Webmaster, Author at Solid Surface Countertops Toronto: Commercial & Residential

July 21, 2017 By Webmaster

Do I Have to Redo my Kitchen Floor Before Refacing my Kitchen Cabinets?

There is a common and pervasive myth that refacing kitchen cabinets requires a full redo of your floor. This is a myth, however! When you get your cabinets refaced, the original body and framework is left in place. It’s just reinforced, not removed. That means not only do you not have to have your flooring company work first, but that there’s actually several benefits to waiting on your flooring until your refaced cabinets are finished.

First of all, waiting on your new cabinets allows you to make a more informed flooring choice. New cabinets can make accents and finishes on other parts of your kitchen stand out, affecting the color, style and finish of your kitchen. That might mean a different color or finish of flooring would work better in your newly redesigned kitchen. By finishing the cabinets first, you get to take some time to see how they look before locking yourself into a particular flooring design.

In addition, if you lay a floating floor down before you finish work on your cabinets, your floor will not be able to expand or contract with temperature changes. By laying floor under your cabinet bases, you’re compressing your floor underneath heavy cabinetry and countertop materials. It’s possible, then, that your floor could buckle, bulge or even break. Laying your flooring adjacent to your cabinets prevents any of those nasty scenarios from coming to pass.

A reliable and licensed cabinet manufacturer – like Bertone – will know how to customize their cabinet installation around your kitchen design plans. Whether your fix your cabinets first and your floor later, or if you want to install a new floor now and place kitchen cabinets around that, they can work with you to ensure you get the best possible outcome in your kitchen. Check us out today!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: floors, kitchen cabinets, refacing

June 12, 2017 By Webmaster

Kitchen Cabinets: Replace or Reface?

When your kitchen cabinets begin looking shabby or out of place, they’re a top priority for your kitchen contractor. They’re a key part of your kitchen, both in functionality and aesthetic appeal, and you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of them.

So, you’re left with two major options. Replacing your cabinets involves installing brand new cabinets, and that’s what most people jump to as their primary option. But did you know that refacing cabinets is sometimes an option as well? It’s a more cost-effective and sustainable approach, and will give you the look of custom cabinets while fitting in your budget.

Not all cabinets can be refaced, however. If you’re considering whether to replace or reface your kitchen cabinets, here are some key indicators that replacement would be necessary:

Cheap Cabinets

Sometimes, when you move in to a new home, you’ll find that the previous owner has installed cheap cabinets. Cabinets made of particle board are much more difficult to reface, even with proper reinforcement. It’s best in that situation to replace the whole lot.

Severe Damage

Rotting wood. Severe water damage. Mold. Termites. Plenty of things can happen to your wooden kitchen cabinets, and some of it can damage them beyond the possibility of refacing. It’s rare that all cabinets are damaged beyond repair, though – it may be possible to mix and match replacing and refacing.

Metal Cabinets

Metal cabinets, or metal cabinet frames, are much more difficult to work with when it comes to refacing. They used to be all the vogue – vermin-proof and modern looking and all that. They’re not nearly as possible today as they used to be, but there are still some lying about, and they often cannot be refaced.

A Complete Kitchen Layout Change

If you’re undergoing a complete kitchen remodel, and will be moving cabinets here and there, it makes much more sense to replace them. Trying to fit an old, refaced cabinet into a new place is often like putting a square peg in a round hole – it just ends up not working and frustrating everyone who tries. It’s better to get entirely new cabinets in this case.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: cabinets, replace, resurface

June 12, 2017 By Webmaster

3 Things You Should Never Do in Your Kitchen

After more than 15 years of experience working in and around kitchens, you would think nothing could surprise the experts at Solid Surface Canada anymore. You would be mistaken!

Kitchens are great, multi-functional spaces. You can do tons of things in them, from cooking to entertaining to family time. When you use solid surface for your countertops, you have a quite durable room, too, able to handle most of the punishment you could give it. “Most” is not “all”, however, and here are some things you really shouldn’t do in your kitchen.

