This is the EWN Podcast Network. Do you want fabulous countertops in your new home that you're building? With so many solid surface material options, how is a homeowner to choose? Join us today as expert Julie Arcele takes us from our our recent episode on natural stone to our conversation about man made countertops and sustainability.

Welcome to From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. When interior designer, Jana Rosenblatt, had an 80 foot tree fall in her house, she saw the opportunity to create the customized home of her dreams. From Disaster to Dream Home provides you with the information and resources Jana wished she had during her rebuilding process. Now she's sharing with you the expertise of leading architects and home builders and the newest products and materials on the market. Here's your host, Jana Rosenblatt.

Welcome back, home builders and remodelers, to another episode of From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that will take you through the process of building or rebuilding a new home from the ground up in 52 episodes. If you are rebuilding after the loss of your home or building a new home from the ground up, each episode of From Disaster to Dream Home will help you and your design team know what you will need to do and have available in the construction process to make it fluid so your dream can rise from the ashes. Our guest again today is Julie Arcele. We learned so much in our conversation with Julie about natural stone and its many uses, and we've asked her to join us again today for a deep dive into man made solid surface options for our countertops and other uses inside and outside of our homes. Julie is currently the designer sales manager at Constantino Los Angeles.

Julie's area of expertise is in assisting designers with product training and education so they, in turn, can educate their clients. For more than fifteen years, Julie has been active in the design industry, both in showrooms and through her involvement in the industry's top organizations, the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Interior Designers, and the National Kitchen and Bath Association. She has seen the changes and innovations in countertop materials firsthand, and her enthusiasm for natural and man made countertop materials is contagious. Constantino, as a company, has also made huge transitions from 1945 when they began harvesting natural stone in Spain to 1988 when they launched their first manufactured stone materials until today when they remain on the cutting edge of the industry with their man made Silestone, Sensa, and now Dekton ultra compact surface materials. Early in both of our careers, the solid surface countertop materials on the market were predominantly natural stone.

There have been so many changes in the last thirty years. As the material options and price ranges are so great, where do you begin when a customer comes into the showroom?

Anna, thank you for having me. I think what we do when the customer comes into the showroom is learn a little bit about their project, what space they're looking at, if they've got a colorway or a pattern or even something they wanna stay away from. So this way we can help guide them to the right product that would fit their lifestyle and their needs. And price is such a huge range in this industry. Do you try

to get an idea of their budget or do you go for the romance of what are they attracted to and then start talking about their financial options?

I think we've done this long enough if we see them gravitating to a certain, whether it's natural or manmade, then kind of give them an idea of what price point we're looking at. If we find maybe it's like a developer and they're coming in and looking for just a basic white, then we know not to show them a, you know, dollars 15,000 slab. So, I think just, again, as interior designers, you know, do and salespeople as well, kind of understanding a little bit, asking the proper questions against you're leading them in the right direction. You don't want to waste their time or your time showing them a product that they definitely don't even want to consider, whether it's price point or just the look.

And do people come in and ask about price early on? Like, are people nervous about that? Or is it a really Not

so much because of the Internet. We can Google and hone in and think, okay. Maybe this is where we wanna go. Rarely do you get someone that comes in for a price point. If it's someone who's flipping a home or a developer, you know, they may already have their connections in the industry.

So I think everybody's, you know, it's pretty transparent. We have to be. So you're not going to have a consumer coming in hiding the fact or what they're working on. But I think the internet, it has its positives and negatives, but most of us have an idea where we're going and what we're looking for, whether it's a jacket or a surface or something.

Well, and certainly, you know, that's your role is to educate designers so that I do try to educate the client to some degree before we go into the showroom so that, you know, I don't I don't like to create opportunities for disappointment. And I don't do it in a way that is gonna limit their choices as much as say, this is the this is the series of options you have. You can you know, this can be where you put your investment, or you can average that into the other materials that you wanna you know, that you have to work with and and spread out the funds?

I think in general, most salespeople should know that, you know, you're gonna put that higher ticket items maybe in the primary space or a guest bathroom where you want your guests to really enjoy that space. But our everyday use, you know, may, we may save a little bit of money there and it's more practical. You know, we want something more durable, but we also don't want to spend a lot of money as well. And then with our, you know, our kitchens are now the heart of the home. One hundred plus years ago, it was where our servants were.

