solid surface/corian

A 12 foot long island?! LOL, Ben, I'd put linoleum on it and call it my kitchen FLOOR!

Seriously, when you get it finished, I'd love to see a picture. Good luck with whatever material you choose!

In soapstone, you'd definitely need a seam, but it shouldn't be visible.

Even manmade products would require a seam for that length, since those are also manufactured in standard-sized slabs.

Have you considered poured concrete? That can be stained to create your own custom look.

Circuspeanut has beautiful copper counters.

sweetby - why wouldn't a sospstone seam be visible?

I was also going to suggest copper.

John Boos could build you a butcherblock piece that long. boosblock.com for more info. or call 217/347-7701 and ask for Norbert at their outlet center for best pricing.

Sandy

Anyone have any pros and cons of stainless vs copper?

Is one easier to maintain? Does copper show scratches as bad as stainless?

Soapstone was a consideration, but I thought depending on the color you'd see the seam, and they were a bit of a maintenance problem...

Copper patinas, but it's supposed to. What kind of look are you going for?

Maintenance problem with soapstone???

Granted, if you want the "oiled look" you'll have to initially oil it periodically until it naturally develops the oiled look. But, other than that, there's no maintenance needed.

However, soapstone does scratch, so if you don't like a "well loved/used" patina on your counter, then it probably isn't for you. Ditto, I think for stainless steel and others. But, I'll let those who have stainless steel & copper verify/deny that.

I think a giant fossil island would be in order - talk to these guys:

http://www.mammothfossilcompany.com/index.htm

Another option you may have already considered is to break up the island into different levels. So there wouldn't be a seam per se, but different grades across the island. With this approach, you could even combine materials or colors. Another benefit of this is that it will break up the top of the island a bit, making it look not so much like a giant, flat 12 foot slab.

Ooo, I like the bi-level idea.

Stainless v. copper - expense, for one - copper is more pricey. Both scratch, though you can get a brushed finish stainless countertop that won't show the scratches as much. I think the main drawback of copper is if you can live with its patina. Keeping copper counters constantly new-penny bright takes some effort, but some people might have trouble living through the patina process - eventually those splotches and dark spots blend together, but for a while the overall color can look very uneven. Circuspeanut (I think) has posted several pics of her gorgous copper counters, if you want to search for her posts.

Just because I'm practical-minded: can you maneuver a 12-foot slab of material into your house? We had issues with some building materials getting in while we were renovating and I know there's no way anyone could get a twelve-by-(say)three slab into my house without going through an upper-story window or door and having to lower the slab down a staircase by using a pulley. Granted, I live in a tall skinny rowhouse with a funky entrance, but still....a lot of people don't have an easy straight run from a doorway to the kitchen space that can accommodate that size of slab.

Some granite are coming in longer slabs these days, and granite would be a beautiful and practical choice. It's easy maintainence and a gorgeous work of art from Mother Nature right in your home. You can have most manmade materials create an apparently seamless island, but there will be seams. Don't forget to factor in your overhang. If your island is 144 inches, the countertop itself will need to be 147. You're in seam territory no matter what at that length.

Seamlessness is overrated. A proper seam in any material is practically invisible and won't be any more maintainence or trouble than the actual material itself.

Besides, 12' isn't an island, it's a sub continent ;) and that's a LOT of space to have to walk around. Are you sure that this is the best layout for your kitchen? Why not post your layout for some helpful critique to be sure you've thought of everything.

Standard granite (3cm thick) weighs about 18 pounds per square foot. A 12 foot X 3 foot slab would be about 650 pounds. That could pose some installation challenges. If you go this route, please post on Youtube!

Stainless steel will look very industrial, which might be fine, depending on your design and what you are trying to achieve. I'm sure a fabrication shop could cut you a seamless piece.

Would you consider doing joined wood planks? Technically there would be 'seams' between the planks but they would likely be joined tight enough to not count and length wouldn't be too big of an obstacle.

wood
concrete
metals
some laminates
glass
corian
some quartz solid surfaces

ditto the weight gotcha, be careful!

Thanks all. Some good things to think about --

Local granite shops are nixing the granite idea -- they don't think they can get a piece that big.

I can work on a way to get a design in here, but it has been mostly on paper (or the KD's computer) up to this point. But basically, we're knocking down an old porch in a 120 year old house (which was the kitchen), and replacing it with a new one from the ground up. think of it as a rectangle with two doors on the two walls in one corner, with cabinets on 3 walls, and a bay on the 4th. Two cabinet wall is interior, thus no windows, and the third is close to a neighbor's house, so we're doing small, above cabinet windows.

