Thanks.

Home Depot demands and receives huge discounts from DuPont, Corian's manufacturer, as does McDonalds and Toll Brothers and other major builders. There are even Corian sinks only available to Home Depot customers. There is no possible way for a local fabricator to compete on price. Same thing happens on engineered stone.

I know this because I was awarded McDonalds jobs. I got McDonalds' pricing on material from my distributor. I worked for a fabricator who had Home Depot and Toll Brothers contracts.

The fabricator I worked for formed a corporation with two other fabricators so they could lock up all the Lowe's work because Lowe's wanted to award the entire state of Michigan to one fabricator. Not only do the big boxes have clout with manufacturers, they can boss fabricators about too. We did terrific work; the fabricators the big boxes hire do.

I wouldn't drop in or undermount a stainless steel sink when you could easily have a Karran Edge series sink installed by your fabricator. No clips, no caulk, no reveal, no crud, just stainless integrated into the solid surface:

That's a 540 model.

Avonite and Staron are fine solid surface products.

To clarify, prices of solid surface, quartz, granite, etc. are generally lower at big box stores, and we can trust the fabricators to do quality work? I like to deal with small businesses and tend to avoid HD and Lowe’s, but I also need to stay within my budget. You’ve made me wonder if I should check out the big boxes after all. Thank you for your insight!

@Joseph Corlett, LLC Thanks for the response and pointing toward the Karran sinks. I knew about them for undermounting in laminate. I didn't know they had them for solid surface as well.

I figured some of the cost differential was due to HD's buying power. Someone pointed out to me that these fabricators will often price high for off-the-street walk-ins like me. They don't want to undercut the Kitchen Cabinet places and anger them. After all, I'm a one off and those places are their bread and butter.

There is one place a little further away that designs kitchens, sells cabinets and fabricates all their own countertops - completely vertically integrated. They are a little bit further away but I'll see what they come up with for a price.

I've had laminate my whole life and never had a problem with them. I never have never will put a hot pan on any countertop material. Ditto for cutting.

I'd started out considering a lighter colored quartz with very little pattern, not white but more of an ivory/cream. But the more I've learned about quartz, the more I've concluded it's a pretty fussy countertop material. I mean when Caesarstone puts in writing to expect your countertops to develop a patina in various areas over time, it's time to consider something else. It sure does look pretty though.

Granite's under consideration, but light colored granites are too busy for the look I want. So if granite, it will be a darker, more uniform color. Soapstone's under consideration as well. But my first choice is a lighter colored counter and I can get that with solid surface.

Thanks again for the insights and all your contributions on here.

@missenigma —- I’m also looking at solid surface materials for my kitchen and bath counter. Had looked into Quartz, I was looking fir a pure white but apparently popular colors are considered “higher level ”, thus higher pricing . I Have also received a quote from the Home Depot online calculator and will look into other suppliers.

may I ask if you’ve completed your project and who you’ve gone with?

That is an amazingly low price. I wouldn't start my truck for $1,625.00.

@missenigma— ty for the pic and sharing cost. i Am also going with HD and was able take advantage of their 10% off corian And B series. I just need to decide on glacier white or designer white...the designer white matches an inexpensive subway tile from floor decor Better...now to make a decision on the sink...using integrated sink vs an undermiunt

Here's a nice Kohler 3943 undermounted in Corian.

The Karran 540 is integrated into the solid surface top. No caulk joint, no reveal, no maintenance. You can't get a more sanitary sink.

I've got a small sink base cabinet so per @Joseph Corlett, LLC recommendation, I went the Karran E-420.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC - when they routed the sink edge, they messed up a touch in the left front corner. In addtion to scuffing the stainless, they actually cut into the top edge of the the stainless slightly. I'm curious if you feel this is acceptable. Because it's in the front edge corner, I didn't notice it at first. Here are some pictures. What are your thoughts?

I can't really tell anything from your picture, but scuffing the stainless with a router bit isn't a big deal. They're probably scared to abrade it, but that's what you have to do. I'm sure I could make it disappear; I've done it many times.

Thanks @Joseph Corlett, LLC. It's hard to photograph with all the reflections coming off the stainless. I'm guessing you abrade with a scotch-brite pad. What color do you use? I've got gray, maroon and green. Do you have a special technique for blending or is it just practice and years of experience? I'd like to try to blend it in bit better.

In anticipation of eventually having to "refinish" the countertops sometime down the road, I picked up a random orbital sander. I've practiced using it on the sink cutout scrap they left behind. It's actually kind of fun. I'm interested what pads and sequence you recommend for a DIYer. So far I've only played around with scotch-brite brand pads - the maroon and gray on my scrap sample.

Thanks for any advice you can share.

Put the maroon Scotch Brite on the random orbital sander and roll it around the edge until you just kiss the stainless. Repeat with the gray and it should look great.

In Greenville SC, Home Depot has no fabricators for solid surface. I've asked a couple of times over the past six months and same story. KD who has been at one store here for about 100 years says it's been quite a while since they had someone.