The Modern Countertop
[Davidson Residence, photo by BUILD LLC]
Over the years we’ve experimented with many different types of countertops covering a range of materials, manufacturers and methods. The countertops that we’re using today are, for the most part, the ones that have proven themselves. We’ve rounded up a bunch of past projects and it’s a good time to share what we know and what we like about countertops. Like anything, take it with a grain of salt – this is just what experience has taught us.
[Concord Penthouse, photo by BUILD LLC]
Having a modern philosophy about design and construction filters down the material and method options to a select handful –and this couldn’t be truer as applied to countertops. There are a lot of fashionable, glossy products out there and there’s no lack of the term “green” being thrown around. Our advice is to skip the marketing and focus on a few key characteristics. Here’s our list of attributes for good, modern countertops:
Function: they should work well for decades; the material should have a proven track record of durability. You can always take a sample home from the showroom and spill some wine/ coffee/ baby food on it and see if it stains and how well it cleans (or doesn’t). The proof is in the pudding.
Timelessness: they should look good for decades; they shouldn’t go out of “style”. If racy phrases are used to describe the material’s abundant personality, it’s probably going to look dated in 5 to 10 years. There’s a term for this; perceived obsolescence.
Sustainability: It doesn’t matter how “green” or recycled something claims to be, if it needs to be replaced 5 years after it was installed then there’s nothing sustainable about it.
Weathering: there’s nothing wrong with materials that weather, so long as they weather in such a way that it makes them better/ more interesting/ more valuable over time. We like weathering that tells a story and provides a history and fond memories, not weathering where you are constantly fretting over spills and if your guest is going to leave a red wine ring.
Cost effectiveness: the use and look of the countertop should be proportional to the cost. A countertop that costs $750 and is replaced in 5 years is not as cost effective as a countertop that costs $3,000 and lasts for 30 years
Straight forward installation: since labor costs can often exceed the material costs, the ease of installation is a major contributor to the cost effectiveness.
With that said, here are the products that most consistently achieve these qualities on our projects:
Chroma: Made from 90% crushed natural quartz the product is non porous and impervious to water. While it comes in a ton of colors, our favorites are Oasis, Mesa and Coastal Grey –each with a honed finished for a look and texture similar to poured concrete. For a lighter palette we’re big fans of the Super White and Cascade White.
[Davidson Residence, photo by BUILD LLC]
[Innis Arden Residence, photo by BUILD LLC]
Caesarstone: Also made from 90% crushed natural quartz the product is a great solution to kitchen and bath applications. We’ve taken advantage of Caesarstone’s ambitious line of colors in the past, like the “Tequila Sunrise” used in conjunction with bamboo cabinets in the image below.
[Concord Condominium, photo by BUILD LLC]
Stainless steel with a “non-directional” finish: This may be the most bomb-proof countertop of all –we’ve had these in our own homes for years and they’ve performed incredibly well. There are different philosophies about the weathering of stainless steel countertops; some cooks like to cut directly on the stainless itself –subsequently nicking and scratching the surface for an intentional look. Others stick with a cutting board to keep the stainless steel relatively free of marks. In either situation the orbital finish conceals the smaller day-to-day scratches. Our favorite supplier here in the Pacific Northwest is Metal Masters Northwest Inc., they can build a one piece kitchen countertop with integral stainless steel sink, drain board and backsplash. They even mount it on plywood for easy installation. Ka-pow!
[Park Modern, photos by Chase Jarvis]
Paperstone: it’s been on our radar more and more lately. Although the material requires frequent resealing, it can be re-sanded and refinished to some degree –highly advantageous for that occasional catastrophic red wine stain.
[Photo courtesy of Paperstone]
Laminate: yup, good old fashioned laminate, just like you had in your house growing up except without the funny patterns and colors. We find that the ratio of durability to cost of laminate is hard to beat, and it’s a great application for the laundry room or drop-sort area that is going to receive considerable abuse. There’s a bounty of laminates out there, we like Nevamar.
[Innis Arden Residence, photo by BUILD LLC]
Absolute black granite with a honed finish: this is a favorite stone product of ours. It’s an extremely durable material with just enough texture to differentiate it from the engineered products. We typically contrast it with lighter cabinets like the maple bathroom vanity below.
[Park Modern, photo by Chase Jarvis]
Custom granite: while there is some aversion to custom granite slabs out there (they got a bit overused in the 90s), under the right circumstances it can bring a very handsome look to an interior palette. Granite is a tough stone and a great application for kitchens. The drawbacks are that there are so many different types of granite that the process of sorting through all the granite slabs a stone yard has to offer can be quite time consuming. Given how unique each granite slab is, the selection typically requires a significant amount of time from the homeowner to review and approve. But with a go-getter of a home owner, it can be the centerpiece of a smashing kitchen like the one below.
