Beyond Countertops and Kitchen Applications
By Russ Lee
One of the best ways for increasing the profitability of an
operation is to examine its existing customer base and look for
ways to sell those clients more of what you provide. Considering
the effort it takes to guide customers through the stages from
prospect to client, it makes sense to fulfill their kitchen and
bath wants and needs while the checkbook is still open. Adding a
few accessories here and a design element there can have the dual
effect of rounding out a project’s design while enhancing the
bottom line.
Let’s say, for example, you have a customer who wants to update
her high-end shower without going through the mess and expense of
tearing out its granite or tile wetwalls. She has seen the latest
in shower heads, massagers, body-sprays and handshowers and has
decided they are just the ticket for her bathroom. Your task is to
create that ultimate shower experience while preserving the
enclosure’s elegant custom look and feel.
Pearl Bath has developed a shower tower that features all of the
latest shower gadgets and gizmos mounted on your choice of a
marbleized or granite Avonite solid surface panel. Behind the panel
is a miniature chase that contains all of the hardware needed to
connect the unit to the existing plumbing, all contained in a
handsome stainless steel enclosure. Once it’s mounted on the wall,
the watertight shower tower covers any existing fixtures. Your
customer sees only a luxurious solid surface panel with her new
hardware mounted on its face.
In the kitchen, solid surface has long been used as after-market
cladding for refrigerator and dishwasher door panels to tie
appliances and countertops into the overall kitchen design.
Broan-NuTone took that notion one step further with its
introduction of a line of concept range hoods at K/BIS 2000 that
feature Corian solid surface in their design. Karen Collins,
marketing communications manager for Broan-NuTone, says that
reaction from designers, builders and kitchen and bath dealers who
saw the new concept was very favorable. “The most common comment we
heard was, ‘It just makes sense!,’ ” she says.
In addition to coordinating design elements between the
countertop and range hood, the folks at Broan-NuTone are excited by
the physical properties of solid surface, which offer benefits not
realized in current metals and manufacturing processes. “The use of
Corian in range hood design and fabrication provides incredible
potential,” says Range Hood product manager Brian Wellnitz. “It can
be cut, carved, routed, sandblasted, inlaid and thermoformed into a
variety of attractive and interesting shapes. Similar to the
introduction of stainless steel in the past as a range hood
material to protect against bacterial growth, Corian can be even
more antiseptic due to its solid surface nature.”
As an added benefit, Collins indicates that the price point for
the new product line is attractive to the average consumer. “This
product was never intended to be in the high-end price range,” she
says. “We are talking about something that would be much more
affordable maybe for a $100,000 to $300,000 home.”
Furniture manufacturers are also using solid surface in their
designs for residential applications such as dining room tables and
buffet tops. One of those manufacturers, Saloom Furniture,
introduced a tabletop design at the Home Furnishings Market in High
Point, NC last April, which features an innovative top and edge
application fabricated from 1/4″ Corian. Not only is the new
product ideally suited to today’s family on the go, but all the
design elements combine to produce a furniture-quality look and
feel.
The idea of presenting solid surface as furniture has also fired
the imagination of Transolid, Inc., a North Carolina manufacturer
of solid surface vanity products whose sister company also produces
wood cabinets and furniture. In its new Transcendence line,
Transolid offers a monolithic vanity top complete with an oversized
decorative edge, and a well-designed wood frame to place it on. The
result is a functional, low- maintenance bathroom fixture that
looks more like a fashion accessory than a utilitarian
necessity.
“People are getting tired of the same old box and top bathroom
vanity,” explains Robbie Wiltcher, Transolid’s v.p./operations.
“Now, clients can create a bathroom vanity that looks like a custom
piece of furniture, putting a unique and personal touch on one of
the most important rooms in the house.” The company currently
offers three designs in its Transcendence collection, featuring
elements of Shaker, Victorian and classic influences.
Kitchen and bath professionals can also capitalize on the
growing trend of people entertaining more at home by suggesting
solid surface for the backyard. Wet bars, barbecue work centers and
lounge furniture are all functions for which solid surface is
ideally suited. Its weatherability, easy maintenance and superior
aesthetics appeal particularly well to today’s lifestyles, where
value and elegance take equal priority. When specifying solid
surface for the backyard, however, consult your fabricator for
design ideas and product performance standards. Some
polyester-based products are not appropriate for outdoor use, due
to fading caused by ultra-violet exposure
Russ Lee, a former fabricator himself, is editor of SolidSurface
magazine, a bi-monthly sister magazine of Kitchen & Bath Design
News that is aimed primarily at solid surface fabricators.