I totally understand where you're coming from. I think I've settled on soapstone myself IF I can find a slab that is quiet enough. I hate shiny, I hate sparkly, and worst of all I hate something I have to fuss over! I feel the same way when I shop for furniture, btw; we always want something simple and things always seem to have extra goo-ga details that are too much for us.

Two questions: would an antiqued granite work for you? Would concrete work for you?

Best of luck

Um, sorry, not to be too dense - what is "cf."?

We are leaning toward quartz at the moment so I admit to being biased here, but have you looked at brands other than Silestone? Dupont Zodiaq or Caesarstone perhaps?

Slate?

i went to a pretty large granite distributor this past weekend and looked at about a jillion samples.

honed 'absolute black' really would probably be OK (and actually of the stuff i've talked about, is my cheapest option) except that i don't really like the feel of stone. i don't like the 'click' when you put a glass down on granite.

there was another one with an antiqued finish that was OK, i guess. it was dark brown.

i guess the thing that annoys me is that all of these solid surface companies make all of their counters to look like granite, except for a few solid colors -- and those colors are all variations on white. corian makes a few others, but your options are mainly gaudy or white.

unfortunately, concrete isn't really an option -- i've read too much about the sealing, the staining, the potential cracking, etc.

cf. means like, 'compare' or 'consult' -- here's wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cf.

actually, you know, thinking about it, i probably should have used e.g. if i was going to use latin abbreviations. might be slightly more sensible in this context.

well, whatever. maybe i'll try again to talk my contractor into paperstone, and just live with whatever happens.

I agree that quartz countertops are not cheap, but otherwise I disagree that they ALL are "trying to look like granite". I will be getting a honed Caesarstone in a color called "creme limestone". It won't fool anyone that it is limestone, but it is pretty bombproof and I think it will look great. I put a different color Caesarstone in the kids' bathroom and it has withstood nail polish, nail polish remover, eye shadow, mascara, and the curling iron. In addition to Silestone, Caesarstone, and Zodiac, there is Cambria and several others that I can't think of right now. You might like a matte/honed dark color. The color "Lagos Blue" in Caesarstone apparently isn't really blue and many people seem to like it.

...all of these solid surface companies make all of their counters to look like granite, except for a few solid colors -- and those colors are all variations on white. corian makes a few others, but your options are mainly gaudy or white...

What about a solid surface in a neutral color, a sage or tan or gray? Not so deep a color that scratches will plague you, but more interesting than an off white. A lot are boring or gaudy as you say, but hey, you just neeed one. The right one for you. Corian's Cargo, Beachglass and Seagrass are all striking. I am fond of Cargo, an interesting yet subtle soft sage solid tone. In a more warm sunny climate I'd opt for one of the other two clearer tones.

Good luck in your searching.

What you are describing sounds like the traditional top of a lab bench in a chemistry lab. I have the impression that it's some sort of soapstone.

there are lots of materials that fit your description. not all engineered stones are trying to look like granite. i share your disdain for sparkly, flecky, busy looking surfaces, and saw lots of silestones and caesarstones that fit the bill.

caesarstone has colors called "concrete", "raven", "pebble", and "cinder" that more or less fit your description. although they will feel like stone when you set your glass down on them. maybe use a coaster?

silestone has "unsui" and "gray amazon". all of these are more or less uniform and non-flecky.

oh, and paperstone and formica aren't at all high-maintenance or fragile.

good luck.

Could you be happy with wood?

Would you be happy with the feel of metal, is there a dull (not shiny) metal that could work for you (from your descriptions, maybe an old blacksmith's anvil iron kind of look, not the modern brushed SS), and is it low maintenance? My cousin put in copper countertops (not sure if they're hammered or polished), she SAYS they're easy to maintain with Bartender's Friend, but I think she's CRAZY and she doesn't cook.

I was going to suggest Galaxy Schist or Pietra Cardoza which can be quite quiet but if you don't like the "clink" of a glass sitting on stone, well, you probably don't want a stone. It isn't going to be any quieter setting a glass down on a marble, slate, soapstone or any other stone.

So, if you don't like stone and don't like engg quartz etc., why *not* go with formica? You can get whatever colour you want to - honed or otherwise, sparkly or otherwise, psychedelic or not...

Have you considered having a countertop made out of Marmoleum? It comes with a countertop finish, and you can get the dark grey color you're interested in.