Leave Those Spills

Solid surface has advantages over natural stone in that it’s non-porous. Bacteria and germs can’t penetrate its surface, like it can on granite. That means spills aren’t as much of a problem on solid surface as they can be on other surfaces. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a magic surface. Leaving spills on your countertop overnight is a surefire way to ruin your finish. Don’t forget to dry, either – letting water dry on your countertop will eventually lead to a film buildup, making your counters look blotchy and uneven. Wiping and rinsing completely and cleaning up those spills before they dry will prevent those hard water marks from forming.

Forget the Stepladder

Sometimes, a pot or pan is just out of reach, or you need to clean the top of those cabinets. You may be tempted to just climb on top of your countertops and use it as a stepping-stool to get to those hard-to-reach places. But watch out! Countertops aren’t designed to handle the weight of people; it’s designed for cooking activities and appliances. You wouldn’t want to crack or chip your new countertop because you didn’t go get the proper tool for the job!

Burn, Baby, Burn

Solid surface is more durable than most surfaces, and can stand the heat better than most. Still, even it has its limits. Placing a hot pot or pan directly on to your countertop can lead to cracks and burns, even on solid surface. Trivets and other heat-protectors should be used when handling hot pots and pans to prevent burn-in and scorchmarks.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: kitchen design, solid surface, wear and tear

May 6, 2017 By Webmaster

How to Improve an “L”-Shaped Kitchen

An “L”-shaped kitchen layout is one of the best out there. It’s extremely functional, with everything in easy reach, and it works well with open floor plans, which is the “in” style at the moment. It’s one of the best layouts to start working with, as its basic function and shape are ideal for an attractive, functional space.

That doesn’t mean you can’t improve it, however! The experts at Solid Surface Canada have some great suggestions on how to take your “L”-shaped kitchen to the next level:

Customize Your Work Triangle

The “kitchen work triangle” concept states that the main kitchen appliances – your refrigerator, stovetop and sink – should be within a few steps of where you prep the food, forming an efficient and accessible triangle. Well, that’s true for most people, but perhaps not for you. Maybe you don’t use your oven very frequently – it might be the microwave you want close at hand. If you find yourself not using your oven, or rarely using your stovetop, you can move them out of the center of your kitchen, putting regularly used pieces of equipment within arm’s reach.

Raise Your Cabinets

Running out of storage space? Most kitchens have tons of extra room, just waiting to be exploited – there’s a gap between most cabinets and the ceiling. For an “L”-shaped kitchen, where storage is often at a premium, extending those cabinets up to the ceiling is a great way to add that little bit of extra storage.

Open Shelving

An “L”-shaped kitchen involves a lot of wall space, as it bends around a corner. Sometimes, two walls worth of solid cabinets can be difficult on the eye, or a problem for decorating. Replacing some cabinets with open shelving can create better visibility and break up that wall of cabinetry.

Upgrade Your Countertops

Of course, the best upgrade for any kitchen is putting in brand new solid surface countertops. Corian, Avonite, Formica – no matter what you have in mind, Solid Surface Canada can help. Contact us today!

Filed Under: blog, Renovations Tagged With: countertops, kitchen design, work triangle

April 17, 2017 By Webmaster

4 Dated Kitchen Designs to Avoid

Most of us don’t redo our kitchens every few years, so the primary goal in a major redesign is timelessness. You don’t want your kitchen to look like a relic from a bygone era; you want to stick with ideas and concepts that have stood the test of time and are likely to continue to look great for years to come.

The latest trend may seem great, but be careful – some “latest trends” quickly become ridiculous looking. As an example, here are some dated designs that were once considered hip and trendy, and now are regrettable.

Dark Brown Wood

Deep, dark brown cabinets can still work in some more classic and traditional kitchen designs – when you’re trying to evoke an older era. But modern kitchens dump those in favor of lighter and cleaner choices. Dark colors make spaces feel more cramped and dark. You can still have a warm, inviting kitchen without going into the darkest colors of the rainbow.

Bright Cabinet Colors

In general, you’re better off using neutral colors for the large, dominating parts of your kitchen – the countertops, the cabinets, the big appliances. Save the neon greens or the sunshine yellows for accents and accessory pieces – they provide those splashes of color without dominating the room, and can be replaced or repainted easily as trends change and colors fall in and out of fashion.