So, now, it's, you know, more of that high point. So, you may want to spend a little bit of money there but there's other ways to cut those costs as well whether it's the back splash, a different finish on the plumbing or knobs or something to save a little bit of money to offset, you know, if you're looking at a rolled gem of a surface to put onto that kitchen counter.

Now, so when you're rebuilding a home, the contractor creates usually creates a budget for all the materials, and the countertop materials are in that budget. Do you find that people are who come in with their contractors' budgets have a a realistic expectation of what the varying materials should cost?

I think it depends on the contractor. Mhmm. So are they gonna use just a white or gray and call it a day, or are they gonna allow for a little bit more money to go into that budget when it comes to remodeling and having to work with budgets? The nice thing on pretty much across the board of any product, you have a good variety of a comfortable entry level product at price point, and then you can go up from there. So I think most manufacturers have a price point that could fit everyone.

And then obviously you have those that you have to kind of save up to obtain for those higher ticket items. But it just once in a while, or especially working with architectural firms that maybe are building a multi use, you know, they have that set budget, but there's a good variety, you know, you have a good amount of colors and styles and, you know, looks to pull from in those price points.

Yeah. I think that's it is one of the most difficult things for me, especially on a rebuilding project because, mostly people who are rebuilding after disaster are not people who chose to you know, thought they would ever, in their lifetime, build a new home. And so they are not the purse people who have been scanning Pinterest and, you know, creating files of, materials for years to see the process of how prices change over time. So, that's one of the, you know, first things I have to do is take a look at the budget and say, you know what? You have way too many lights in this room.

Let's add to the solid surfaces budget. Let's nip and tuck and, you know, and shift things a little bit because, I want them to have the flexibility to fall in love with it because it's such a major investment in their homes.

Yeah. %.

So the first man made solid surface countertops, were invented in the sixties and became popular in the nineties, which was DuPont's Corium. It's heat resistant, stain resistant, and it requires no yearly maintenance to preserve. Its surface has shine and durability. In all my years, I have only had one client request it for bathroom renovations. And it's got great qualities, but I find the colors and textures are dated, especially because those are the surfaces we are removing in household renovations now.

And it's probably what people had in their homes when they lost their homes to a fire or a disaster. And so what you know, coming into the mark this marketplace, that's not what they're looking for. Have you had any experience with Corian? And And what are your feelings about it as a current option?

Many years ago when I first came into the industry, I did have some experience with Corian. I did like it when it first came out. You were a bit limited, you know, when you think about it, even though you had the durability and the shine. When I think about Florian, just think of that muddled, you know, it was all one piece. Yeah.

We like to see the sink under, you know, under mounted from that, whatever surface that we have on top. It has its place. I don't see much of it anymore. Don't hear a lot about it anymore. I'm sure with technology, they've made some changes, but I really, to be honest with you, haven't seen it in the LA marketplace.

It is in it's in kitchen cabinetry showrooms, but it but I don't see it in, general tile and stone, showrooms anywhere. Yeah. So it's interesting. What's interesting to me is I actually when we first bought our home, it had Corian countertops, which, you know, were they were very neutral looking, but they were kind of a pretty blue with speckles. And I kinda loved it.

That was my first solid surface countertop, and so I just was thrilled to not have grout. So, you know, I I did enjoy them, but certainly as soon as I had an opportunity to replace them, I did. Then in the nineteen nineties, man made quartz started working its way into the industry and has gone from limited selections of colors and styles to endless range of options. What is quartz? The solid surface material.

So quartz is actual natural product. Quartz is what you find in marble. Quartz, it's kind of like a gray milky. So if you look at any I'm sorry, not marble, granite. So if you look at any granite, whether it has a gray color or just that black or white or even the pink, you'll see a little bit of a clear milky.

That's the quartz. The quartz is what gives natural stone its strength. As a manufacturer, we found, you know, natural stone is beautiful, it has its place, not everybody cares for natural stone, whether the fact that they don't have control over the pattern or the fact that they have to seal it. It's like a sponge. It's going to absorb everything that sits on top of it.

