Countertop

A countertop may be constructed of various materials with different attributes of functionality, durability and aesthetics, and may have built-in appliances, or accessory items relative to the intended application.The common fitted Western-style kitchen, developed in the early 20th century, is typically an arrangement of assembled unit cabinetry covered with a more-or-less continuous countertop work surface.The "unfitted" kitchen design style exemplified by Johnny Grey may also include detached and/or varied countertop surfaces mounted on discrete base support structures.It can also act as kick space that may not have been provided at the floor, allowing a person to stand closer to the countertop, improving ergonomics.Materials such as lab notebooks, pencils, extra papers and folders are advised and expected to be stored away in the provided spaces or inside the drawer.Commonly, initial countertop fabrication takes place at or near the quarry of origin, with blocks being sawn to thickness and then machined into standard widths (600mm and upwards), before being surface polished and edged.[citation needed] This practice is called "cut to size" A wide range of details may be pre-machined by the fabricator, allowing for installation of different sinks and cooker designs.The material composition consists of a single thin sheet of laminate (typically .030" - .040" in thickness) that gets bonded to a 45# density particle board substrate (or other similar base material such as MDF - medium density fiberboard, or plywood), with a PVA adhesive (poly vinyl acetate - a water-based adhesive).Traditionally postform countertops were manufactured with a solvent-based contact cement (a highly flammable, volatile organic compound - VOC).However, in today's marketplace PVA adhesives have taken over for reasons of environmental responsibility (no VOC's), safety (non-combustible), economy, and strength of the glue line.Because of this diversity, the postform countertop can satisfy a wide variety of design applications, and due to its economy, it can be easily replaced to provide a fresh appearance in any room.This method can't reproduce the curved contours of post-formed countertopping but can be made to easily conform to a much-wider range of floor plans with fewer seams.[3] Testing has shown that they retain much of the toughness of quartz but display increased ductility due to the resin, improving impact resistance.Concrete, especially precast, lends itself to a high degree of customization due to the phase-change nature of its creation, filling a specific form with a fluid material which hardens (through mineral hydration) to a durable cast stone.Color choices, edge styles, three-dimensional sculpting, and integral features such as sinks, drainboards, and decorative embedments are design options which may be incorporated.Due to its site-specific and generally handmade nature, concrete countertops are often produced by small shops and individual artisans although there are several large-scale manufacturers of gauged slabs.The process of using a mold also allows the fabricated countertops to have features such as different surface textures and a vast array of colors which natural stone can not.In a similar fashion, with stainless steel, a sink may be welded into the countertop; the joint is then ground to create a finished, concealed appearance.