I was reminded of this thread as we re-did our countertops this weekend. We were going to go with corian but it was so expensive and it was months before we could get on the schedule to get it installed so we opted for something different. It's called
Instant Granite. You can see the results we got in the picture below:
It really does look and feel like granite. I was very skeptical of it at first. It's a 2 mil thick PVC covering and it has a soft feel to it at first but it seem to cure a bit over about 24 hours. It was very easy to install especially since we took the old sink our and put the new one in after cutting to fit although cutting around the sink would have been pretty easy too.
It can take heat up to about 180 degrees so we have to be sure we use something for hot pans. If it ever does get gouged, just cut the offending piece out and lay down new - I dare you to try and find the seam in one of our
mistakes in the
photo, that stuff matches up exceedingly well! The only seam you can really see is where the lid is for the pots.
If you're thinking of doing something quick, easy and
cheap, I gotta tell ya that this stuff seems to be the real deal.