As we looked into Justice Cosentino, we were the very first manufacturer to introduce or produce quartz. As we did our research, as I mentioned, quartz is the part of granite that makes it so strong. So we harvest that quartz. We do bring in other minerals when it comes to quartz surfaces. We bring in glass or manufacturers will bring in glass.

They'll bring in porcelain as well. These are all items that would have gone into the landfill. So not necessarily pedestal sinks and toilets that would have gone out of a remodel home, but from those manufacturers, all of their scraps, any items that were broken during manufacturing that would have gone into the landfill. Companies purchased those. They purchased the run off or remnants from natural stone quarry so that we could pull that quartz out of it because we only need a little bit.

Uh-huh. We mix all of that together with a binder, which is a resin and that gets mixed into the quartz, the minerals that are in there, any pigments when you're adding color to those slabs, any porcelain or glass depending on the look or end look of that slab that you're producing. So that gets mixed into the solid surface or becomes a solid surface and all of those items are bind together by a resin. The only downfall when it comes to quartz, because you can, there's a number of companies that produce quartz product. For the most part, have the same mechanism or makeup in their DNA.

That resin can get damaged by high, high temperatures. So you can't take a pot right off the stove and place it onto the countertop or a tray, cookie tray out of the oven and place it onto the counter. But also countertop appliances, our countertop toaster ovens, even our toasters, our crock pots, they produce such high temperature that they can actually damage the quartz surface. The manufacturer actually will tell you to put a trivet down. So quartz and man made product is a great option for when you want a solid surface that is nonporous that you can cut directly on and not scratch.

You don't have to worry about sealing it. And you also don't have to worry about a great movement of pattern when you're trying to get that stone look. You have more control over that.

And so, what actually is resin? Is it a plastic?

Similar to a plastic, correct. And that's why it can't withstand a high, high temperature. Uh-huh. I see. But most of your quartz product or countertops are gonna have that binding agent in it.

And you're not gonna wanna use them outside because they'll be, also affected by sun or can you?

By sun and also the heat. So the sun can fade them or change the color. And then the heat could possibly, depending on the area of the country, damage the binding agent. So

quartz now comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns, many really successfully imitating natural marble. You can't even tell. The main pro for my clients is getting that desired white marble look without all of the drawbacks of real marble in terms of having to seal it and the things that can stain it and all of that. So they kind of get that high end kitchen look in our 1950s track home or whatever you're building, as well as in high end homes that just want that hyper function. So how do cooks feel about that?

We talked a little about chefs with natural marble. How do people who are really using their kitchens feel about the surfaces?

Well, nice thing about the solid surface is versus tile and grout. You'll have a solid surface. You can roll dough right out on that. You can write a note to the family or have the kids do homework on that. It's not going to be porous.

So you don't have to worry about while we do clean up after cooking raw meats, you don't have to worry about it sitting or maybe splattering somewhere and sitting on that counter With natural stone or even grout when and if you happen to have tile, it is a natural item. So the grout and it will absorb whatever is sitting on top of that. So you may have mold start to grow. With solid quartz surfaces, you don't have that issue. You can cut directly on top of most of them.

The only issue you have with quartz is a high, high temperature.

Yeah. So there's a lot of competition now in the marketplace for quartz. Are there differences in the materials composition and function from one brand to the next?

There could be a slight difference on what they're pulling in for, like I said, for the most part, the makeup of the product is gonna be the same. When you start looking at different manufacturers, you may wanna look at the sustainability of how they're harvesting those and or those products that they're putting in. At Cosentino, we take the planet to heart. We actually recently both our Silestone, which is our quartz and our DECTOM, which is our ultra compact, have been certified as carbon neutral. So with each slab that we produce, we're reducing our carbon footprint.

One, by how we're producing them because we're producing our own electricity. We're recycling all of our water. We have very little off gases from gas equipment running through the factory because it's all automated and robots moving around. But also the companies that we're working from that we're purchasing our goods from. We're purchasing porcelain and glass that would have gone into landfill.