Florescent Lighting

In the 1980s and early 1990s, big, fluorescent light boxes were the trendy thing to install. Now, they look garish – and bad lighting can make every other aspect of your kitchen remodel look worse. Terrible! Utility and ambient lightning – with dimmers – are much more practical and can easily be integrated into any kitchen design.

Linoleum

The best you can really hope for with linoleum flooring is a kitschy, throwback, retro look. More likely, you’ll get faded, stained and outdated looks quickly – and it’s probably just going to hide a perfectly fine wood floor.

From avocado green walls to shag carpeting, what’s “in” one day may soon be well on its way out. We recommend sticking to classic, timeless designs, so your kitchen will continue looking it’s best for years to come.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: dated, kitchen, kitchen design

April 17, 2017 By Webmaster

3 Tips for Adding Texture to Your Kitchen

Modern kitchens are typically smooth and sleek, with streamlined finishes being the watchword of the day. That’s great and looks fantastic – but too much of a good thing can be harmful in and of itself. It’s easy to plan all these great, smooth looks – only to realize at the end that your kitchen looks flat and boring without some varied textures. Especially if you’re working mostly in one color, some added texture is crucial to giving your kitchen an interesting look. Here’s our tips on some easy additions you can make to break up the smooth and sleek monotony.

Patterns

Any sort of pattern is going to create immediate visual interest, even if the tiles are similar in texture to the rest of the kitchen. Small tiles, creating more lines and depth between tiles and grout, can give your backsplash a textured look, which sets it off quite nicely from smoother countertops, cabinet finishes or appliances.

A Variety of Elements

If your entire kitchen is one material, be it solid surface, granite, laminate or anything in between, it can all look a bit “samey”. Wood, stone, metal, glass – there’s a whole world of options out there that can add splashes of different textures to your kitchen. Wood flooring or window trim is a great way to set off stainless steel appliances. I’m personally a fan of natural brick or stone, either as a fireplace or backsplash, to create a similar effect.

Bells and Whistles

The little details can be a great place to add texture without overhauling your entire kitchen plan. The legs and feet of tables or chairs, the corbels atop your cabinets, the trim of your kitchen island – all are great opportunities to add texture and detail to your kitchen. These are more prevalent in traditional kitchen designs as opposed to modern ones, but are a great way to give your new kitchen some character.

The experts at Solid Surface Canada can help you with all your kitchen needs, with beautiful solid surface countertops and applications. Check us out today!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: design, kitchen, texture

March 26, 2017 By Webmaster

Project Report: Tim Hortons

We’ve just finished a major renovation project, and we’re excited to share the results with you!

Would a morning be complete without a trip to Tim Hortons? Coffee and doughnuts are the perfect way to start the day, and we know we’re not alone in that – everyone needs their double doubles in the morning, right?

Recently, some older Tim Horton stores have begun to be upgraded. As part of the renovations, they’re being renovated to look more like a coffee house; a more upscale, modern look. That’s great, and a boost for business – but it’s difficult to serve customers when your building is being renovated!

This was a problem for the Tim Hortons on Front Street in downtown Toronto. A closed store means a huge loss of daily revenue, especially for a store in a prime location just outside the Rogers Centre. They wanted to have their renovations done well, but quickly, so they could open as soon as possible. That’s where we come in.

They wanted the entire renovation done in two weeks, and we were more than happy to undertake that project.

We removed some displays and old storefront pieces, and replaced them with new cabinets and countertops, made with fine Maple Meadow LG Hi-Macs solid surface. To speed up the process, we kept the exsiccating countertop in place. We took an exact template from the exsiccating counter, and created a new countertop as a cap, using LG Hi-Macs solid surface for the main surface and stainless steel for the hot grilling areas.

All of the sinks, pipes and holes all ended up in the same locations, making conversions a snap. And, just as promised, the store was open for business after just 14 days, in time to make sure the Entertainment District got its helping of Timbits, donuts and muffins. We’re proud of the work we’ve done, and we think it looks fantastic!

