If you are thinking about new countertops now is a great time to consider buying new appliances. Why? Because your new granite, engineered stone or solid surface countertops will be custom fabricated to fit your existing appliances. Refrigerators, stoves and cooktops have an expected working life of 10–15 years. If your stove or refrigerator is 5 to 10 years old you may be replacing it sooner than later. Since appliance openings are not standardized a new stove or refrigerator may or may not fit an opening fabricated for an older model.
When replacing a range keep in mind the three types of cooking ranges available today, freestanding, slide-in and drop-in. Never assume a new range will fit in an old appliance opening. Each type has a cabinet opening specified by the manufacturer. Those dimensions have a direct bearing on the fit and finish or your countertop.
In addition, countertops that adjoin a freestanding range have different installation requirements than those for a drop-in or slide-in range. Free standing ranges have openings that extend from the front of the cabinet face-frame all the way to the back wall. Slide-in and drop-in ranges generally are not as deep and require a rail installed behind the appliance to complete its built-in look.
If you currently own a drop-in range you be aware that replacing it is more difficult than replacing a free standing range. Some manufactures have stopped building this type of range. If you replace a drop-in with either a slide-in or to a free standing range it will also require cabinet modifications that must be completed before we can even template your countertops.
Refrigerator openings are another issue. As a rule, the larger the opening the better. While you may never supersize your current refrigerator the person who purchases your home in the future might. The size of that refrigerator opening can become an issue you would otherwise have never foreseen.
Because your countertops are fabricated and finished prior to installation it is absolutely essential that we have the final cabinet dimensions before we begin the fabrication process.
In 1993 Solid Surface Designs, Inc., began business as a factory certified fabricator-installer for DuPont Corian. Since then we have grown to become the region's largest fabricator and installer of Granite, Quartz and Solid Surface countertops.
If you need help with an estimate, give us a call at (417) 258-2787 and ask for Doug, Holly, Mitchell or Sarah.