So we're taking that out of the planet, the natural stone that we're pulling out, the quartz that goes into our quartz product. We're working with sustainable quarries that are taking or keeping the planet in mind. So when you're looking at price points in companies, you

know, who

are we working with? Who are we buying from? I know to some consumers that doesn't matter or maybe the budget doesn't quite fit. But just thinking about who you're purchasing from. And then also the quality of the product.

Lower price may not have a nice pattern to it or a real clean look to it. Also, thing too is one thing I didn't talk about, the fabrication side of it with our product, with quartz product and even natural stone, as they're cutting into that, they're releasing organisms that can cause cancer. So, considering as they're making that up, at Constantino, we were able to actually reduce the amount of spores come out as the fabricators are cutting in to it, the silica that comes out of the quartz, making it much more safer for the fabricators. So, there's a lot of factors that consumers don't always think about. They're just like, oh, that's a great price point.

I'm okay with that color, that finish. Yeah. But I think for the most part, a lot of companies, you know, they're being regulated by the government or by the countries. And we all have to be mindful and safe is what we're producing.

Interesting aspects to consider. So if I had a dollar for every time I've explained to a client that quartz is manmade and quartzite is natural stone, I could retire. Why do you think you know, wasn't there like another name we could come up with besides quartz like Fred?

Well, quartzite wasn't as prominent in the marketplace Yeah. As quartz products were being produced. They weren't quite sure. And as I had mentioned earlier, sometimes quartzite will be mislabeled incorrectly or marble will be mislabeled incorrectly because they resemble each other quite a bit. What makes quartzite and quartz products so much more durable than marble or even granite is the amount of quartz.

Quartz.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I mean, it has helped me to have this conversation with you. So I will be a little less a little more clear and lucid about my explanation when I am continuously explaining that factor.

About Well, and I think a lot of

companies have realized too, we really need to educate not just the trade that we call on as employees or representatives of those company, but also the consumers, making sure

that we're educating them as best as we can. This is true. About ten years ago, when I was designing dentist offices, I first became aware of porcelain slabs for countertops. I was looking specifically for nonporous countertop options that were impervious to liquids and chemicals, could stand withstand heat, and are easy to sterilize. So porcelain slabs at the time were rare, and finding a skilled fabricator was even more rare.

Now every showroom does have a version of porcelain solid surfaces. What are the pros for residential use?

So again, because it's manmade, you have the look of a natural stone in a manmade product. You have more control of that pattern. So when we're looking at those beautiful marbles that have all that veining and great pattern going through it, When it comes to porcelain or manmade, you have more control of what that pattern is going to look. So if you're pulling multiple slabs for a large kitchen or even flooring with porcelain, you have that same repeat pattern. Even though the one slab may have three or four patterns in it, the next slab is going to have the same repeat.

Sometimes you have book matching options. So when you're going on a larger scale, it's not just that one slab for that one island or that one backsplash. Going manmade with a porcelain or quartz, you have more control over the pattern so you don't get a real busyness going on. As far as that as you mentioned, the strength and durability of porcelain. It does have its downfalls.

And what are those? And

the ability to cut on it. So some downfalls on porcelain is we are placing the photo right onto that porcelain body, right? It's a tile or a full slab. Because it's a photo on top, the base is going to be white, which is fine if you have a white top, if you get a little chip or a nick, you're going to see the white. When you have an issue is when you're going darker, because we like all those colors or maybe a blue or a terracotta or a dark black.

If it does get a chip or a nick, you're going see the white body underneath. It's not full color all the way through versus a course that has full color and pattern going all the way through. So if you do get a chip or a nick, you're going to see just like natural stone. You'll see the same thing with natural stone. Also porcelain, because of the way it's produced, it's going to have a little bit of a bowing.

So it's not a perfectly flat straight. It looks flat from the top, but it has a little bit of a it's not a flat piece. So when you're going onto flooring, they have to be take that into consideration what they're setting that material in or even more so on stair treads. You can't have any of that bowing when they're installing that on there as well.

So what about for shower walls and places where I would think that it's lighter weight because it's thinner than natural material? So if you were working with some slab shower style, you be able to do that?

