Need a license to buy Corian?

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I thought this went away. The DuPont website says that I still need a license to buy Corian.

I want to make a vanity with a 'granite' like surface, as well as other things in my bathroom. Are there any other suppliers of solid surface material that don't require a license?

-Jeff :)

[Steve Clardy]

Not sure. Last I checked, it was all licensed.
I never pursued it. License, schooling, etc.
So I just send my customers that want corian to the corian store.

[Steve Rowe]

Jeff, you may want to do a search on surfacefabrication dot com. This site has a list of solid surface manufacturers. I understood that with Corian you did need a license but am not sure that is the case with all. I am pretty sure that I could purchase solid surface material from Paxton (at least until they sold out in my area) from another manufacturer. I just don't remember which one.
Steve

[Chris McDowell]

Jeffrey, I get all my solid surface from Dovae. It is in Austin Texas. They don't require a license to buy, but I don't know about warranty on the fabrication. I registered with them as a certified fabricator so I don't have to worry about that. If it's just for yourself, they would be a great place to try.
Nice color selections,10 year warranty, and great prices. If you need any more information on them , just let me know. Best of luck.

Chris

[Doug Shepard]

I ran into the same thing when I wanted a slate-like "Corian". I ended up finding a color/pattern I liked from Wilsonart which I was able to buy at a local plywood & cabinetmaking supplier (with no license).

[Charles McKinley]

I can't remember whoe it was for, it may have been Vangura, you had to take their course that was $400.00 and you got to keep the top you made in the class to be able to buy it.

If this is something you may do more than once it may be worth your time and money to take the class. Also look aroung Corian isn't the only game in town anymore.

[Mark Riegsecker]

At first I was going to ask why you would need a licence until I remembered what I did to my Mother-in-law's counter top about 40 years ago.
Someone saw that and said " We better start licencing these guys!":D

[Joe Jensen]

Corian does require a license. Years ago I attended a 5 hour installers school at the distributor so I could qualify. I couldn't even get pricing before I attended the school. Once I completed the school and and saw the pricing I changed the project. A 5 foot long by 3 foot wide kitchen table top was going to over $1000 for materials. If I remember right, the special glue was like $300 of the total. Also, back then if you could certify that it was for a commercial (like a Doctor's office) install it was 1/2 the price of residential installs. I use granite or marble for nearly the same price for stuff like that...joe

[Roger Barga]

I have no experience buying or working with corian. However, I have made a few hallway tables, two book cases and patio table for around our house using granite. I was suprised how affordable it was to purchase "remnants" from local stone shops. These remnants are apparently leftovers from a home building job, in which the contractor paid for the slab(s) but only took the finished counters with them; in one case the shop had two full slabs of granite left over and were open to any reasonable offer. Just a thought...

Roger

[Cecil Arnold]

You might want to look here: stonewood.safeshopper.com they advertise corain to the public.

[Chris McDowell]

One reason I mentioned Dovae is they are considerably cheaper than Corian. The quality is there but in a much more affordable package. By all means check around, you might find something closer to you.
The main reason I ever got involved with Dovae is I got tired of seeing my customers being taken advantage of. Corian is the original inventor of solid surface, but the license is more of a way to control supply and demand than guarantee quality control. I just repaired a section of Corian countertop in a customers house.
It was installed by a licensed installer and they did a poor job, and I'm being polite. I repaired a sag behind the stove after putting Dovae in their bathroom.
If you do decide to go with solid surface, they now make silicone with actual solid surface polymers that will match with your countertop. It's not that expensive, especially when you consider the results. As a matter a fact I believe the company may also make it for granite, but don't hold me to that.

Chris

[Joe Jensen]

I thought this went away. The DuPont website says that I still need a license to buy Corian.

I want to make a vanity with a 'granite' like surface, as well as other things in my bathroom. Are there any other suppliers of solid surface material that don't require a license?

-Jeff :)

One more thought. In the class the main thing they emphasized was how the material is relatively fragile. Not heat resistant, not scratch resistant. I'd pick natural stone every time if possible...joe

[Joe Chritz]

Check out avonite.

Don't know anything about their policy but I have used it and it is good stuff.

Joe

[Craig Feuerzeig]

PM me... I can get it for you, or give you other local options.:)

[Ed Carpenter]

Try http://solidsurface.com. You'll find b-grade and premium-grade full sheets. They also have surplus sheets of varying sizes. They sell to those without certification.

[Max Speedwell]

An elderly (very elderly!) friend of mine who still works in the shop every day
created the installer class for Corian. Several years later he called DuPont
to buy Corian direct. They asked if he had the class and was a licensed installer.
He told them no, but I created the class to train your installers. No amount
of explaining would change their minds. They insisted he take his own class
before they would sell him any product.

I however did have limited success with Corian. My first kitchen was in 1969.
I told the salesman that I had decades of experience, and despite not being
licensed to install Corian, I did know how to install it and was aware of most
of the quirks with installing. He agreed to sell me the Corian. The price was
about $60 less than the product with the installation. I'm doing a shower (now
retied and doing work for myself only) and vanity soon. I'll just do and end-run
on Dupont and buy Avonite or Dovae.

-Max

[Ethan Melad]

I've seen some really nice stuff done with LG Hi-Macs, and I don't think you need any license or certification. Check lghimacsusa dot com for retailer info.

[Curt Harms]

Easy, but there'll be no warranty. Check Ebay, search for "solid surface" or "corian". Or go to solidsurface(dot)com. There's a guy in Connecticut that is selling overstock. There's also a vendor in S. Florida selling a brand called "element". Element looks interesting in that it's claimed to be somewhat flexible.

Edit: I went to Ebay and checked on the "element" brand. $235 for a 144" X 30" sheet is cheap! I have no idea about the shipping though.

[Dan Hintz]

Gentleman, please note this threads is 7 years old... comments about needing the be licensed to purchase Corian no longer apply.

[george newbury]

Gentleman, please note this threads is 7 years old... comments about needing the be licensed to purchase Corian no longer apply.
Now you went and took all the fun out of it!!

[Keith Outten]

Dan,

To the best of my knowledge you still need to be certified to purchase 1/2" thick Dupont Corian unless you are a sign company. I believe that the dealers will sell 1/4" thick Corian to anyone.

Note the Dupont warranty is only valid if a counter top is installed by a certified technician so there is no warranty on Corian that is sold for sign fabrication.
.

[Curt Harms]

Gentleman, please note this threads is 7 years old... comments about needing the be licensed to purchase Corian no longer apply.

I know I can't just walk into the local distributor and buy it. I couldn't even take the installer's class unless referred by an authorized business as of about a year ago. I presume DuPont - or perhaps their distributors - has agreed to limit the number of authorized businesses and thus competition within a given geographic area. How long that will last remains to be seen, I guess. The fabrication manual is readily available for anyone who wants it. I can certainly see where DuPont would not be willing to warranty their material unless it were installed according to their standards. There are some Youtube videos of solid surface installs that were true hack jobs.