No clinks when you put down a glass
No sparkles
Maybe no seams
Durable

To me, it sounds like what you're looking for.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marmoleum surface uses

What you are describing sounds like the traditional top of a lab bench in a chemistry lab. I have the impression that it's some sort of soapstone.

those classic chem lab table tops were made of slate.

Bluekitobsessed reminded me--Zinc countertop? (although not quite a charcoal gray)

Here is a link that might be useful: Zinc Countertops

I've never heard of old lab benchtops being made of slate. I have heard that they used to be made of soapstone, but I've never actually seen one made of soapstone. I'm a bench chemist, and our benchtops are made of a phenolic resin material that is resistant to *everything*. Indestructible.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chemical Resistant Laboratory Bench Tops

I love the idea of a Marmoleum (linoleum) countertop, but it does not seem like a popular choice - does anyone know what the disadvantages are? It's tough, "soft", and inexpensive, but I haven't seen contemporary Marmoleum installed as a countertop in a new or remodeled kitchen so I'm curious to know if looks are a problem, or seams, or availability, or ?

snrub & dalcolli - I can't resist mentioning from a long, long, long time ago (when I was actually young) a comment about "cf". I remember reading, I think (?) it was in a humor section of Reader's Digest, no less, about a register and the listed people had annotations of MA, PhD, OBE, MBE, CF, and so forth. The annotations were reduced when it was determined that CF meant "Confirmed Fornication"!

I might also suggest you look at "brushed" granite. It is a newer technique for granite. It makes it very textured. It seems much softer than normal (polished or honed) granite. Also, what about concrete? Finally, there should be some laminate that could fit the bill. Or, wood?

I ditto the zinc idea. I'm also considering Marmoleum for my 20's bungalow counters -- for me the plus for either choice is the historical accuracy, not to mention the ease of care and non-granitey color choices. Although I suspect I will ultimately go with soapstone, either of these seems to fit your bill well.

There is always stainless steel, which is bombproof, but I suspect the hardness of it might lend to the clank effect you find objectionable. Apparently zinc is a lot softer, don't know if this affects eventual wear & tear.

from my own files, some zinc lincs:

Zinc countertop FAQ

another zinc FAQ (if you're in the Chicago area, they have a showroom)

zinc sheet supplier reputed to be helpful for assisting in DIY

and:
user opinions on experience with linoleum countertops (they seem to get some pretty rave reviews)

Good luck and definitely keep us other non-granite-lovers posted! :-)

snrub, thanks for the cf. explanation, I checked dictionary.com but no luck so I am glad you answered. Learn something new everyday :-).

dbaguy (are you a database admin?) Â hahaha

Interesting comments on the lab benches, takes me back...

Good luck snrub!

Why don't you just go with Formica???

It became popular in the 70's and 80's to do just what you are looking for...Practical for families, the largest choice of colors than any other material, no sound, doesn't feel like stone, etc, etc, etc...
And best of all, its the cheapest way to go!

is EVERY solid-surfacing color trying to look like granite?

DuPont Corian gomes in a medium solid gray called "pewter"--speckles would hide scratches better that a plain color, but maybe you could get a sample?

I really like their "Natural Gray," too (from the "Private Collection" selection of colors)--more swirly, not so speckly. Maybe you'd think it was "trying to look like granite" (though it has more of a limestone-y pattern to it: more subtle, more swirly). They describe it as: "Fluid tone-on-tone visual texture in two tones of mid-neutral gray tones"

I have the Venaro White, which might seem as though it's trying to mimic marble, but really doesn't look that realistic--it's just white-on-white swirl, so there's some sort of texture, and scratches aren't particularly visible)

I *love* Corian! And I don't much like speckles, or movement; I want a plain background, so I can see what I'm doing on my work surface. If I wanted gray, I'd probably get the Natural Gray from Corian.

(I also thought, why not Formica?)

I had a friend who put in a matte pure black formica because she ran out of money for anything else and it looked stunning. It wasn't pretending to be anything!

the lab material countertops are appealing. Cheap and durable. wonder if you can router an edge to them. Hm....

(of course, you can't do an undermount sink w/ Formica--at least, not easily--and I DO love my undermount sink. I love Formica; I'd have it in a flash, if it was easy to undermount a sink. It's *possible*, but not all fabricators can do it. One way is to use solid surfacing as the substrate around the sink, instead of particleboard)

http://www.counter-seal.com/
http://www.karran.com/

I am getting granite, as I do like the sheen. however, I have seen a new corian called earth which is matte black with a little white veining (very little and it actually looks somewhat irregular) that sort of looks like soapstone. Very very nice and might be what you would look for.