Again, yes, you can. But again, it's the mortar that they're putting in. So, that mortar allows that to kind of play with it. So, on the outside, it's all flat and perfect. But you may have a little mortar in the center because of that little bit of, it's not a flat piece.

Yeah, so that relies on the training of the fabricator, which is my next question. So what are the differences for fabricators in processing porcelain? Because I know in that and in dekton, you need to have a certificate to be able to process and fabricate those materials. What's the difference for the fabricator? So,

when it comes to natural stone and quartz and even quartzite, it's the blades that they're going to be cutting with. So, the stronger, the more denser the product, the better and stronger blades. Typically because porcelain is so strong or so dense, fabricators don't necessarily care to cut it because they go through blades pretty quickly. They may not want to put in the expense to buy the stronger blade where it's not going to cut. So, porcelain, unless they're kind of just laying that down, whether it's a full slab or certain size tiles that fit perfect, fabricators may want to shy away from it just because it's cutting into it, or they're going to charge more because they're going to be purchasing more blades.

Yes, they do. Yes, they do charge more.

So consider that while you're money and you're getting that look, consider what that fabrication cost may be.

Right. Exactly. Yeah. With almost all of solid surfaces, you have to weigh in both the factors. Also, it's interesting, but regionally, you know, I do a certain amount of work in in on the East Coast because I'm from there.

And there, the materials are are more expensive, but the and the fabrication is more expensive. And here, the fabrication is less expensive because we have more influx of really skilled people from Mexico and other areas. Is it known to you that there's a range in the cost of things across the country in different places?

Correct, yes. I think across the board on any type of product that you're selling, price point's gonna be different. Installation and fabrication is gonna be different.

Yeah. I mean, it's about the transportation to the area with these large materials as well as the labor available to do the fabrication.

Correct. And remember being on a coastal, you know, you've got ships that come in. You can offload those ships, put them on a truck and get them to that destination. If you're in the middle of the country, the ship has to come in, then it's gotta travel and Right. Train and

then even truck and things like that. So that sometimes can alter that and cost results. So but as porcelain is the only countertop that I know of, you can correct me if I'm wrong, that's specifically impervious to to heat and sun, is it it's great. Is it good for outdoor use? Is it a good thing to do in a outdoor kitchen?

It depends on, I want to say no. Because remember they're imposing a photo onto that body of So the UV, the sun is going to damage. If you've got some overhead or some shading, then not an issue. The only product that would be a great and better fit than porcelain indoors and especially outdoors would be our DECTON. So DECTON is an ultra compact surface and we are able to manipulate the beauty of mother nature with high-tech advances.

With Deton it is heat resistant and UV resistant. It has a twenty five year warranty, which means for at least twenty five years we can guarantee that you're not going to get a change in this color. You're not going to lose the pattern. Sometimes on the less expensive porcelain, you'll get a little bit of a you'll start to see the color kind of come off where those cuts were. With dekton, it's actually five times stronger than porcelain.

It does have full body color. So when you're going into that dark color, whatever that dark base is, even if there's veining, that's what's gonna be in that body and it's extremely flat. So you don't have to worry about installation, having to float things and set things, you know, or something might settle if you have too much mortar. So in comparison to porcelain, while it has its place, dekton would be a better fit when it goes, especially outdoors, but it's also a great application for indoors as well.

And what other materials would we be, wise to look for specifically for our outdoor barbecues and, fireplaces and things like that?

Obviously, you can put granite out there. Uh-huh. Because it is it it comes from nature. It's been outside its entire life. It is porous.

So you have to keep that in mind when you've got a lot of water, a lot of chemicals from pools, metal furniture sitting on it, you will start to get resting on that. And while it can be partially cleaned, you're still going to have that staining there. With Depton, you're not going to have that issue because you can remove whatever sits on top because it doesn't penetrate in to the product like natural stone. And then the other option, depending on the manufacturer would be porcelain to go outdoors.

So currently in your showroom, you have porcelain, you have dekton, you have No porcelain. Oh, okay. So, but dekton is your version of that kind of material of that category?

Not, it's a different category. So it's not our version of porcelain. Like I said, it does get compared to porcelain because of the strength, but it's actually five times stronger than porcelain.

