Come by and charge your electric vehicle for free as you browse our beautiful, 2 story kitchen and bath showroom. The charging station is located on the left side of our building and will be available during normal business hours. Just help yourself to the power!

We are happy to be able to provide this service for our friends and customers and at the same time do a little something to preserve our precious environment.

View us on PlugShare.

photo credit: www.renewingwellness.com

Germs! We do everything we can to avoid them. From a pesky cold to a serious bacterial infection, the problems resulting from picking up some unwanted germs are not fun at all. 

Did you know that Solid Surface materials hate germs too? In fact, germs also hate Solid Surface. Why such animosity? Solid Surface is a nonporous material. Unlike granite and other stone surfaces, Solid Surface materials have no nooks and crannies for germs and bacteria to hide and grow.

Coved backsplash. photo credit: Jeff BaumgartThis characteristic of Solid Surface is great on it’s own, but coupled with several fabrication techniques, germs just don’t stand a chance. Solid Surface can be fabricated in a way that there are no sharp inside corners for germs to hide out in. For example, a countertop with traditional loose backsplash and a caulked seam that will eventually break down is like hanging out a sign saying, “Attention all germs and bacteria, free room and board!”. In contrast, Solid Surface can be formed or fabricated with coved inside corners, leaving a smooth, easy to clean surface that tells germs to “Get Lost!”.

Integral sink. UMASS Medical Center. photo credit: Kyle CaldwellAnother favorite place for germs to hide is at sink edges, where the sink meets the countertop. Again, caulked areas can break down providing a tempting residence for all sorts of nasties. These possibilities are eliminated with the use of an integrated Solid Surface sink that has a smooth transition to the countertop. 

Solid Surface materials are also easy to clean and maintain, providing further measures against the outbreak of germs and bacteria.

With these factors in mind, Solid Surface is an obvious choice in healthcare and food service applications. It is vital that these areas be kept free of harmful germs and bacteria, and all of us as patrons and patients appreciate any steps taken with our health and safety in mind. 

Whether you are a homeowner, designer, or architect, why not consider the health benefits of using Solid Surface in your next project.

Healthcare cabinetry. Irvine Medical Center, CA. photo credit: Jeff Baumgart

Food service counter. Syracuse University, NY. photo credit: Jeff Baumgart

photo credit - Kyle J Caldwell

In yet another display of solid surface's unlimited versatility, Sterling Surfaces, and its partners have collaborated to help a forward-thinking architectural team bring out the best attributes of CORIAN in eye-opening fashion at an Ohio college.

In the process, everyone has learned a little more how architects and advanced fabricators working together, can take solid surface to the head of the class!

photo credit - Kyle J CaldwellOutstanding features of this project in the Lorraine County Community College iLoft , Elyria, Ohio include among other things: 

• Two flexible bars- continuous tri-level, multi-functional bench and worktops 
• Fourteen in-wall thermoformed CORIAN seating alcoves 
• Eight stand-alone powered work desks 
• A seemingly endless serpentine wall cap & worktops lining the loft's floating island

 The seminal conversations about CORIAN took place long before the fabrication and installation, with Sterling Surfaces collaborating in exploratory meetings with the architectural team at Sasaki Associates in Boston. Katia Lucic, Principal, and the team asked probing questions about the performance of CORIAN and its ability to be formed and perform in these unusual applications. 

"We were more than happy to collaborate up front, even before contract, exploring how to fabricate and install the CORIAN. Collaboration included working out the challenging details on  paper, support requirements, installability, and the install sequence. Those  early meetings left Sasaki's team with the confidence to design the technically demanding applications into the project"

Grant Garcia, Managing Director/Sterling Surfaces.

From a fabrication perspective, the collaboration only gets better. With the job bid, won and now under contract, the project schedule afforded Sterling the opportunity to partner with key fabricators to share project responsibilities. The nod went to Advanced Surfaces, Inc. of Corry, PA. and Kornibe Designs of Glasgow. KY. The three-way fabrication partnership allowed each company to bring their strengths to the table, completing the project on time.              

Every advanced fabrication project contains inherent learnings. The iLoft demonstrates that even 40 plus years down the road, CORIAN is still going to school!

For more information or to arrange a collaborative meeting about your upcoming project, please contact us at info@sterlingsurfaces.com

More information and photos about the Sasaki-LCCC iLoft project.

photo credit - Kyle J Caldwellphoto credit - Kyle J Caldwellphoto credit - Kyle J Caldwellphoto credit - Kyle J Caldwellphoto credit - Kyle J Caldwell

Recently Sterling Surfaces was honored to host a group of students from the Regional Technical School Building Trades and Construction, located in Montigny, Metz, France. The trip was sponsored by Thierry Delles of Crea-Diffusion, a cutting-edge Solid Surface fabrication company located in Solnge, amongst the farmlands and rolling hills of the Alsace-Lorraine region in the northeast of France.

During their visit, the students were shown how Sterling Surfaces uses complex software to create 3D Solid Surface thermoform shapes. The tour continued into the shop where demonstrations on thermoforming, 4-axis CNC work, fabrication, and sanding were given.

