In this video, Tami gets to see how her countertop is made by the pros at The L.E. Smith Company in Bryan, Ohio.

Most dirt & Residue  - Use soapy water, ammonia-based cleaner (not window cleaner), rinse and wipe completely dry.
 
Preventing hard water marks – Rinse and wipe completely dry after cleaning; clean up spills before they dry. 

Removing hard water marks – Use a cleanser formulated for removing hard water marks such as CLR or Lime-A-Way. 

Difficult residue – Spray residue with Deep Cleaner for DuPont Corian® from Stone Care International.  Follow instructions on the bottle.  Wash area with soapy water, rinse and wife completely dry.   

Disinfecting – Occasionally, wipe surface with diluted household bleach (1 part water/1 part bleach).  Rinse top thoroughly with water and wipe completely dry. 

Solid Surface Sinks and Lavatories:

Cleaning -  Follow procedures above or use Soft Scrub® and a green Scotch-Brite® pad to remove residue. Rub green Scotch-Brite® pad over entire sink to blend in finish. NOTE: Do Not use Scotch-Brite® on the countertop surface.

Disinfecting - Fill your sink 1/4 full with diluted household bleach (1 part water/1 part bleach). Be sure to get some of the solution into the overflow opening to disinfect. Let the solution stay in the sink for 15 minutes; then wash sides and bottom as solution drains. Rinse out the sink with water.

Avoid getting the bleach solution in your eyes or bare skin. Always follow the bleach manufacturer's safety instructions when working with bleach.

To enhance the gloss level on semi-gloss and high-gloss finishes, use a countertop polish such as Countertop Magic®, Hope's Countertop Polish® or Enhance Countertop Polish®.

Scotch Brite® is a registered trademark of 3M Company
Soft Scrub® is a registered trademark of The Dial Corporation
Countertop Magic® is a registered trademark of The Hope Co.
Enhance Countertop Polish® is a registered of Eastern Marble Co.

With proper care, your Corian® countertop can stay looking like new. Your DuPont™ Corian® carries a Limited Residential Warranty. For complete details, see warranty literature.

Learn more information from DuPont for regular care and maintenance of DuPont Corian® solid surface.

By Marci Hummel

Coming soon to viewers everywhere: Tami Roushia and her new kitchen.

The Bryan resident will soon be featured on “(Up)Date Night,” a kitchen makeover video on the Facebook page of countertop-maker Wilsonart International.

The video also features the L. E. Smith Company, which fabricates Wilsonart countertops, and the Bryan Building Center, local retail outlet for the countertops.

Andrea Bredow, a spokesperson for Wilsonart, said this is Wilsonart’s third video for “(Up)Date Night.”  The others were shot in Minnesota and California.  She said the company’s goal was to create a three-series video and that included a fabricator such as L. E. Smith.

“Tami is our third series on the “(Up)Date Night” video,” she said.

Bredow said “(Up)Date Night” was created in 2010 to tell the story of families who are in the process of remodeling their kitchens and how the families interact with their kitchen.  She said Wilsonart stresses that families can be involved with personalizing their kitchen design and that the makeover can be accomplished with minimal disruption.

To view the videos already posted, go to www.leanremodeler.com.  Bredow said the Roushia videos should be released by the end of October.

She said the Roushia family fit the company’s profile of personalization.  “one of them is that Tami had just moved into this home, and her kitchen was acceptable … but Tami really wanted to take this time and personalize it.  She wanted to make her house her home, and so that is the story we’re trelling through Tami’s transformation of her kitchen.”

Although the new countertop and undermount sink were provided by Wilsonart, Roushia took care of other kitchen updates.

Bredow said leanremodeler.com is a great way to get kitchen remodeling ideas.

“A lot of people want to remodel, and remodeling with this economy, you know, is something people are taking more time to think about.  And we just want to (the public) know there are options that will make big changes on a very cost-effective budget and not disrupt your family life.  You can get a countertop in and out in one day.”

Craig Francisco, chief operations officer for L. E. Smith, said the Bryan company is one of Wilsonart’s top clients.  “And (during) their last visit with their senior managers, they asked if we would want to help partake in brining [“(Up)Date Night”] to Bryan, and we said we’d be honored.”

He said the idea is to feature someone with children who has a busy lifestyle and is looking to improve his or her kitchen.  “We were able to find that person (Roushia has two teenage children) … They spoke with her as well, and it looked like it was going to be a perfect fit.”

He said Wilsonart provided the material, and L. E. Smith provided the fabrication and installation of the countertop and sink.  Rich Roehl, a kitchen designer with Bryan Building Center, helped Roushia with countertop selection.

Francisco said Roushia chose one of Wilsonart’s high definition laminate countertops that mirrors granite but is less expensive and does not require the maintenance of granite.

“We’re really honored to be part of something that’s so neat,” Francisco said.  “They’re from Temple, Texas – that’s a long way away from Bryan, and it’s neat we’re the first area they’ve come to to help a family here in the Midwest.”

mhummel@bryantimes.com

So, we also know that it cools slowly and when it does cool, it actually forms crystals from four key minerals; quartz, feldspar, mica and usually hornblende.  And, the composition can vary by location.  That means that in some areas of the world, other less common components can give granite a wide variation of look and color.

Colors Produced by the Main Minerals Found in Granite:

Quartz – Colors can be yellow, milky white, rose, brown to black, blue and is very well known for its purple amethyst. That certainly spans cool-to-warm on the color wheel!

Feldspar – This is one of the most abundant minerals in rocks found near the earth’s surface.  Feldspar will offer colors like; glassy white, blue, green, pink or red crystals.  Feldspars exposed to the weather end up offering potters excellent clay to mold with.

Hornblende – This wonderful mineral contains magnesium, iron, silica and aluminum.  Common colors of hornblende are black, brown and green.   

Mica – Mica minerals can be clear, black, green, red, yellow, brown, purple or other colors too. 

The combination of the colors from these minerals means that granite is unique from piece to piece. 

Granite is quarried all over the world.  A quarry is a pit or area of excavation.  Granite is stripped from the earth either by digging, cutting or blasting processes.  After the rock is quarried and shipped (on barges when mined from other countries), it is typically put through a 4-phase process: dressing, cutting/sawing, surface grinding and polishing and finally edge-cutting-trimming before becoming a countertop. 

The quality of granite comes with a high price and it also requires regular maintenance (sealing).

Quartz is crystallized silicon dioxide and it’s typically white or transparent.  It can be found in other colors if it comes in contact with impurities during its formation.  Quartz is EXTREMELY hard, with unusual depth, clarity and radiance.  The stone is mined, ground up and blended with acrylic.  Sounds pretty eh?  It is!

This radiance is diamond-like and it makes a favorite choice for countertops.  There are several manufacturers of quartz/engineered stone for surfaces: Zodiaq, Cambria, Caeserstone and Silestone.

Butcher block is nearly maintenance free. It can be cleaned with mild soap and water.  Our partner, Michigan Maple  teaches that with their Wood Welded product, a staining agent like a dark wine can easily be removed from the surface with a bleach solution or finger nail polish remover without damage to the factory finish.  Stain remedies may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer – so you should ask specific questions when considering wood integration into your kitchen.  These stain solvers can harm other surfaces (like laminate).  So, work carefully on that process.
 
You may have your heart set on a kitchen counter made of granite, solid surface, concrete or a high definition laminate product.  Consider incorporating a section of butcher block in your design.  It’s a fantastic way to add utilitarian spice to your already-beautiful vision.   

More Info on Wood Welded Butcher Block