corian counter tops

has anyone had problems with their corian counter tops? we purchased a new 3670rl in november and have been gearing up to live in it full time starting april. took some stuff out to it today, after been away for a month, and found cracks in almost all our corian counter tops.

Does your unit have "Corian" with the little logo imbedded in it or is it the new stuff Hearland has gone to? Our new 3055 has the new stuff that looks like Corian, but it does scratch very easy. We do not have any problems with cracks yet.

Fireflipper

I have the Corian countertops and have had no problems in two years with cracking. I think the new material is probably a sort of composite. In cold weather, as in storing for the winter with no heat, I have heard of them cracking. Contact the factory I would hope this would be coverd under the warranty.

cramor,
You will get Factory feedback if you move your post to "Ask the Factory"

Good luck,

Mark

noble rv called and said that heartland is replacing all three cracked counter tops in our unit so we are happy about that. just take up to 4 weeks to get replacements

Seams Chemically Welded?

I checked our trailer a couple weeks ago, and noticed a seam in front of the sink. It looks as though it is where two sections meet. They are Corian counters, and I am wondering if they should have been chemically welded, it is hard to believe there should be a visible seam.

our Corian cracked at the where the counter meets for the L shape. It was repaired and I cannot see where it was done.

Corian and other solid surface materials are epoxied together with a color-matched adhesive. It is extremely strong and if done properly joints aren't visible. Edges that are joined together cannot be sawn, only routed. I have made a lot of tops over the years (factory trained) and my joints are almost impossible to spot. Any cracking in corners is almost always stress related, and I think some of the inside corners have too small a radius. The larger round it is the better. Same principle as aircraft windows-no square corners there either. Cracks in other locations are usually caused by extreme temperature differences very close together-such as putting a hot pot on it. It tries to expand when heated but can't because the area around it is cool or cold, so it snaps. Usually quite loud too. I have never had a problem with it breaking just because it was cold though. Torquing or slightly twisting it while extremely cold might cause it to break, and since these fifth wheels do twist somewhat that is a possibility. I have a lot in my shop so I may put a piece outside if we have some very cold weather come this way, but I doubt just cold would effect it.

I got caught up in the Corian counters when we purchased our Bighorn. To tell you the truth I think they are kind of a PITA. Renee spends a lot of time shinning them and eye balling them to look for smudges, sometimes it drives me crazy! They are very cold when the temp is low and I think could be a contributing factor in warming up the RV. I still like the looks of good ole formica with a wood trim, but I still brag that I have REAL CORIAN counters.

The only real problem with laminate is keeping the joints and edges sealed from water. That is especially true with a kitchen that moves down a highway, definitely some flexing. As for soild surface being cold it is somewhat, but granite is cold longer. The higher the gloss level the harder it is to maintain. A matte finish is best, final sanding with 60 micron paper (a special paper just for solid surface). If sanded with 30 or 15 micron it is a lot shinier but requires more work. I believe the Heartland tops are about 30 m. I haven't had a problem with mine though.

ct0218 said:

The only real problem with laminate is keeping the joints and edges sealed from water. That is especially true with a kitchen that moves down a highway, definitely some flexing. As for soild surface being cold it is somewhat, but granite is cold longer. The higher the gloss level the harder it is to maintain. A matte finish is best, final sanding with 60 micron paper (a special paper just for solid surface). If sanded with 30 or 15 micron it is a lot shinier but requires more work. I believe the Heartland tops are about 30 m. I haven't had a problem with mine though.

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CT218, I haven't looked yet but is the 30 or 60 micron paper available in building centers? I have a dull area right in front of the sink in our 3400. I would like to clean it up a bit. I assume a sanding block of some sort is needed also? Thanks

Ray
This is turning into Corian 101, but the top manufacturer should have had some instructions and Scotch-Brite pads included in the fifth wheel owners packet. No, the micron rated paper is a specialty item that should be available from anyplace that fabricates solid surface tops (3M Imperial #366L-100 micron down to 50 micron;3M Trizact #735U-35 micron down to 00 micron). Depending on the fabricator, sometimes they consider down to 35 micron a matte finish (wet sanded). It would be difficult to do w/o a random orbit sander unless it is a small area. I have even had to go down to 10m dry or wet sanded - can't remember now - to match a scratch repair in a "matte" gloss level. Home centers, etc, carry only the common items. The special abrasive paper is used primarily for ss material so it would only be found at the same places that sell the material, and you can't buy the ss material unless you are a certified fabricator. If you can't find it let me know and I'll send you a disc(s). Do not use any other type of abrasive disc on it or it will scratch it. These papers have only 1 size of abrasive embedded, unlike other types that have averaged sizes. If its just a little dull then a 3M Scotch-Brite abrasive pad is all that is needed (3M# 7447 --maroon/360-400 grit, considered matte; or #7448--gray/800-1000 grit, considered semi-gloss). A lot of tops are produced with a semi-gloss finish, which is down to 5m, wet only. It is a little complicated, and materials are expensive ($2-3 per disc, and a typical rv kitchen may use 20-30 discs), so try the Scotch-Brite pads first. Remember, it is easier to dull a finish down if you get it to glossy than to go the opposite way. Let me know if I can help. Discs are color coded for the fabricators: 50-100 micron is a gray disc, 35m is green, 10m is blue, 05m is orange.

Clark,

My head is spinning like an orbital sander from reading your post. Thanks for the great info. I am sure many here know what it all means.

Good stuff people - thanks.

Jim

noble rv adzise us that new counter top will be in next week so we are very happy for the rapid response

happy campers

just got all four counter tops replaced. had to do all of them as there was a change in the edge style. cant say enough about having an upstanding dealer,noble rv fixed all of the discrepancies in our unit and had us on the road in two days.None

Wow! Thanks Clark. After reading all that and looking at our minor dull spot, I can hardly notice it anymore. I'll give the scotchbrite a go and see how it turns out though. My son is a cabinet maker and has connections in the countertop business so when I see him this spring I should be able to get any materials needed. Thanks again.

hi,I have the new counter top that heartland now uses and have a huge round flaw that is under the finish very noticable. Looks like someone has set something down and didn't clean it before they sealed it also am finding lots of very small vien like cracks . not sure if i'm in love with these counters or not