Installing corian countertops diy

What we did do, was some research. In our google search for finding prices for Corian, we came upon the site solidsurface. By the way, I am not working in conjunction with solidsurface.

Just sharing a wonderful discovery! They told him not to do it. They told him, he would regret it. They told him, they would not come and fix his mistakes. He did some Youtube-ing, and some serious thinking and reading, and ordered all the supplies we needed. No professionals required. We are so thrilled with the results, we wanted to share our experience and give others tips and advice if this is something they would like to consider doing themselves. If you are familiar with woodworking, it will seem even more approachable.

I am not providing a step-by-step tutorial per say, but my husband and I will discuss the 4 things we did throughout our process. These include:. After reading through this you should be able to get an idea for what is included and if this is a good project for you or if better left to the professionals — which is totally okay if you can afford it!

I snapped pictures as my husband would tolerate and I will insert them and explain the process throughout. First and possibly the last. However, I am glad I can write about our experience and I hope it will be of help to some of you. First thing you need to understand when looking at purchasing solid surface material is that there are many brands to choose from.

Corian is the most common term used for solid surface countertops, but it is actually just one of the brands. The website has several different colors and designs, each with their own sizes and thicknesses. Once we decided white was our color I looked at the different brands and shades yes, white apparently has shades.

THIS is the one we chose based on the best price and availability. I ended up with a size and thickness that would just barely match what we needed with very little room for error. Along with the corian itself I had to buy several accessories to finish off the project. Here are the materials we bought from solidsurface. I also went to a local hardware store and bought some interior Liquid Nails caulk to adhere the corian to the existing countertops. Just a quick note, solidsurface.

Now that we had everything we needed I was ready to start. After a deep breath and a mental pep talk I started to measure and cut the pieces. Thanks to my previous drawing I had an exact plan of the cuts that needed to be made and which sheet they needed to be cut out of.

Using the straight edge and the router I cut out the pieces and started to dry fit them in place. A word of caution, routers tend to want to travel and can really push on a straight edge and make a nice curved cut instead of a straight one.

I found that out the hard way. After all the flat surfaces and edges were cut, I started to glue the pieces together. Another hard lesson learned, luckily in a fairly inconspicuous spot. Remember you will need ALOT of clamps to make the seam look right and some denatured alcohol to clean any dirt off the conjoining pieces or it will leave a dust line.

Once everything is glued together the real messy part begins. Corian is extremely sandable just made that word up I think and can be shaped to desired corner radii and to remove scratches. The sheets we received had a glossy finish and look like they had been run over by a herd of elephants with all the scratches in the surface.

Cami wanted a softer finish so I re-sanded the entire surface to a matte finish that really turned out good and took out the scratches. The best thing about Corian is it can always be refinished to whatever sheen you want as long as you can tolerate the mess. I did put a respirator on and it helped to keep the dust out of my lungs, another lesson learned.

Blowing my nose was quite a shock afterwards. If I ever have the opportunity to try this again I would definitely work harder on getting the pieces to line up better along the seams. The pieces must be as close to exact as possible. I would also not do the sanding in my garage, I still have dust that coats most things in the garage. Now I can honestly say that with a little patience and forethought it is a project that can be tackled by anyone with attention to detail and some knowledge of the tools mentioned.

That was great! Big thanks to Mr. I would like to discuss real quick, about how the Corian tops are holding up.

The only issue we have had is staining — but it is an issue we have worked with. I first began to notice weird things would not wipe off, like maple syrup or soy sauce. I was getting nervous, but tried to dab some bleach on a rag and wipe it off, and all the stains disappeared. The only thing I have not been able to bleach off is crayon marks. However, what is great about Corian is you can easily sand a small layer off and the stain is gone.

These tops are not indestructible, and perhaps a little high maintenance with kids — but they are repairable which is good news. We are also under the impression that had we choose a finish with a higher sheen than matte, the staining would not be such an issue. But I do love the matte finish very much. You may have noticed we did not do solid surface tops on every surface in our kitchen. I wanted a butcher block section, so Mr. If you missed our full kitchen reveal, be sure to head over HERE for all the details and a complete tour around the most used space in our home.

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Properly, that is it-my friends. I hope you got some inspiration and enjoyed it! I am able to assure you that every single detail in our install corian countertops yourself was made with a lot of love and exhilaration. In addition, it is heat resistant and less likely to chip than harder materials. From a machinability standpoint, solid-surface material is like very hard medium-density fiberboard, or MDF. Tooling it is a slower process, but with care you can get very smooth results on the first pass.

It can also be sanded easily and buffed to a high gloss. A router and a trim saw can handle most of the cuts you'll need to make to install the countertop. Carbide-tip bits and blades are required. Although cutting, profiling and drilling solid-surface material isn't difficult, it is very messy. Whenever possible, do the work outdoors, and use dust extraction to manage the resinous shavings which will cling to almost any surface. Wearing a particle mask is recommended. The maximum length of each section is 10 or 12 ft.

At the seams, an underseam support strip is grafted onto one end of each mating pair of sections. When the joint is made, one section rests on the ledge attached to the other section, forming a sturdy seam that's flush along the top. If your countertops will have open, exposed ends other than at an opening for a freestanding range , you can fill in the area beneath the countertop surface at the ends with strips of solid-surface material.

For any successful project, a logical work sequence is critical. On countertop projects, begin with the cabinets, removing the old countertop material and inspecting the base cabinets to make sure they are sturdy and flat across the tops.

If not, adjust and shim the cabinets until they are flat and preferably level. Well-constructed, properly installed cabinets should bear the weight of a solid-surface countertop. But because the material will flex slightly, you may want to attach additional support cleats to the cabinet tops, particularly in areas where the countertop will be unsupported — above a dishwasher opening, for example. If you're installing an undermount sink a great option with solid-surface countertops fasten support cleats for the sink across the tops of the sink-base cabinet make sure all cabinets are sturdy, aligned and flat across the top.

The plywood should be sized so the front edge of the countertop fits neatly over the edge of the plywood. The bottom face of the plywood should be flush with the bottom of the countertop edging. For added reinforcement, attach corbels to the cabinet frames. Each sheet of solid-surface material should be fitted, cut to length and scribed if necessary before you continue with the adjoining sheet.

Start the installation project with a section containing a seam support strip on one end. Lay the first sheet of solid-surface material in position and fit it against the wall, scribing inset in photo and contouring the back edge with a belt sander if necessary.

Mark a cutting line on one end for trimming. Note: Drawing the lines on masking tape makes for more accurate cutting. Make cutouts for the sink and cooktop after cutting the section to length and scribing the back edge. Clamp the sink cutout template supplied with the kit to the countertop section so the template is aligned with the centerline of the sink location.

Cut through the material along the template lines with a router and straight bit.