Solid surface kitchen & bathroom sinks
American
Stonecast
Products
Solid Surface Kitchen & Bathroom Sinks
Kitchen & Bathroom Sinks for RV's, Residential Homes, Mobile & Modular Homes
A message from our president
I am Kirk Veer, president and CEO of American Stonecast Products.
First, let me thank you for visiting our website, and specifically for taking the time to read my rather biased thoughts. If you've read this far, you obviously want to know more about us and our products. I field calls everyday, which I am very happy to do, about some aspect of our sinks or counter tops. I'm going to try to give you the gist of some of those conversations in an effort to answer questions that some of you may have, and possibly answer a few questions for those who don't call.
When it comes to kitchen and bathroom sinks, our sinks are priced toward the higher end of the RV market because of the expense to produce them, which means the tooling cost and the material they are made of. Each sink is compression molded, the same way a fireman's helmet or a Corvette body part is made. The molds each cost in excess of one hundred thousand dollars due to their complexity. The advantage is that they last forever, and they make a vastly superior product than most of the other methods of producing a sink, like vacuum forming.
Don't get me wrong; sinks, just like cars and boats, are trade offs. There is no perfect car or boat for everyone. You could buy a more expensive sink, but it probably would be very heavy (houses don't care about weight), or it would be very expensive, such as a restaurant sink. The real problem, as I see it, is that most RV manufacturers don't want to spend the extra money to install a decent sink. They are seduced into thinking that the end user doesn't know, or doesn't care, about their units' kitchen sink or lavatory. Obviously, that's not true because you would not have read this far if it was. Most people coming to this website want to upgrade the sink that came in their unit for one reason or another.
American Stonecast sinks are an excellent combination of weight, performance and durability. Many manufacturers install vacuum formed sinks that are a cheap plastic for one reason only; price. These sinks will melt from a hot pan or a hot curling iron, so be very careful with them. The alternative is a stainless steel sink. Unfortunately, stainless steel sinks come in many different grades and qualities. In fact, almost every stainless steel sink used in RV's are made in China. Many of them are not stainless steel, but aluminum, and will rust or pit in spite of what the salesman says.
Our sinks are 100% made by us near Grand Rapids, MI., and we stand behind them 100%. They are user friendly, meaning that they can be cleaned with commonly available abrasive cleaners and Scotch Brite® pads. The color of the sink is all the way through the sink material, so scratches don't appear as a different color, and many imperfections can be lightly sanded out.
Staining is usually caused by a liquid left in the bowl for an extended period of time. We recommend an automotive paste wax periodically be rubbed over the bowl to facilitate the water draining completely, thus minimizing stains.
On top of our sinks, we are very proud of our lightweight counter top program. I developed Granite-Light (G/L) more than 8 years ago to give the RV industry an alternative to heavy solid surface counter tops. Corian® weighs about 4½ pounds per square foot, while a corresponding piece of G/L weighs 1½ pounds per square foot. The trick is finishing the edge, which we have perfected after a number of years. We actually use Corian for the edge in some cases, and while there are some disadvantages to using Corian as a surface material, it is perfect for an edging material due to the fact that it melts and can be bent around corners. G/L does not melt and cannot be bent.
Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of colors as the product is still in its infancy. Surfing the internet to find more colors or other manufacturers may be fruitless, because to my knowledge I am the only one that makes anything like G/L. If you need a solid surface replacement counter top for a boat or an RV, G/L is the perfect choice. It fabricates just like wood and Corian, but is lighter, stronger and harder than Corian. It can be seemed to give that expansive counter look, and costs less a well.
Part of the reason G/L has been slow to take off is that I molded it at 1⁄8" thickness,in sheet sizes of 6' x 3'. No one that I showed it to had ever worked with solid surface sheet stock so thin. A year or so ago I got the idea of laminating it to a high-density backer to make it one inch thick. The interest in G/L then skyrocketed. Fabricators can see how to handle G/L an inch thick and are now comfortable with it.
At the risk of sounding repetitious, the manufacturers loved everything about G/L except the price. Recently, all of the major high pressure laminate manufacturers all came out with new "HD", or high definition, laminates. Formice®, WilsonArt®, et al, are producing drop dead gorgeous laminates that replicate marble, granite and Corian. This led us to producing a fabulous product we call Lama-Light. We can engineer a table, a murphy bed wall or a counter top with all the strength you need or want at 1⁄4 the weight, and make it waterproof as well.
There is really no reason to reinvent the wheel when everything we need is right here. Probably the biggest difference, from a manufacturing perspective, is that the materials are more costly. High definition laminates are typically $2.50⁄sq ft., the substrates are high density, and the adhesives needed to hold everything together are 5 times more expensive than solvent based adhesives. None the less, you can have a great counter top for about $10.00⁄sq ft fabricated.
Lama-Light has no limits. We can add strength or screw retention wherever it is needed. We can mount it on a thinner substrate and use it for applications like shower walls or bathroom enclosures.
Obviously, I love all of these products, and wonder why others haven't thought of them sooner. I'm sure you'll love them, too.