As far as getting in the material, we're fortunate, because it is a straight shot from the front door into the kitchen - down a long hallway.

Thanks for all the help.

-Ben

Here's a rough layout for design consideration -- I'm going to start another thread on the layout in general, too. This was the drawing by the architect, we're considering several modifications for the layout.

I don't know what you mean by not being granite people, but have you looked at some of the leathered granites?

My island will be narrower than yours, but the length is about the same. We are using leathered Antique Brown Granite, which has a matte finish and is very dark brown uniform color. And hopefully this newest slab doesn't break!

In my area, all the stone/quartz options were going to have a seam with that size. Good luck to you!

Ah, so it's really more of a galley kitchen with a separate bar/beverage area, and not really an "island". That works functionally. However, I'd move the cleanup sink in that island down towards one end rather than centered. It's back to back with the range, and likely to be a "butt bump" zone as pictured. Same with the DW. Move it towards the end that will have the dish storage in it. BTW, where DO you plan to store your dishes? Next to the fridge?

You said that you are "fairly anti-granite" but haven't mentioned what bothers you about it. If you don't like pattern, there are some that are more uniform. There are also many that are very easy to care for if that's the concern.

If you are willing to consider it, it should be possible to get slabs in the side you need. It may narrow your choices. Our island is 8 feet long but we have a pretty big L so we needed at least 10' to do our L counters with only one seam.

The granite (one of the blue types) that we wanted normally comes in smaller slabs so we thought we were going to have to live with two seams in the L. Actually the first slabs we found would have required a seam in the island which we would have dealt with by using a bookmatched pair of slabs (well done it is a very nice look - one half is the mirror image of the other). Then we found slabs big enough for our island.

That slab yard checked its other locations and found larger slabs for us - 124" by 54' - something we never expected in our granite.

So if you are willing to do granite, it is possible to get slabs large enough though it might limit your selection somewhat and you might have to go from slab yard to slab yard to find something you like in the size you want. You also have to find a fabricator willing and able to deal with handling a larger top.

I too recommend natural stone - granite, marble, etc. NO manmade material compares to it especially when you have such a large countertop. The large expanse will lend itself to a gorgeous stone statement.

All -

Any suggestions for how to dig up a granite slab big enough? The standard fabricators don't seem to think it is possible. When I meant we're fairly anti-granite, it is mostly the granite that has a lot of movement that we dislike -

Also, Corian apparently only comes in 3 ft wide options -- so that one is out as well -

Still waiting on a price for copper...

But we are running out of options, for sure.

-Ben

We're also doing a 12' island in our new kitchen and like you, I don't like too much movement or speckles in granite. Last week I went to a showroom and the staff honed a piece of antique brown for me and it looks completely different than the polished version. Maybe start with a colour you're looking for and ask them to make a sample honed and/or leathered and see if you like it. I wouldn't have normally picked that colour if they hadn't done that for me so my options were greatly increased as long as it was available in that size. HTH!

Jumab -

Did you do your island without seams? Were they able to find a slab big enough? Any suggestions for how to find a source?

-Ben

I haven't started my kitchen yet but I am looking so my contractors aren't waiting for me after. I'm in Toronto so I found a supplier that does have it big enough without seams. I still haven't decided if that's what I'm going with or if I choose something with a seam down the centre to line up with my sink. I'm not all that bothered about the seam as long as it doesn't interfere with the granite movement. It seems like the antique brown is just as popular as the giallo slabs so there's a bigger variety that I saw here in terms of sizes.

I'm in the same situation.

I have a galley kitchen which I'm attempting to renovate.

One side of the kitchen is an uninterrupted run of base cabinets/countertop 11 feet (132') long.
Getting an 11 foot slab into the house is not an issue as the kitchen is directly in line with the back door.

Finding and affording a seamless material of that length that ISN'T LAMINATE here in Winnipeg is entirely another matter.

Ikea countertops, bottom out at 96'. Solid suface slabs from the local countertop hucksters end at 120'.
Chinese Granite slabs measure at someplace in between.
Brand name solid surface is out of my price range (I've received quotes of $6000+ for the whole kitchen) and the cost of custom concrete or crushed glass countertops here is insane.

I've played with designs that involve tiered areas and/or pantries, but these either look wrong in the space or mean I have to move appliances/electrical/phone (which costs a few hundred dollars per outlet).

I'm at my wits end.