[Innis Arden Residence, photos by BUILD LLC]
You can decide on an exceptional material and still screw up the detailing, so here are a few specifications notes for a modern install:
Eased edges: with any of the stone or engineered stone products it’s very important to call out an “eased edge” rather than the radius, chamfer or <gulp> bevel that most countertop installers will try and give you. Nothing takes the glimmer off your hot modern project like a big clumsy 45 degree chamfer on that sleek countertop.
Backplashes: we often use the same material for the countertop and the backsplash. The thickest you’ll want to go for the backsplash material is ¾” (3cm). Since the backsplash is often made from the off-cuts of the countertop, this may dictate what thickness of material is used in general. Buying a 1¼” thick slab for the countertop and an additional ¾” slab just for the backsplash pretty much blows the cost-effectiveness of the assembly -it also produces a lot of waste.
Straight edges: with laminates, don’t dry to seam or roll the edge. We like the look of a clean modern edge and we’ll often combine it with an exposed apple-ply or Europly to keep with the utilitarian aesthetic.
Undermount sinks: we recommend using undermount sinks with most of these materials. It keeps the look and function unobtrusive and clean. Overhang the countertop approximately ¼” over the sink –this hides the sealant in the shadow lines.
Honed finish: a honed (or flat) finish just about always looks better than a gloss finish. We typically like to see the material itself, not the reflection -that’s what mirrors are for.
Seams: When breaks in separate countertop panels are required, specify that the breaks occur centered on a sink or an appliance so that the composition is deliberate.
Thickened edges: for a thicker edge condition, most of the engineered materials can accommodate a deeper edge band condition at the perimeter.
[Davidson Residence, photo by BUILD LLC]
There you go, happy counter-topping.
By Bob Borson, May 17, 2011 @ 9:59 am
I love the look and feel of honed black granite – put it in my own house. One thing for people to consider is maintenance. With honed, it shows everything and you can only clean it with soap and water so that you don’t artificially speed up the removal of the sealing agent. Make sure that you strip and reseal your honed counter tops every year with MEK stripper and Anti-Drip sealer.
Great collection assembled here – great work.
By Karl Desjardins, May 17, 2011 @ 11:08 am
Do not forget about GLASS for your countertops ! A very modern and noble material.
Glass is Maintenance free, Non-porous, Most hygienic countertop on the market. It can endure high heat without cracking or scorching and it is impossible to stain.
By mike eliason, May 17, 2011 @ 6:22 pm
phenomenal post, guys (phenomenal work, too!)
3/4″ slab edges look wimpy, thickened edges are the way to go.
and undermount, undermount, undermount… i don’t know why anyone would do anything else, it just looks nasty in comparison.
By Build LLC, May 17, 2011 @ 7:44 pm
@Bob – good point about the maintenance and thanks for providing the product types.
By Build LLC, May 17, 2011 @ 7:46 pm
@Karl -while some of the glass countertops can be a bit too ornate for us, the simple versions have a nice modern aesthetic. Looking forward to using glass at some point for countertops. Thanks for adding to the discussion.
By Build LLC, May 17, 2011 @ 7:47 pm
@Mike -it all depends on the look we’re achieving. The 3/4″ countertops lend to a minimal sleek look and work nicely with our cabinet packages.
By Dartanyon, May 17, 2011 @ 8:47 pm
Gents,
What about concrete? Too expensive? High maintenance? Thoughts?
By Build LLC, May 17, 2011 @ 8:54 pm
@Dartanyon -yep, all of the above. It’s messy to cast in place, expensive to pre-cast, incredibly heavy and it’s high maintenance. While we love the look, it just doesn’t make the cut.
By Bill Bradburd, May 17, 2011 @ 9:36 pm
We did ours in Milestone. We love the ‘organic’ feel of them against the ‘hardness’ of our concrete floors, stainless trim and appliances, and solid panel eurobirch cabinets.
We did the work ourselves. Custom tinted, non standard. About 25 linear feet cost $500 in materials. Done in a week.
http://www.milestonehpc.com/facts.html
It’ll be hard to tell if any kitchen will be “in style” in a generation to someone else. Durability is more important.
By matt, May 18, 2011 @ 9:28 am
Nice post, and all the materials look great! We do something a little different with the same materials:
Typically a CaesarStone or similar competing product, but instead of a thickened edge we float it on the plywood base, with a stainless steel tape at the exposed plywood edge. Gives the counter a clean, modern, lighter look in our opinion, and very easy to do. See our project kitchen pics at http://www.greencityco.com/aguiro for images in the middle of gallery. To each their own (in their home) though; if Bob and others like the thickened edge than I say more power to them!