So it's, stronger against chipping and scratching.

Correct, but also the weight. Or what the weight amount of weight is being applied. Decton has been applied in parking garages with not just vehicles going over, but also 18 wheelers going over. It's been placed on sidewalks in New York City. So, you think about the grit and brine.

And they can still clean and remove anything that's been applied onto the surface. And then they don't need to worry about the elements of mother nature. Decon does not expand or contract. So you can get extremely tight joint lines. With natural stone, it breathes, it expands and contracts.

If you lock natural stone in and you have a freeze thaw situation, it can actually explode. Same thing with porcelain. With depton, you're not going to

have that issue. And it's because of the technology and how we produce the product that it's amazing for outdoor use. So bringing it back to the indoor and to our kitchens per se, what is the most popular materials that you're actually selling? Have beautiful things to look at it. I could stay there all day.

But what are people purchasing specifically for their kitchens in terms of your manmade versus natural options?

Correct. So we started in the stone industry. We still have stone. We actually produced a sealer called Sensa that we have a patent on. So you do not need to seal your stone for fifteen years.

I think in general, quartz product has been extremely popular. You have the no maintenance to it. You have it's scratch resistant. It's not going to grow any mold or mildew. You have some great options of some colors and patterns.

We're seeing, especially in the Los Angeles area, our DECTON sales are really starting to grow. I think it's the fact that you can put heat directly on it. You can cut on it, you're going to dull your knife, but you're never going to damage that counter. You have some great options.

My husband would complain about that, but sharpen his knife again.

With Depton, our look of natural stone were so spot on to it that consumers are gravitating more to that because they don't need to seal it every year. They don't need to worry about cutting on it. They don't need to worry if wine or lemon juice was left on the counter for days at a time. Nail polish, it can come off. If it's outdoor and it happens to get spray painted on, they can remove the spray paint.

So we're seeing a huge trend in the LA marketplace across the board. And then some of the other areas like New York and Chicago. Canada, Declan is huge up there just because of the limitless possibilities of what you can do with it and where you can place it. So

that reminds me to talk about edge detail because, you know, there are many different ways to finish the edge of the countertop and it is one of the places for some creativity or simplicity. And if you're looking for a series of curves or rounded, which is a little bit dated, but there are still people who are really looking for a certain amount of curviness or that kind of beautiful, simple bevel cut or, you know, where you can join the material and it's seamless, you don't see a seam at all. What are the pros and cons of different materials in terms of how you can achieve that edge detail that you're looking for?

So when it comes to an edge detail, your pro on the surface that you're selecting is gonna be the fact that if you're going with a veining look, that that veining goes all the way through the body, which you're going to find in natural stone and most quartz product. When it comes to a manmade such as porcelain or Ardecton, you're going to have a limit. You know, everything has its pros and cons. You're going to have a limit on what edge detail you have. With porcelain, there's some manufacturers that do make that beveled.

But when you look at it versus the flat surface, it tends to look very fake versus a granite or marble that you're going to have a beautiful edge detail because that veining goes all the way through the surface. With the depton, you don't have full body veining yet. We will have that technology in 2023. So, in just a few months, we will be launching full body which will give you a few more options on edge detail. So with deck time, you're either going to get that straight, just clean, no detail.

You can miter the two pieces together so then you can make the front of that detail look a little bit larger versus the actual size of the slab. Or you can do what is called a shark nose. So if you think about a shark, the way the nose comes in a little bit or tapers in at the bottom, you can get that look with deck on as well. But big part of that is we don't have the full, body veining, which will limit your So

what you're doing is you're cutting away the body material so that you can join the top surface to the top surface. Luckily, mean, for me, the most beautiful, I don't know whether it's just the fashion or now or whether it's just classically gonna be there forever. That beautiful cut where you, you know, assemble the two together so that the edges on the detail, you know, on the on the very edge and then the pattern can flow over is the most beautiful way to do it anyway. And you can get so it looks like it's a thick chunk of material, whether it's, you know, natural stone or manmade, it looks like it's, you know, a couple inches thick and it's, you know, got body and stability and and all of Yeah.

