Category Archives: Featured Solid Surface Projects

Corian® Solid Surface for DIYers

Oh the Things We Can Do!

For all you DIYers out there whose springtime juices are flowing, here are some things you probably didn’t know you could do with acrylic solid surface material such as Corian®, Avonite®, LG Hi-Macs® and many other brands. Simple woodworking tools are all you need to get started.

What is Corian® (a/k/a Solid Surface)?

Solid surface is a manufactured material most commonly used for seamless countertop installations. It is frequently referred to as Corian®, a product developed by DuPont™ in 1964.

Corian solid surface bathroom vanity tops look like marble.

It can be readily cut, routed and sanded like wood and formed into countertops, shower walls, external cladding for buildings, signage, and furniture where non-porosity and infrequent maintenance are highly valued.  These are just a few of the man applications.

Solid surface is made of acrylic resin, polyester resin or a combination of the two that is then combined with filler, color pigments, and acrylic chips. This composition is most frequently extruded or poured as ½” thick sheets that are 30” x 144” and are the same color throughout their thickness.

In addition to being workable like hardwood, it can be heated and thermoformed into curved and molded shapes. It can also be printed on, using dye-sublimation techniques that deposit the ink just below the surface so the image becomes permanent.

What can be done with it?

Thermoform It

Thermoforming (the process of heating and shaping synthetic material) is an increasingly popular way to utilize solid surface to create 3D curves and rounded shapes. This is a realm Continue reading

Fabricator Spotlight: ASST – Fabricating Unique Destinations with Thermoformed Corian® Solid Surface

Featured Project: Terminal F, Philadelphia International Airport

By Andrew Dreves, ASID

Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal F

Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal F

With airport security and travel being about as much fun as a root canal, airport terminals today are striving to become unique destinations people want to visit.  With a reputation for creating visionary environments, Daroff Design, based in Philadelphia had an adventurous solid surface thermoforming project at Philadelphia Airport’s Terminal F and they knew who could help.

ASST had worked with Daroff Design previously on the Baltimore Convention Center and the design firm is well known internationally for high-end public and signature hospitality environments.

ASST (pronounced ASSIST), since its founding in 1998, has become an industry leader in commercial architectural fabrications establishing a reputation for taking on project challenges other solid surface fabricators might avoid.

Schultz Form

With a passion for excellence and an impressive portfolio of successfully completed projects both nationally and internationally, ASST’s in-depth portfolio ranges from curved Corian® benches for the White House Visitor’s Center in Washington DC to an enormous curved solid surface Krion® staircase for a corporate building atrium in Boston. Continue reading

Customer Spotlight: Gloede Builders & Design

Gloede Builders & Design

Gloede Builders & Design

The path of a true professional

Dan Gloede discovered where his interests and talents lay at a very early age, when he was exposed to a high school shop class in woodworking.  Recognizing immediately that this was something he wanted to pursue, he began his own woodworking projects in his parents’ garage.  In no time, he was making quality furniture for his parents’ home and for others in the community.

After high school, he continued his interest in carpentry by working in various construction jobs, and eventually started his own business, TAD Millworks Company.  The focus of this company was on home construction, remodeling projects and, on a smaller scale, custom cabinetry.

Gloede Builders Kitchen Remodel With Solid Surface

Gloede Builders Kitchen Remodel With Solid Surface

By 2001, he was ready to transition his business away from commercial and residential construction into more specialized cabinetry and woodworking projects, and this was when he started Gloede Builders & Design, formerly TAD Millworks Company, alongside his wife, Teresa Gloede.  This business was more suited to his personal talents because it allowed him the freedom to design and Continue reading

Corian® Represents Solid Surface at Super Bowl 2016

Corian® Solid Surface

Featuring 11 unique gallery and exhibit spaces, the 49ers Museum presented by Sony is a 20,000 sq. ft. facility dedicated to the 49ers past, present and future.

The curved, seamless walls of the new Levi’s® Stadium Museum in Santa Clara, CA, create a clean, uniform look that highlights why DuPont™ Corian® is the obvious choice for designers who want to make a bold statement with a durable solid surface.

The museum’s tall, translucent Corian® panels help capture the feeling and energy of the 49ers’ images projected on them. But they also are durable, which is necessary for an area with high volumes of visitor traffic.

“It is not surprising that Corian® would be featured so prominently in the Levi’s® Stadium Museum,” said John Richard, Global Business Director for DuPont Surfaces. “This type of impressive, large-scale design lends itself to Corian® both because of the surface’s aesthetic beauty and the ability to form it into virtually any shape or design.” Continue reading

How To Install Corian Solid Surface Vanity Tops

The installed top, ready for use!

Custom Corian Vanity Tops, by SolidSurface.com are a great addition to any bathroom.

Whether you’ve already purchased your new vanity top, or you are in the research phase of buying one, the top is going to need to be installed  One option, for the do-it-for-me type, would be to contact a professional or plumber to complete the install for you,  but for the remainder of you we’ve written this handy instructional guide  with some simple steps to install your new top.

The top photographed throughout this guide is a Custom Corian Vanity Top configured on SolidSurface.com, shipped directly to, and installed by, the homeowner.  Continue reading