It was a pleasure to share with these attentive and interested students as Thierry explained the processes demonstrated, many of which are similar to those used at Crea Diffusion. It was fascinating to observe the respect they have for Thierry. Later, we learned from Thierry's employees that often, students graduating from Montigny are hired by Crea-Diffusion. It's a very desirable job to be employed by them, as they are known for the respect the show their employees and for giving back to the community. And they create world-class solid surface applications so the students get to be a part of an exciting profession. All at Sterling appreciated having such an outstanding and interested group of students visitinh; it was an honor for us. Much credit goes to the teachers and staff that came with them!

“The French Team” of educators:

Mr. Eric ACKEL- Teacher in the Joinery program

Mr. Jean Pierre CECILE- Math and Physics teacher

Mrs. Isabelle KERNER- French and History/Geography teacher

Mrs. Véronique BIDON- French and English teacher

I encourage you to view the school web-site. It's very impressive! You can also view their travel blog at www.tmaboston.canalblog.com

It was a fun day here for the staff of Sterling Surfaces. Giving back to our industry is something we take pride in, and we are honored to know Thierry & Isabel Delles and everyone at Crea Diffusion.  

When you think of Corian, the first thought that probably comes to your mind is countertops. Hence, the idea of a Corian pool might sound a bit unusual as an application. So when Roger Ferris & Partners from Westport, CT, approached us with the thought of cladding an outdoor pool with Corian, we were naturally very interested.

The idea was to clad a 15 feet wide by 77 feet long concrete pool with Corian on all four sides, the top and the coping return.

The first challenge was to figure out how the weather would affect the Corian. The pool was located in Long Island, NY, and experiences all four seasons of weather in full force, ranging from occasional 100 degree temperatures in the summer to frigid winter nights with temperatures often below zero and its fair share of windchill, being a stone’s throw from the Atlantic.

Another challenge was creating a way to apply the Corian to the interior concrete pool monolith. We had to take into consideration the co-efficient of expansion/ contraction along with the weight of the panels.

Also, how would Corian deal with the effects of UV exposure? Would the Corian fade? Would it be too hot to touch?

Here’s what we found:

• Effects of the sun: There can be some fading similar to what you would find in other outdoor materials.  The key is to pick a color that will fade minimally based on the manufacturer’s accelerated weathering tests. The color chosen for this project was Corian Strawberry Ice.
• Hot to touch: Have you ever touched playground equipment on a hot summer day?On sunny days, Corian gets warm much like other materials. Proper education to the end user is advised.
• Maintaining integrity of the panels: If not applied correctly, serious structural issues can result with the Corian. Without divulging proprietary information we can tell you the cladding is supported by a substructure that supports the weight and still allows the Corian to move as needed.

The end result was that the job could be done. The work was completed in the spring of 2012.

Enjoy this photo of the pool. For more pictures of our work to look at, please visit our website. Link: www.sterlingsurfaces.com

 1- There is no painting required. All wood signs need to be painted or sealed with a sealer or varnish. This protects the signs from wood rot. This would especially be needed in an outdoor setting. This is not necessary with Corian. You simply rout the sign along with some sanding steps and you have a sign that will last a lifetime, free of the maintenance a sign made out of wood would need.

 2 - Corian is nonporous. Why is that a benefit? A nonporous surface means germs can't survive on it. Hospitals know this and use Corian signs on a frequent basis throughout their buildings. The nonporous surface is a maintenance personnel's dream. Dirt can’t settle on the surface. A quick wipe of a rag removes any dirt that might accumulate.

 What also makes Corian a better option than wood is that not only can you engrave into Corian, you also can rout out letters or logos out of a different Corian color and insert them into the Corian.

Recently we assisted a local sign maker Wass Arthur Signs (http://www.wassarthur.com/)  on an outdoor hospital project they were doing. Our part of the job required us to use our CNC to rout out the letters and hospital logo.

 Please enjoy the followings pictures. Remember: Corian isn’t just for countertops!

The Rialta bowl measures 15.75” front to back, 23.5” left to right, and a depth of 5.5”. Rialta’s sleek angles gives it a crisp, sharp look unlike any other Solid Surface bowl.

Mounting methods range from under-mount to semi-vessel bowl applications.

The Rialta bowl is ADA compatible and can be mounted to a variety of surfaces such as, granite, concrete, engineered stone, and of course Solid Surface.

Through a unique and cost effective thermoforming process, the Rialta bowl can be made from any color acrylic Solid Surface such as, Corian, LG Hausys, Staron, Formica, Avonite and Wilsonart

Architects, Designers, Fabricators, and Homeowners please call for pricing. Specification drawings are available for review.

Please use specification #Rialta2315

Contact-Jon Olson
1-800-229-3321 ext 237
jon@sterlingsurfaces.com 

It's always nice to hear someone say nice things about your company. But, what was equally as exciting is what Paul said about Solid
Surface. Paul, we couldn't agree more.

Click here to see what Paul had to say. While you are there, check out the other fine articles Paul has written about Kitchen Design.