I think we're going away a bit from that real decorative edge detail. Doesn't mean that it won't come back.

Yeah. I've noticed that certainly in the taste and what people are looking for in my clients, but I don't, I've been wondering whether it's because we're choosing materials which are better used with that mitered edge it's just, you know, so it's becoming more prevalent.

Yeah. I think too, yes, we're choosing a solid surface. And yes, we may want that elaborate or beautiful pattern and color. But I think because, and we're not talking about this, we have so many options for back splashes. Uh-huh.

That's where we're putting all of our time and our beauty. And it's complimenting the surface that we are, maybe we want the back splash to go away. But we have so many great patterns and sizes and just great detail that the two can complement each other. So, we don't need that really ornate decorative bull nose or nosing to that surface because we want to draw our eye up and focus more. When you think about when we started doing all those ornate finishes or edge details, we were limited on the backsplash.

It was a 4x4 or 3x6 tile. Some people would run the rest of the slab of the wall. But we didn't have a whole lot of options. So we got really decorative with our edge detail.

That's interesting. Everything has a cause and effect. And that's what's so interesting I think in this conversation. You have a real sense of this happened because that happened and this was something that was prevalent, so it made that happen and it's very interesting. So I know you've had a lot of experience in the appliance world.

So when clients are rebuilding, especially because they, again, haven't been researching for years as a hobby what they want to do, what are your suggestions in how to approach the appliances in a kitchen today?

Well, I think we've learned, unless you don't plan on staying in your home for a long period, you're gonna go with what's gonna sell the house. But I think as we're living in our homes and learning what does and doesn't work, as I mentioned before, to the pandemic, You want to think about the longevity of your appliance. Think about the planet and the earth. Most appliance manufacturers, and it's changing a little bit, when they produce that stove, that microwave, that refrigerator, their lifespan is seven to ten years. Doesn't mean your appliance isn't gonna last twenty something years.

My mother has my, I don't even remember what brand still in her garage that I purchased over twenty years ago. But most manufacturers are building appliances to last seven to ten years. So they're going to go into that landfill or you're going spend some money to have it fixed. Think about companies that you're going to work with that have a lifespan expectancy of maybe twenty years. But they're also considering and doesn't mean that those seven to ten year appliances don't consider this as well, but how long your food is going to last in your refrigerator?

How many times have you spent now hundreds of dollars at the market and come home and your strawberries have gone battered in two days or your lettuce or even the meat, you know, so you want to keep that into consideration. Also your state and county codes, you know, in Southern California gas, you know, we love our gas ranges and our gas appliances as it's getting more expensive, as we're being pushed more into solar panels. Do we want to consider when remodeling going into electric or even induction for our cooking surface? They have their advantages. Do we want to go with an oven that's electric versus gas?

Again, they have those advantages. When you think about the amount of water we waste, washing a plate versus loading up a dishwasher and running that once or twice a week. And what those manufacturers are doing with that water and how they're cleaning. So you're going, you know, as you mentioned before, and when it's coming, having to rebuild your home when you weren't planning on it, Thinking, you know, being a little bit smarter about our choices. We might be limited on a budget that we can't, you know, go spend all this money on this or that, but think about, okay, what didn't work for me in that home?

Yes, I love my home and unfortunately I lost it, but I didn't like the way my gas oven was, you know, I had turned the tray halfway through the meal to get the cookies to brown on the other side. So, there's a lot of options out there and really working with your designer but also the salesperson making sure that they're educating you and taking your needs into consideration.

So then are there any other innovations in countertops that we haven't talked about?

What's becoming a little more trending, it's challenging the manmade companies to rethink this is integrated appliances. So, the way they see the future is you're going to put your pot on that surface and there's going to actually be an induction top underneath that surface and you're going to be able to cook. For you to be able to come over to your countertop and that's actually your device like an iPad or something that you're touching. So, you're actually doing it on the counter and it's projecting onto the wall. Right.

You know, as much as we may not like technology, it's here. It's only going to be more advanced. In reality, it's going to make our life easier. Think about having a solid surface and that's also your cooking surface. Right.

