Glass countertops

Bring modern look to kitchens with Glass Countertops

The most important portion in any modern home is considered to be the kitchen and homeowners will give their utmost attention to the kitchens while remodeling or building a new kitchen.  The most important accessory that one feels he has to pay more attention to, is the kitchen countertop. It is considered that countertop is the focal point in any kitchen. There is a wide range of materials used in making kitchen countertops right from porcelain to the ceramic tile to the natural stones to the man made countertops like stainless steel and glass. All these countertops have their own advantages as well as disadvantages and homeowners choose them depending on their budget, need and the look s that it brings to their kitchen area. Of these different types of countertops, glass countertops are becoming the most popular among homeowners who like to bring stylish, trendy, modern sleek and new look to  the kitchen. Glass kitchen countertops provide a on traditional look to the kitchen and can be custom made to give a contemporary look as well as provide light and sophistication to any kitchen.

Glass, over the years has been used for various applications like bottles used for storing wine and pickles, in making windows, to make glass slippers etc. But the use of glass as a kitchen countertop has been a recent trend that is slowly gaining more and more popularity all over the world. The transparency in glass adds more beauty even to the dull looking kitchen area and gives it a prestigious look. But light weight glass is not recommended for making kitchen countertops as it is very brittle and can break easily. So, people prefer to go for thicker or tempered glass for their kitchen countertops that will provide the required strength to the glass in holding up some weight.

Some people prefer glass to be set on a solid surface which will also enhance the beauty of the kitchen area. This type of artistic pairing of glass on a solid surface will make glass perfectly compliment with the solid surface and will also bring out the natural grain looks of the wood or the stone and will further enhance the countertop. Tempered glass is the most preferred type of glass kitchen countertop and is not completely break free which many people believe it is. But compared to the normal glass, tempered glass is much stronger and reliable. The glass countertop with its added strength can be designed with a lot more options than just resting on the solid surface.

A tempered glass can be used to create a floating glass countertop by just placing the glass surface over several points fixed on the solid surface countertop that will bring out a floating effect. Also with a tempered glass one can easily create a see through countertop. With a see through countertop one can look through the countertop and see the things that are placed in the top level drawer of the kitchen cabinet. Also if a homeowner is interested his whole kitchen to have a glass look, then he can go for a countertop and the storage space as well as the sink entirely made of glass.

The glass kitchen countertops has a highly polished surface and is non porous and hence offers a wide range of design features pertaining the shape, texture and edge details. The glass kitchen countertops are shaped all in one piece and hence they are seamless. Glass can be used to perfectly compliment a stainless steel countertop and its combination will enable the homeowner to bring out a unique kitchen countertop design. The glass used in making kitchen countertops is about half inch to three quarter inch thick and will probably weigh about 8 to 10 pounds per square foot. The natural color of the glass is usually slightly green and to get various translucent colors the back of the glass is tinted. Opaque colors are created by adding an opaque coating at the back of the glass.

The glass kitchen countertops are usually very easy to maintain. Because the glass countertop is highly non-porous it is stain proof and also hygienic and hence food items can be placed on top of the glass surface. As it can take heat upto 700 degrees it is also heat resistant and hence hot pans and vessels can be placed on the top surface without worrying about the glass cracking. Glass kitchen countertops have a very tensile strength and so it will be able to take tremendous amount of weight. But dropping an object of considerable weight from a certain height will definitely cause the glass to chip or in some cases the glass would shatter.

 The only disadvantage that the glass countertops has is that if at all it breaks then it cannot be repaired and hence has to be replaced with  a new one. Glass countertops are prone to scratches and fingerprints. Water patches will tend to appear on the glass surface if they are not wiped off dry with a clean towel. Generally, regular maintenance of the glass countertops need it to be wiped with a moist soapy solution cloth and then with a dry towel. To keep the glass kitchen countertops to be long lasting and shining forever, it is better off to keep it as dry as possible. Properly maintained, a glass kitchen countertop will always enhance the entire kitchen area with its contemporary beauty and sophistication.