Dear AT,
I'm redoing a kitchen and have fallen in love with a counter surface of concrete and recycled glass. The Consumer Reports kitchen issue is not pleased with concrete's heat/stain performance. Does anyone have opinions about IceStone or concrete counters in general?
Thanks,
Amy
We simply don't know about Icestone, but do remember that Dwell reviewed a number of counter surfaces last January and didn't think highly either of the concrete they reviewed. It seems to stain easily. Icestone has more glass in it though. Anyone else, please...? (Thanks, Amy!) MGR
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Comments (6)
IceStone is an awesome product. Beautiful, recycled content and excellant specs (esp. heat from hot pans). Just ask them for their ASTM test results. Like any durable surface yearly treatment of coating keeps it looking like it was just installed. They have cornered this boutique, but expanding, market.
Icestone is NOT an awesome product. We had this stuff installed in our kitchen and couldn't be more displeased with the investment. It is INCREDIBLY porous (i feel like it ATTRACTS STAINS) and the sealer that was provided in the factory did nothing to assist in stain prevention. Wish I hadn't made the extra investment and gone "green". Lots of money down the drain. Icestone informed me it was improperly sealed but they would not respond with the name of an appropriate sealer so that we could rectify the issue. People in DC: Don't buy from EcoGreen Living. Customer service ends as soon as they get your credit card.
Icestone customer service.... is non existent!!!
Nasty and pretentious people with no responsibility once the product leaves their yard.
They think they are making the best thing since sliced bread.
Far from it...
I had Icestone counters installed in my kitchen 3 months ago.
I picked them because they were beautiful and green. This was a very expensive MISTAKE. I have water stains and etching around my sink from standing water (no more than 1hour).Every spill has to be immediately wiped up. They are extremely impractical and very porous. The counters are green when they leave the factory and the sealants they use in a attempt to preserve the green character of the stone are totally impractical. They don't withstand anything you would do in the kitchen. I contacted Icestone and they will do nothing, no warrenty. The store I purchased them from (CERAMIC TILE DESIGN IN SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA) were equally unwilling to do anything. If I could afford to rip them out and replace them I would do so.
We're investigating using IceStone in our kitchen. I spoke at length with one of the very nice, helpful, main reps at Icestone yesterday, and he forewarned me that while IceStone is durable and does need to be sealed, any food containing acid (e.g., lemon, lime, vinegar) needs to be wiped up immediately or it will eat away the cement in the countertop. Hmmmm.....a bit concerning....As for alternatives, the only places that carry Vetrazzo around here are EXPENSIVE (they even charge twice as much as other places for the IceStone). Would love Enviroglas, but they were not at all helpful when I contacted the company...
Oh, one more thing--there are some other places to investigate, like Shektastone, and even Caesarstone has jumped on the 'recycled glass' bandwagon!