We also want to try PaperStone, looks like a great product… Haven’t found anyone willing to do it for a reasonable price yet, but we look every time. For the honed granite we treat it just like brass or marble tops and let them patina. Over the years they almost seem to become part of the family, full of character. When people say they are concerned about staining or wear we steer them towards the CaesarStone, polished granite, or similar route.
By Build LLC, May 18, 2011 @ 9:38 am
@Matt – that’s a very sharp project, thanks for getting a link up on the BUILDblog. Cool idea with the stainless -it very much gives is a light, modern look in the images.
By archaalto, May 19, 2011 @ 7:47 am
excellent post gents–those are the exact guidelines i’ve come to use as standards for our countertops.
for those on a modest to mid-range budget, we have done a slight upgrade to the with “color-through” p-lam [nevamar's melcor ii] to give the impression of a solid surface. like you said with the granite–a dark solid color looks pretty sharp with natural wood cabinets, and ditto on all the details [squared edges, no post-forming]. we’ve even done the chemically resistant p-lam usually reserved for chemistry labs in some residential applications for folks that wanted extra durability [solid black is a staple].
By andrei, May 20, 2011 @ 7:53 am
Always appreciate your perspective. Nicely done! We have one more coat of finish to spray on our new kitchen cabinets. While we plan to use quartz on our island, all other cabinets will use wood butcher block for the cabinet bases and tops. I’m always surprised that wood counters aren’t more popular in modern houses. Beautiful, functional and detailed correctly can look super clean. Plus they’re a nice alternative for those of us suffering from GFS (granite fatigue syndrome).
By Paul, May 20, 2011 @ 9:52 am
You failed to mention the one that is the most “timeless” and ages beautifully: Soapstone. I got mine for $67sf installed with integral farmhouse sink.
By Build LLC, May 20, 2011 @ 10:56 am
@Paul -we’ve used soapstone in the past but it tends to scratch a bit too easily. Nice look though.
By stephanie, May 28, 2011 @ 2:50 pm
Those are bamboo cabinets paired with the Tequila Sunrise, not walnut. Fact check on photo 6! Sure would be fun to see how that one is being used now.
By Teri, May 29, 2011 @ 1:26 pm
Do you install your 2cm stone with plywood underlayment or directly on top of cabinets? Do you laminate the edges to cover the plywood? I like the thinner look that you have with your cabinets.
By Build LLC, May 31, 2011 @ 8:21 am
@ Teri -the counter tops are installed directly on top of the cabinet boxes (which are typically Euro-ply). The visible edge is edge-banded for higher end cabinets, it can also be left exposed for more cost-effective, utility type cabinets. I gotta say though, the exposed Euro-ply edge looks pretty dang sharp.
By Build LLC, May 31, 2011 @ 8:25 am
@ Stephanie smack of course. Thanks for the quality control -we’ve made the correction. The studio project still looks beautiful.
By Gaile Guevara, June 2, 2011 @ 11:22 am
Great Article – just wondering what makes you choose between Chroma vesus Caesar Stone?
By Build LLC, June 2, 2011 @ 4:40 pm
@Gaile -we switched to Chroma because it’s more cost-effective and more readily available.
By Soapstone countertops, September 19, 2011 @ 10:28 pm
Saved being a favored, I genuinely like your weblog!
By Countertop Guides, December 20, 2011 @ 11:47 pm
I like the mention of stainless steel (and the scratching drawback) but what about post-consumer metal surfaces like aluminum, copper or tin?
By Build LLC, December 21, 2011 @ 8:05 am
@Countertop Guides – we haven’t used aluminum, copper or tin before in a countertop application.
By Chris, December 23, 2011 @ 6:18 pm
What overhang do you use with the quartz counters, 1/2″ or more? thoughts on if it is okay if the pulls protrude beyond the edge of the countertop?
By Build LLC, December 27, 2011 @ 9:33 am
We use something in the neighborhood of 1-3/8″ to flush out with the Sugatsune pulls. It’s okay if the pulls extend beyond but it’s a more modern, cleaner look if everything flushes out.
By Chris, December 31, 2011 @ 6:33 pm
Build: When you say 1-3/8″ you must mean from the cabinet itself, not the door/drawer fronts, right? 1-3/8″ sounds like a lot if it’s the overhang from the door face, I wouldn’t have guess that from your pics. Please clarify. Thanks.
By Build LLC, January 2, 2012 @ 10:09 am
@Chris -no, the 1-3/8″ is from the door or drawer face to the edge of the countertop. That way the cabinet pull (about 1-3/8″ deep) flushes out with the countertop. This detail can very depending on the pull we’re using; if we’re using Mockett DP3 pull tabs the overhand is only about 3/4″.