marble (man made marble), 25 + years ago the Cultured Marble guys started making thier own home brews of Solid Surface. Some still do today, this must be what you are looking at.
Not completely true. Cultured Marble is a cast polymer product, so is solid surface, but they are not the same. Resins are different, processing equipment is different, fillers are different, product curing is done differently, etc.
If he is doing things correctly, there is nothing wrong with it. It is chemically identical to everything out there that is not 100% acrylic (Avonite, Dovae, EOS, etc.)
I cannot make any judgement on how he is processing, but the fact that he is making it himself does not preclude it being a quality product.
Matt, sorry I went with the simple explanation, I used to manufactred 1000’s of cast polymer products, Cultured Marble, Onyx, Granite and Solid Surface. You are right each has its own ingredients (we bought resins by the tanker load) and processes. Its just my personal experience from 25+ years of making the stuff and now fixing it (we repair small brands also) that some of the small manufactures do not do the R&D needed to turn out the best products. Again I could be wrong, it would not be the first time. Thanks
Just because you use similar ingredients doesn’t mean the end product is the same. If you have toured any large mfg of SS, you will see the amount of chemistry that goes into each batch. I have been in a number of plants, large and small, and I can tell you there is little similarity between a guy pouring a few sheets to say, Aristects continuous cast plant. Most small mfg air cure their material, while most large companies, if cell cast use autoclaves to evacuate air etc. Every step of the way the raw materials are tested, retested and watched. If any remember, when Corian was first produced it was made with the same filler as cultured marble, which made the product very “muddy”, but there is a relationship between cultured marble and solid surface, cousins I guess. I have seen many local producers of solid surface along the years, most have come into and out of the business. Today, it hardly makes sense to pour your own anymore. When you can get any of 100’s of colors, delivered tomorrow, with a 10 year warranty for little more than it costs to produce your own, why take on that liability? We have a fairly large independant SS company locally, even they admit it costs them more to make it then it would to buy it.. Sure they can offer some unique items, but, overall, it doesn’t make alot of sense to make your own anymore, and the quality can’t compare.
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