Well this is interesting! I'm really drawn to the lab top counters too, and found a link for an epoxy resin counter material from a company called Keur Industries. I called them, and they referred me to a place in Florida which will template them there and then ship them. I talked to a fellow there who said the price is $19/sq. foot, and approximately $160 to ship to Houston. Sounds pretty reasonable! I love the look and the durability. I'll definately be looking into this...
Lynn

Here is a link that might be useful: Black lab counters

I hear ya. I wanted the same thing as you. A matte charcoal gray counter. I was nearly sold on Caesarstone in the Raven color, honed, but it was just too expensive. It's just a countertop after all.

I totally would have just done formica because there are plenty of non-granite looking laminate colors but I had to have an undermount sink, so that wouldn't work for me. I ended up going with granite because it was honestly the cheapest solution. While I'm sure I'll like it just fine, it's not the look I had in my "dream kitchen" head, but that's ok.

If you don't need an undermount sink, I'd say do laminate. They're much better quality these days, cheap and nice looking to boot.

Not trying to hijack this thread... but take a look a this link. As usual GW's are ahead of the curve. Another idea that will have get KDs, contractors, supply yards, etc. rolling their eyes at us...

Here is a link that might be useful: Lab tops in a real kitchen!

Just saw a 6X6 piece of the concrete color ceasarstone. I think I'm going with that for my kids bath. Comes polished or honed, but honed you need to sign a waiver. I think I;m going with the polished. Didn't seem too shiny. Some of the other darker samples had these swirly looking patterns in them that I didn't like. I'm trying to emulate actual concrete and I think this might be as good as it gets. Good luck!!!

Another idea for you to consider - how about porcelain tile? I would suggest you look for 24" x 24" floor tiles in a matte finish and install using epoxy grout (very small grout lines, especially if you can find rectified tile). You could top or tile mount a Silgranit (or similar) sink and the combination would be bulletproof. You would have little to no fingerprint / water spot issues and totally heat proof. Porcelain is hard enough to be very difficult to chip. Maintenance would be a breeze with the epoxy grout (no way to stain). Have your installer fill the grout lines to leave a minimal indentation and they won't trap crumbs / coffee grounds. Only down side is the hard glass "clink".

The labtop counters look and sound great, but I did notice that the Apartment Therapy folks said there were *drop-in* sinks.

I was just at a friend's house and she has a new table with a wonderful surface. Two days ago I would have had no clue what it was, but from this post I knew it was zinc. It was a wonderful surface!!! Very warm and soft looking with a great patina, but my friend says it is indestructable. FYI, she also has honed AB counters which drive her nuts because of the constant fussing they require and she says the zinc is dreamy. It certainly looked like something that would give you your requirements. no idea on cost, though. And it doesn't look like wanna-be granite AT ALL! :)

Anita

Talley sue, if you click on the link in the apartment therapy article, you will be directed to the website for Durcon, the manufacturer. They have both drop in and undermount sinks available. Those counters look very interesting. They also show the performance under various chemical tests. It looks like they are fairly indestructible as long as you're not dropping sulphuric acid on them. The sinks are designed to create a seal so that bacteria and chemicals can't get between the counter and the sink basin. Only real question I would have is food safety for preparing foods on an pure epoxy resin material that is not currently rated for kitchen use? I'm sure it would be fine, but don't we have a resident chemist who might be able to answer the chemical questions?

I tried to go to their site, to find out about undermount; it wouldn't work for me.

What about Fireslate? It satisfies all your requirements and comes in 2 colors of solid gray ...

Here is a link that might be useful: Fireslate countertops

Fireslate may work for you. Thanks for the suggestion Circuspeanut. (great name by the way!)

Here's a Fireslate article (complete with pictures!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Fireslate countertop: Synthetic slate

Yes you can install an undermounted sink with laminate countertop. My friend just did it - looks great. I'm sure it depends on the skills and techniques your installer uses. I'm really impressed with the designs and finishes available in laminate nowadays.

However, I'm going with a maple countertop myself. I had ash counters in my first house and loved them! Nothing looks like quite like real wood. Once sealed and finished it is tough and waterproof. Treat it similar to laminate - don't cut on it, protect it from hot pots & pans. But I'm pretty sure you cannot mount a sink under it.

