I have had Corian for a few years and I have had zero trouble with cracking or chipping. But I do think they can fix it if it does crack or chip. I even have a big piece in my garage in case something does happen to my Corian.

I have some that's been installed for around 15 years. It has a square, modern edge and I've had no chipping. I have a Corian floor and it hasn't chipped or cracked. The surface is no longer shiny but I haven't tried to do anything about it since I don't like a shiny look.

There's some Corian around the same age in a break room at work and it looks like the overhang on a peninsula wasn't properly supported, and this has resulted in a big long crack. No chipping, though.

I think one of the benefits of Corian is that scratches can be sanded out but if the surface is glossy I don't think they can. I know it can scratch easily though maybe they won't show much on white.

If you want glossy have you considered quartz?

I had never heard of Corian chipping or cracking. I suppose it could, but I think it would be hard to do.

We had it in our house growing up and it was a pretty low-maintenance surface.

Quartz is pricier than Corian and it is not super glossy. There is a sheen to it, but it is nowhere near as glossy as say, granite.

I am not a fan of Corian because a) it sounds and feels cheap b) it seems to get scuffed up easily. I would take laminate over Corian. However that's just my opinion! If you are willing to spend a bit more, you can get quartz for ~$10 more per sq ft. Home Depot (in our area at least) is offering some granites for ~$35 per sq ft.

I've never seen glossy Corian. It usually has a soft sheen.

Corian can look icky (had some) but it tends to be perfect for modern clean-lined kitchens, especially in white. I had old Corian and treated it terribly preremodel and you can scratch it (won't show much on white) but not easily. Definitely tougher than many of the stones I sampled.

I do like white Corian in the right place and I love Corian's integrated sinks. If you're the type to only use "green" cleaners and won't use bleach when needed, forget about it. Otherwise it's good stuff.

I poured boiling water into my sink. I stood on my counters to paint and put things away. I let cast iron pots rust in the sink. Always came back to its perfect glorious pink. No stains, no cracks.

Get a sample!

We're looking seriously at corian because it gives us most everything we want.

We wanted a very simple look which the white gives us (and though I'm an avid recycler, I don't have to use only green cleaners). My DH loves a shiny surface but with all the attributes of corian, he's willing to give up the shine (I don't care either way, but wanted to ask it case it was reasonable to care for). I did read something about 12000 grit pads that will reshine it up back to a high sheen but it sounded like a lot of work.

Quartz was a strong contender but we don't like the seams we've seen and at twice the cost just for some shine, it just doesn't seem worth it. The white in quartz comes in around $70/square foot. Besides all this, we LOVE the integrated sink!!!

Though we are very gentle with our countertops, it's nice to hear they can take quite of bit of abuse and still look grea. I was going to try and get a sample and give it some serious abuse but there is nothing like years of usage to shed the light.

We have Silestone, installed a little less than a year ago. I do have to say, the edges chip easily. When we bang a pot down or drop something heavy on the edge, it chips. Now there are many small chips. We've dropped ceramic mugs out of the cabinets and have had some chips on the surface as well. It bothered me at first but I'm over it. I realize this stuff does chip and there is nothing we can do about it, so we can't be bothered with every little chip. I am surprised it chips though, they say it is strang as diamonds. Maybe I should contact Silestone. I don't know.

We have Corian in Rain Cloud, which is a white with streaks of gray with tiny black flecks and very subtle taupe marks. It has cleaned like a dream, we have no scratches and it is not shiny. It has a silky feel to it. It is quieter than stone and seams are virtually invisible to the eye and to the touch. Things won't break against it as easily as tone and it is not cold.
We have only had it for 5 months, and do not baby it, plus have 2 young, never careful, sons.

Dianolo, I saw your rain cloud on an earlier thread which inspired me to check corian out in the first place. You really did your homework and got an incredible price!!!

Hellonasty, sorry to hear about your silestone. It's especially hard when your talking about so many $$$.

I've read that you can get corian fixed professionally but the cost is so prohibitive that it's hardly worth it.

There is so little information on GW or anywhere since solid surfaces have fallen our of favor.

I haave Corian in my bathrooms, not white tho. I love it--easy to wipe down & soft feeling. I have Silestone in the kitchen--just about a year now. No chips or problems, and the 2 seams are almost invisible. Interestingly, I dropped a small glass object on it yesterday--the object didn't break & the Silestone remains perfect.

Have you seen Celticmoon's kitchen? I will be embarrassed if I have the wrong kitchen here, but I think she has some older white Corian which in her before photos is fine but after she redid her cabinets is perfect. Now if someone is willing to redo all her cabinets in place and not yank the Corian...it has to be okay. Or maybe she hated it. I dunno. But it LOOKED good.

I have white corian in my master bathroom, and a grey speckled version called Pepper Ivory in my kitchen. I am happy with both of them. Almost no chipping. Every now and then if I drop something sharp from fairly high up I do make a tiny ding, but that doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I have the satin finish, which does occasionally look "etched" (for lack of a better word). I can polish it out if I try, or more often I just ignore it and it goes away on its own over a few days as I keep normally wiping the counters down.

I know some people have a deep hatred for this stuff...but it has held up well in my house for 5 years or so.

My MIL's Corian has a fairly large crack near the stovetop. I'm not sure what caused it. It isn't really visible due to the business of the pattern, but you can feel it.

$36 sq/ft is a really good price for Corian. I think I have seen other brands a bit cheaper, but I have spoken with a few countertop companies and they said they like brand Corian best of the bunch.

I have three friends that have Corian, all with the matte finish. None have had problems with cracking. One friend has had their countertops for around 10 years and she said they are very easy to keep up. She has a few superficial scratches, but I couldn't find them when I looked. Once she pointed them out, I could only see them in certain light and only if I held my head on a certain angle. She doesn't baby them at all and really likes them.

I have some kind of solid surface - pale gray with white specks - in my bathroom. It wasn't cheap. The sink is molded of the same stuff, and there are small vertical cracks, about 3/4" long, that radiate from around the drain plug. That's only one of the things I hate about that bathroom. There are no chips, however, and I'm pretty sure I've dropped things on it.

I have had Corian for over 18 years and it looks like brand new. Matte finish, the sink is the best, no seams for any crud anywhere. With all that said I wish it would wear out, because I am looking at granite curently just to update. I feel bad taking it out when it is in perfect condition.

I'm very glad to hear all the postive feedback with corian. I'm definately going to get a piece of the satin finish since my DH likes a shinier finish.

With all the postive attributes it's hard to understand why it has fallen out of popularity so much.

I'm going to call corian directly and find out what does cause the drain cracking (something I've read about) and cracks around the stove. Don't know if it's installation, heat, or what that does cause problems on occasion. I do feel good about proceeding with the solid surface. I hope this thread helps others too.

Any sink except metal will crack if the drains are done too tightly--fireclay seems to be especially delicate judging from this forum!

fori - that validates what I've suspected, that the cracks are the result of contractor error. If true, it wasn't the only mistake he made in that bathroom.

Fori-when you wrote about tightening the drain too much, it made such perfect sense. Now, I'll be paranoid when my DH starts tightening it down...too much and it can crack, too little it will leak. I suppose I'd rather it leak though then crack. A leak can be easily and inexpensively be fixed.