And you're not having crumbs and critters getting into whatever that cooktop was used So that's pushing the technology for the manufacturers of how they can marry those two. When you think about a wall oven, your wall oven has a window, correct? Or just your oven in general, even if you have a stove. It has a window. The only reason why that window is there is for you to be able to see that there's a fire in that oven.

Oh, I thought it was to, you know, ogle your cookies or your turkey.

Yeah. Or you don't have to open or you can see. Right. Because manufacturers have, they have to produce an oven cavity that will contain a fire for up to two hours. If you're upstairs, if you're outside, may not smell it, But you need to be able to walk by and look and go, oh, is my roast on fire or did I burn my cookies?

It's not to see, oh boy, they're going to be done two minutes early. It's to be able to see that fire. Where technology is though, is you could technically cover that oven with a custom panel and be able to look on your device because you'll get a notification on your smartphone that there's a fire in your oven. That would be useful. Yeah, But we're not there technically where we're all gonna be connecting our appliances to our smart device or the TV in the family room where you're watching the and you get a prompt that says, you know, your cookies will be done in two minutes or the oven's been turned off your meal is complete.

I see.

You know, I'd rather get the warning about my cookies than about the fire in my oven, but it's better to get it than to have an issue. That's for sure. Yeah. Wow. That is really interesting.

I I had no idea. It makes complete sense. I mean, especially with induction cooktops and all cooktops and all of the different ways appliances are going that those materials are gonna find a way to merge and that cause changes in both industries. So Julie, I'm curious, what kind

of countertops do you have in your house? I do have quartz. I had tile for a long time and I hated it. Oh yeah, I get that. And so I do have quartz.

I am trying to talk my husband into it because it's only been a few years since we've done our kitchen putting our DECTON in. Blown away by the durability, by the look. Yes. I mean, it's just absolutely beautiful and to not have to worry about sealing a natural stone. I can get that look with the quartz.

Uh-huh. Worry about what's being placed on the counter, whether or not, you know, the husband or the kids put a trivet. We just recently adopted a Siberian Husky she's grabbing stuff off the counter. We're working on that, but what is she pushing or grabbing when I'm not in there? So, that's where I'm starting to get them on board.

But I like the longevity. I like the sustainability of it. Both our products are cradle to grave. So, once you remove those products out of the home or even if they're damaged in a fire, they can be broken down and reused and put back into other counters, which I like as well.

That is great. You anticipated my last question, which is if you were to do it again, what would you choose? I also have, when I did my kitchen again, it was quartz. I love my quartz. It's amazing.

I think I would also look toward dekton or something when I, if I ever got to do it again. But I'm just grateful I got to do it the last time when the team fell on my house and made everything possible for our organization.

Well, I think as you're rebuilding or even just remodeling. You know, yes, we choose to remodel, so we may have saved up to do that. And unfortunately in a rebuild or because of a disaster, we have no choice. But manufacturers across the board are smarter and technology is making things easier and better and we have more options, which is really great. When you think about kitchens, it was a stove, maybe a dishwasher and a refrigerator, maybe even a hood.

Some didn't even put it in a hood. And now you have endless possibilities of what you can do. And that, you can see that as a benefit of unfortunately living through disaster and having to rebuild what you can do a little better or change that you may not have liked in your home prior?

Yes, it's looking at it as an opportunity instead of a disaster, which takes time, but

is the blessing, you know, the The silver lining.

That's right. The silver lining. So with the combination of our episodes on natural and man made solid surfaces, we hope that you feel confident beginning your search for the solution that fits your lifestyle and aesthetics best. You can find more information about solid surfaces at consantino.com, and you can find Julie on, Instagram at JulieArcele and on Facebook at JArcele to continue the conversation. And we would love to hear from you with any questions and comments you have about any of our topics or any of our guests at www.fromdisastertodreamhome.com.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. Each week, we bring you time practices and the latest trends through conversations with top professionals in the building industry. You can find other episodes of From Disaster to Dream Home at ewnpodcastnetwork.com, as well as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, and most other major podcast streaming services. Need design help? You can contact us or find out more about our guests at fromdisastertodreamhome.com.

Until next time, let us guide and inspire you as you create the home of your dreams.

Thanks for listening. This is the EWN Podcast Network.