Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Corian countertop cracked

I moved into a home with corian countertops. I previously had marble or laminate so using my electric frypan , crock pot, t oven was not an issue. Well last night I was cooking using my frypan and Boom. I did not know what had happened until I moved the frypan. I have a crack running through the corian surface all the way down the edge which has green running through the center of it.

Can the crack be repaired or will I need to replace the entire countertop?

If I need to replace the countertop, can I have a section cut out and insert granite, marble or tile in an area so I can use my small appliances?

I have a tile backsplash so if I need to replace the entire countertop with granite or tile, can the countertop be installed without replacing the backsplash?

Obviously you cannot use small appliances on corian so how do you cook? Where do you cook????

I am totally perplexed. I was looking forward to having corian in my kitchen but if you cannot cook on the countertops, it is not of much value. Please help me come up with a solution that will not break the bank.

Thanks in advance for all your help. Jen

One of the advantages of Corian is that it can often be repaired. Not always but very often.

The severity and the direction of the crack will be a big determining factor as to what will need to be done.

You really will need to get a "Corian" fabricator to look at it
before any determination can be made. Get several opinions,
it just like seeing a doctor.

To find a fabricator in your area go to http://www.issfa.org/
they are the iinternational solid surface fabricators association. you can call them or look on their site for a fabricator near you.

Yes, the top can be repaired, but the best repair will be made with material from the original job. So look around to see if any was left from the original installation. Solid surface companies, especially DuPont, require fabricators to leave a piece of Corian on the job just for this contingency. Look under the sink base for a piece, possibly hot melt glued to the side of the cabinet. Also check under a bottom drawer if you have one as DuPont used to suggest leaving a piece there. Many fabricators will leave a trivet made from the sink cutout which can be used for repairs, but they may disappear as people relocate. Original material will color match perfectly so the repair will be inconspicuous. If it's a current color, new Corian can be used, but there could be a subtle difference in color. The inlaid edge is a minor complication since two colors have to be matched. Get it taken care of as quickly as possible since the crack will have a tendency to travel. Good luck with this.