Who says you can't buy Corian (or other solid surface)?

[Curt Harms]

Mods, this is not exactly woodworking related so feel free to move it if you wish. I may rue the day I showed SWMBO how to use Ebay. She's been on a kitchen refurb kick. Found backsplash tile she liked but hadn't settled on countertops. She was looking at solidsurface(dot)com but was concerned about shipping and how to handle full sheets at 100 lbs. plus. Then she found an ebay seller that goes by Tomstoybox1. She sent a message and found his name is Tom Phillips and he has a business in Milford CT. called Surface Techniques. He just bought the business including inventory and is trying to liquidate some of it. He didn't have the color she wanted but was willing to order it. I thought the non-'blessed' couldn't buy full sheets of solid surface materials. He said we cannot buy from DuPont or whoever but we can buy all we want from him and DuPont has no problem with it. I asked about posting here and he said go ahead. The caveat is that all identifying marks must be removed before it goes out his door so there's no warranty claim possible. We also bought a matching sink which he did not remove I.D. marks from. We drove up one morning in my Ranger. He cut a pallet down which fit nicely between the wheel well. He had ordered 1.5 sheets and cut them slightly oversized based on our rough drawing. That way the longest piece was only about 5' long. Cushioned things with cardboard and strapped 'em tight to the pallet. He does have some neat toys - Steibig(sp?) panel saw, Robland slider saw, a $$$$ machine that will route a V groove, apply tape and create a drop edge in one pass. He also got us the glue & gun for a decent price. Pretty nice option for those of us in the mid-Atlantic and lower New England areas. He does list local pickup only. The current ebay listing is 170826021419.

[johnny means]

If word of this post got to Dupont, they would cut him off. My question is, do you know what your doing with that stuff? Nothing hurts more than seeing a rookie mistake ruin a $600 slab. Take your time, triple check everything.

[Dan Hintz]

If word of this post got to Dupont, they would cut him off.
Nah, DuPont has supported this for a number of years. Anyone can get the sheets, just contact DuPont (don't have the number handy, but a good contact person has been posted several times by Keith in the Engraver's forum) and they'll set you up an account with the local distributor. It's not the cheapest stuff to work with, but there's no problem getting a hold of it.

[johnny means]

Guess they loosened up on this stuff when competition sprang up. I remember when you literally had to take a class in order to purchase wholesale.

[Dan Hintz]

Guess they loosened up on this stuff when competition sprang up. I remember when you literally had to take a class in order to purchase wholesale.

No class anymore, just mention what you plan to do with it (like me, I just say I engrave signs with my laser) other than install countertops and they give the thumbs up.

[Stephen Cherry]

No class anymore, just mention what you plan to do with it (like me, I just say I engrave signs with my laser) other than install countertops and they give the thumbs up.

Hey Hey, look who's back!

[Rick Fisher]

Its amazing .. I am in the building supply business and remember back pre 2008.. Manufacturers where staunch with rules, regulations and arrogance. Few are like that today ..

[Jeff Duncan]

Pre 2008 people were buying houses and building kitchens, post 2008......different story;)

JeffD

[Ken Dolph]

If they catch him advertising that he will do this DuPont has no choice but to shut him off. Their contract with all fabricators protects them from gray market selling of Corian. They shut down the largest fabricator in Nebraska several years ago for doing this. Corian arrived with a truck and a warrant. When they were done there was not enough Corian in the shop to turn a pen. I know because the owners father called me for some Corian to make promised pens. When he bought the business Tom should have read his contract. Selling the odd piece that will not hurt other fabricators ( like signs ) is usually let go.

DuPont did not want it this way but 50 years ago the fabricators demanded protection before they would fabricate what was then an unproven product.

[Dan Hintz]

I don't see him doing anything wrong, Ken... DuPont has no issue with any of us purchasing the stuff for non-countertop use.

[johnny means]

I would bet that Corian's fading popularity also makes the rules a lot less important to Dupont.

[Rick Fisher]

In Canada right now .. The way it works is " don't ask, don't tell " .. In other words, if you get caught, we cant support it .. but we would prefer you don't get caught...

[Keith Outten]

It's my understanding that Dupont Corian cannot be sold to anyone other than a certified installer if it is to be used as counter-top material. Signs are a different issue altogether. If you purchase Corian for the purpose of making signs you are not supposed to sell to another person who intends to fabricate a counter-top.
.

[Bob Reda]

By removing all markings are you sure it is corian? Not that that makes any difference, but if its abornite or some other plastic whats the difference. The only thing the corian is if not certified they will not warrant the counter top because of technique and such. I don't understand the reomving of the corian name which is usually stamped all over the back of it, took some time to remove them all.

Bob

[Curt Harms]

If word of this post got to Dupont, they would cut him off. My question is, do you know what your doing with that stuff? Nothing hurts more than seeing a rookie mistake ruin a $600 slab. Take your time, triple check everything. That's why I've hesitated about posting this and checked with him before posting. Yeah, cutting this stuff wrong would be a little more consequential than screwing up a piece of poplar. If he posts on ebay, he can't be too concerned. I suspect that with other solid surface vendors coming on the scene, DuPont may become a little less protective though the other solid surface manufacturers seem to have similar restrictive policies. Tom claims to have been in the business for 20 years so presumably he know what he's doing.