Filed Under: blog, Projects Tagged With: photos, renovation, Tim Hortons

March 13, 2017 By Webmaster

Rangetops Vs Cooktops

Redesigning your kitchen isn’t just a matter of form – function must be taken into account as well. And one of the primary functions of your kitchen is for cooking! The choice of primary cooking element in your kitchen is a very important one. Many homes choose an oven with a built in stovetop, but this is far from the only choice out there – stand-along rangetops and cooktops are solid options as well, and will impact how you choose to have your countertops installed.

Rangetops and cooktops allow you to have a more flexible kitchen layout. Because they don’t have to be in the same place as your oven, you get more customization on how your kitchen will end up working – you might place the oven relatively out of the way in the corner, with the cooktop closer to prep areas and the pantry, for example. But cooktops and rangetops are not synonymous – there are several key differences between the two, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.

Rangetops slide in, interrupting the flow of your countertop entirely. The countertop ends, the rangetop is slid into place, and the countertop will continue on the other side. Cooktops, though, are set in. It requires you to cut out a section of a countertop and place the cooktop inside – so it will be surrounded, on three or four sides, by countertop.

This generally means cooktops are a bit easier to install – your countertops are installed normally, and then a precision cut is made for the cooktop. Rangetops require countertops to be finished on either side, which can be a bit more work.

It also alters where the controls go. Rangetops generally have their controls on the front of the appliance, like you’ll see on your standard stovetop. Since they take up a whole unit of “countertop” space, it makes sense for the controls to be in the front – there’s no need to reach over a hot burner to make an adjustment to temperature, for example.

Cooktops, on the other hand, are surrounded by countertop. Generally speaking, that means they place their controls at the top of the unit. The idea is to continue the sleek, minimalist approach, rather than interrupting the flow of your countertops with cooking equipment. The tradeoff, of course, is that the controls can be harder to reach. Which type of control you choose will depend on what you’re comfortable with in your cooking style.

No matter if you choose a cooktop, a rangetop or a traditional stovetop, the expert craftsmen at Solid Surface.ca can ensure a perfect fit with your countertop choice. Call us today!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: cooktops, kitchen remodeling, rangetops

March 13, 2017 By Webmaster

3 Ways to Add Detail to Your Kitchen

For understandable reasons, the majority of time planning a kitchen renovation or remodel is spent on the major aspects of the remodel – the cabinetry, the countertops, the appliances and so forth. That makes sense – they’re the big-ticket items and the most important to get right.

Once those are set, however, you want to add your own finishing touches – you want to add details that makes your kitchen unique, and help it to stand out from the rest. There are plenty of ways to add this extra oomph factor with minor changes and adjustments, giving your kitchen more personality and adding to the value of your home. Here are 3 quick and simple ways to add detail to your kitchen.

Crown Molding

The molding provides a transition from your cabinets to the ceiling – a little visual flourish with touches of elegance. It draws the eye up to the ceiling, giving the impression that your home is well-crafted and solid. If you’re installing new cabinets anyway, it’s a relatively simple addition to add crown molding – it doesn’t even need to touch the wall to create an elegant look. Whether you use it to add space between the cabinet and ceiling by placing the molding at a different depth than your cabinets, or custom-design it so the cabinets appear flush with the ceiling, crown molding is a classic touch of detail.

Splash of Color

Most kitchens will be neutral in hue – your basic whites and earth tones. Picking too garish of a color for your central theme can give you eyestrain when you have to spend time in your kitchen! However, for the less-permanent, movable kitchen accents—think chairs, dishes on open shelving and lighting fixtures – a splash of bright color can really liven up the room. Picking, say, lime green for your countertops may not be ideal, because you’re stuck with it until you remodel your kitchen again. But a bright color for detail here and there can add a little bit of extra zest to your kitchen.

Glass Doors

One way to get that splash of color is with brightly-colored dishes and decorative pieces, and one way to display them is in cabinets with glass doors. Replacing traditional solid-panel fronts with glass allows your choices in dishware to play a part in the overall look of your kitchen. There’s a wide variety of types of glass to choose from, as well – fully transparent, frosted, stained, and so forth. Glass also gives your kitchen the appearance of more space, which is great for smaller kitchens.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: color, countertops, glass doors, kitchen design, molding