Kirk Veer,
American Stonecast Products
First, let me thank you for visiting our website, and specifically for taking the time to read my rather biased thoughts. If you've read this far, you obviously want to know more about us and our products. I field calls everyday, which I am very happy to do, about some aspect of our sinks or counter tops. I'm going to try to give you the gist of some of those conversations in an effort to answer questions that some of you may have, and possibly answer a few questions for those who don't call.
When it comes to kitchen and bathroom sinks, our sinks are priced toward the higher end of the RV market because of the expense to produce them, which means the tooling cost and the material they are made of. Each sink is compression molded, the same way a fireman's helmet or a Corvette body part is made. The molds each cost in excess of one hundred thousand dollars due to their complexity. The advantage is that they last forever, and they make a vastly superior product than most of the other methods of producing a sink, like vacuum forming.
Don't get me wrong; sinks, just like cars and boats, are trade offs. There is no perfect car or boat for everyone. You could buy a more expensive sink, but it probably would be very heavy (houses don't care about weight), or it would be very expensive, such as a restaurant sink. The real problem, as I see it, is that most RV manufacturers don't want to spend the extra money to install a decent sink. They are seduced into thinking that the end user doesn't know, or doesn't care, about their units' kitchen sink or lavatory. Obviously, that's not true because you would not have read this far if it was. Most people coming to this website want to upgrade the sink that came in their unit for one reason or another.
American Stonecast sinks are an excellent combination of weight, performance and durability. Many manufacturers install vacuum formed sinks that are a cheap plastic for one reason only; price. These sinks will melt from a hot pan or a hot curling iron, so be very careful with them. The alternative is a stainless steel sink. Unfortunately, stainless steel sinks come in many different grades and qualities. In fact, almost every stainless steel sink used in RV's are made in China. Many of them are not stainless steel, but aluminum, and will rust or pit in spite of what the salesman says.
Our sinks are 100% made by us near Grand Rapids, MI., and we stand behind them 100%. They are user friendly, meaning that they can be cleaned with commonly available abrasive cleaners and Scotch Brite® pads. The color of the sink is all the way through the sink material, so scratches don't appear as a different color, and many imperfections can be lightly sanded out.
Staining is usually caused by a liquid left in the bowl for an extended period of time. We recommend an automotive paste wax periodically be rubbed over the bowl to facilitate the water draining completely, thus minimizing stains.
On top of our sinks, we are very proud of our lightweight counter top program. I developed Granite-Light (G/L) more than 8 years ago to give the RV industry an alternative to heavy solid surface counter tops. Corian® weighs about 4½ pounds per square foot, while a corresponding piece of G/L weighs 1½ pounds per square foot. The trick is finishing the edge, which we have perfected after a number of years. We actually use Corian for the edge in some cases, and while there are some disadvantages to using Corian as a surface material, it is perfect for an edging material due to the fact that it melts and can be bent around corners. G/L does not melt and cannot be bent.
Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of colors as the product is still in its infancy. Surfing the internet to find more colors or other manufacturers may be fruitless, because to my knowledge I am the only one that makes anything like G/L. If you need a solid surface replacement counter top for a boat or an RV, G/L is the perfect choice. It fabricates just like wood and Corian, but is lighter, stronger and harder than Corian. It can be seemed to give that expansive counter look, and costs less a well.
Part of the reason G/L has been slow to take off is that I molded it at 1⁄8" thickness,in sheet sizes of 6' x 3'. No one that I showed it to had ever worked with solid surface sheet stock so thin. A year or so ago I got the idea of laminating it to a high-density backer to make it one inch thick. The interest in G/L then skyrocketed. Fabricators can see how to handle G/L an inch thick and are now comfortable with it.
At the risk of sounding repetitious, the manufacturers loved everything about G/L except the price. Recently, all of the major high pressure laminate manufacturers all came out with new "HD", or high definition, laminates. Formice®, WilsonArt®, et al, are producing drop dead gorgeous laminates that replicate marble, granite and Corian. This led us to producing a fabulous product we call Lama-Light. We can engineer a table, a murphy bed wall or a counter top with all the strength you need or want at 1⁄4 the weight, and make it waterproof as well.
There is really no reason to reinvent the wheel when everything we need is right here. Probably the biggest difference, from a manufacturing perspective, is that the materials are more costly. High definition laminates are typically $2.50⁄sq ft., the substrates are high density, and the adhesives needed to hold everything together are 5 times more expensive than solvent based adhesives. None the less, you can have a great counter top for about $10.00⁄sq ft fabricated.
Lama-Light has no limits. We can add strength or screw retention wherever it is needed. We can mount it on a thinner substrate and use it for applications like shower walls or bathroom enclosures.
Obviously, I love all of these products, and wonder why others haven't thought of them sooner. I'm sure you'll love them, too.
Kirk Veer,
American Stonecast Products
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For OEM/manufacturing sales or questions, contact us at 574-206-0097 Mon-Fri from 9:00AM - 5:00PM, or email our sales manager.
All of our sinks are manufactured in the United States, and are ANSI certified for the RV Industry.
American Stonecast Products supplies high quality kitchen sinks and bathroom sinks to the recreational vehicle, motor home, camper, modular home, and residential markets. If you are a manufacturer, or a home or RV owner looking for original equipment or replacement kitchen sinks or bathroom sinks, our product line will fit right in to your design ideas and will enhance any decor you may have.
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