I know exactly what you're saying. I found a material called Bottlestone? It's made by Fire Clay in San Jose, but they have a separate website for it. It's primarily crushed glass bottles in a concrete mix, but the glass is crushed so finely that you wouldn't know it's glass. It doesn't crack like concrete does. It's available in a matte finish. It comes in three colours one of which I believe is pretty much grey. I've tested a sample of it, and it's impervious to hot pans. You can scratch it, but it takes some work to do so. It's about $50 per square foot. It's one of my three contenders in addition to crystallized glass and lavastone.

Shetkastone might work too- it seemed pretty bulletproof when I was torturing my sample.

Here is a link that might be useful: ShetkaStone

I read about another stone called Kirkstone. The colors are soft blue grays and green grays. May be a little challenging to source. I'm kind of where you are and don't want a black counter, don't think I want granite. I'm still considering tile. I saved a Southern Accents from about 12 years ago-- it featured a kitchen that had a counter with small square ceramic tiles and instead of a tile bullnose edge it had a wood molding.

Thanks for the Bottlestone suggestion, chris_in_15. I can actually see the Bottlestone countertop at the Flea Street Cafe mentioned on their site since we live nearby. I've been to Fire Clay in San Jose too and it's a great place.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bottlestone

Pewter perhaps?

Some gorgeous shots of pewter countertops:

Here is a link that might be useful: zinc and pewter counters

I love the look of oil rubbed bronze for the faucet and cabinet hardware, but I am thinking I would have to use it with an enamel sink, because stainless would look weird with it - what do you all think?

obviously you don't like anything 'real' - what are you looking for - you have no issue telling us what you don't want but what do you want.

Snrub,

I know how you feel. I want a material that's smooth, single solid deep natural color, not shiny, quiet (no clinking or banging), seamless and I want an undermount sink, seamless if at all possible. I don't like granite, marble, or anything that resembles it. Corian (or Hi-macs, or any of the polymer based solid surfaces) met every one of the requirements except the Single color, since the only true solid colors available in Corian were white or off white pale pink and green or crayon bright red, yellow, and orange. Because of this thread, I checked the colors again at the Dupont site, and low and behold, there *are* some non-pale Solid corian colors: Pewter, Nocturne, Pearl Grey, Sand, Lilac, and Graphic Blue.

There's also a way to get a real sample (larger than a tiny squares you get at home dept) from the link below. The cutting board sample option is tempting but a little spendy @ 25.00.

Here is a link that might be useful: Colors2U Corian Samples.

Hi, resident chemist here... ;-)
As far as food safety goes with the lab benchtops -
The only issue I see is that most of these benchtops probably contain bisphenol A (BPA), the chemical found in epoxy resins that has been in the news a lot lately. Now, assuming that you don't plan to actually eat directly off your countertops very often, you'll probably get more BPA exposure from your canned food and polycarbonate food containers than you would from your countertops. But I suppose it is something to consider.

I have been going through a similar experience. I have been coming up with many of the same concerns. I saw a show on television a couple weeks ago that used recycled glass for the counter top and it showed how you can choose your shades of glass to get a solid color or mix it to get a look you like. I have not followed up on that process in person yet but it may be a process you might want to look into..

I also like quartz. It is a much more environmentally friendly product than granite and not busy like granite and I think you can get it with a less polished surface so it is not so shiny.

One thing making my decision a challenge is that I currently have a marble look solid surface Corian countertop. It has been in my kitchen for over 35 years. 35 years ago a solid surface instead of a laminate surface was pretty cool and at the time a bit of a splurge. It is easy to work on, has no chips or cracks, all I have ever done is wash it with LOC and a sponge after cooking meals. There is one slightly darkened spot where my husband set a pan that was on fire directly on the surface. Â

I have always loved it because it has the look of an ivory marble without the high gloss. My kitchen is pretty classic. After 35 all I have to do to update my kitchen is put new handles on the cupboards and darken the countertops to create a slightly more dramatic look. I was considering real stone because of being older, that should one of us die, or we should decide to downsize  the current brainwashed mentality that a kitchen is not a kitchen without stone might make the house easier to sell. I want to be more green so I did not consider granite at all. I think with the green trend, granite will be way out of style in just a few years.

I heard from a friend recently, who wondered why I was looking at counter material because there was nothing wrong with my current counters, that the color in Corian can be changed to a solid. So having read unhappy complaint after complaint about most counter products, changing my color would certainly save money and I would get to continue to live with a really easy to care for product. At my age I know that there are many more fun ways to spend time than cleaning the kitchen.

Hope you find a product that works. IÂll keep checking back to see what answers you come up with.