[Curt Harms]

By removing all markings are you sure it is corian? Not that that makes any difference, but if its abornite or some other plastic whats the difference. The only thing the corian is if not certified they will not warrant the counter top because of technique and such. I don't understand the reomving of the corian name which is usually stamped all over the back of it, took some time to remove them all. Bob My understanding is that without with batch # or whatever, there's no warranty claim possible, it's just generic solid surface material.

[Curt Harms]

Guess they loosened up on this stuff when competition sprang up. I remember when you literally had to take a class in order to purchase wholesale. With C.H. Briggs that's still the case. And you can't just pay $150 to take the class, you have to be sent by someone with an account there.

[Ken Dolph]

Ours was the first company allowed by DuPont to sell Corian outside of the system. We have sold Corian for 20 years for art and industrial use.

All of the fabricators, dealers and distributors had to sign off on what we do. I have restrictions to provide due diligence for DuPont that we are not harming those under contract. DuPont has been sued in the past over not defending the contract. This is not strictly about warranties. Though that is part of it. It is mainly about protection of the DuPont quality name and the fabricators business.

The system may now be archaic but it is still in place and the fabricators have a right to sue DuPont if they do not defend the contract (certification).

[Myk Rian]

I don't see him doing anything wrong, Ken... DuPont has no issue with any of us purchasing the stuff for non-countertop use.
Perhaps, but re-read the third sentence in the OP.

[Dan Hintz]

Perhaps, but re-read the third sentence in the OP.
Yep, but it's not up to the supplier to query or keep track of the final use... if I pull up and ask for 10 sheets, the onus is on me not to use it for countertops, just for engraving signs. If I installed it in someone's home as a countertop and they made a warranty claim, DuPont would want to know my name (the installer), they wouldn't ask the owner who did the installer get the material from.

So again, this guy is not doing anything wrong.

[Ken Dolph]

Dan

I do not know why you don't get this.

If Tom is buying from a DuPont distributor, he has a contract. The purpose of this contract is to protect the interests of DuPont for quality installations and the fabricators for loss of business to DIYers, and it did this time. In that contract, strictly speaking, it is his responsibility to maintain control of the Corian he purchases. In fact all waste must be destroyed and disposed of in a way that it cannot reasonably used again. If the OP brags about his "Corian" counter top and it fails because of bad installation, DuPont gets a bad name. If another fabricator looses business because of this, DuPont has not protected its partners.

If you buy a house, there may be a codicil in the deed that you cannot change some part of it. The building codes may say it is just fine but your deed may keep you from doing this. The consequences may be that the house reverts to the original owner. Just because you buy things does not always mean that you have complete control.

[Dan Hintz]

So if I take the Corian I purchase for signs and install it as a countertop, you're telling me DuPont is going to try and go after the person that sold it to me? I think suppliers would get sticky with their supply real quick if that happened... and don't you think DuPont would stop letting people like me be able to purchase it? They don't seem to have any issue with letting me pick it up, as long as I say I'm going to use it for things other than countertops... the onus is on me, not the guy I buy from.

[Curt Harms]

Dan

I do not know why you don't get this.

If Tom is buying from a DuPont distributor, he has a contract. The purpose of this contract is to protect the interests of DuPont for quality installations and the fabricators for loss of business to DIYers, and it did this time. In that contract, strictly speaking, it is his responsibility to maintain control of the Corian he purchases. In fact all waste must be destroyed and disposed of in a way that it cannot reasonably used again. If the OP brags about his "Corian" counter top and it fails because of bad installation, DuPont gets a bad name. If another fabricator looses business because of this, DuPont has not protected its partners.

If you buy a house, there may be a codicil in the deed that you cannot change some part of it. The building codes may say it is just fine but your deed may keep you from doing this. The consequences may be that the house reverts to the original owner. Just because you buy things does not always mean that you have complete control.

But it's NOT a Corian sheet. There is not one identifying mark on it. DuPont is no longer the sole source of solid surface material like it was 10+ years ago. Presumably the patents have expired, or others have found a way around them. For all anyone knows it could be Avonite or Staron or Meganite or ......

[Steve Rozmiarek]

This thread brilliantly illustrates how a company can make a product irrelevant by trying to control its marketing too tightly in today's information rich environment.

I wanted to try Corian on a project 8 years ago, until I couldn't source it and the local guy wanted stone prices. Now we can buy non DuPont, as a familiar product because we could source it. Stupid marketing.

[Keith Outten]

There is a contractual agreement between Dupont and anyone who purchases Corian.
This means that if you purchase Corian you agree to the terms of the contract.
If you sell small pieces it is unlikely that anyone could use them to fabricate a counter-top or vanity.
You should not sell large pieces to anyone who is not a certified installer or sign company.

Steve is right in that Dupont's policies will cost them sales, but its their call to make.
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