Recycled Glass Countertops
I first saw Vetrazzo countertops on an episode of Living with Ed . This amusing and educational show features Ed Bagely Jr. and his family trying to live in the greenest way possible. Ed is quirky to say the least and his wife, Rachelle Carson, is VERY patient with his endless experiments and constant research on eco-friendly living. As Hollywood lifestyles go, they live a very modest existence and it’s refreshing to say the least. Anyway, Rachelle knew is was going to be difficult to convince Ed to purchase new countertops for their kitchen. But she’s pretty savvy and she found a material that would meet his high standards. She chose Recycled Glass Countertops from Vetrazzo and they are lovely. Many people think that when you go green you give up on style and performance but nothing could be further from the truth with this product.
Alehouse Amber features glass that may have come from your recycling bin.
Features of Vetrazzo Surfacing
- Made from 85% recycled glass, cement, pigment, binder and other recyclable materials.
- Smooth like polished granite.
- It comes in 14 colors.
- It is heat resistant, scratch resistant, and stain resistant.
- It can be used countertops, vanity tops, tabletops, bar tops, hearths/fireplace surrounds and tub decks.
Cobalt Skyy - The vodka makes great cocktails and the bottle makes a beautiful surface.
How do you take care of it?
It’s very durable and most spots can be cleaned with a mild detergent. You should be polished a couple of times per year and resealed every year or two, which is an easy procedure.
Beyond the material that makes up Vetrazzo, the product is also eco-friendly because its made in the US and does not require petroleum to manufacture. Many people don’t realize that while stone counter-tops are indeed natural and come from the earth, they are far from eco-friendly. It requires a tremendous amount of energy to extract stone from the earth and many times this is done in an work environment with unfair wages poor working conditions. There have also been recent concerns about radon levels in granite.
So if you are in the market for a new countertop, you might want to give Vetrazzo some much deserved consideration. It’s beautiful, durable and earth and family-friendly to boot!
Visit Vetrazzo to learn more!
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Tags: bathroom, eco-friendly, kitchen
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:50 am
Great post! I have been fascinated with Recycled Glass Countertops too, mainly from watching all these “eco” shows on Plant Earth station. Wonder about cost? Any idea how it compares to the other options out there? Just curious.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Very good question. They don’t have cost information on their site so I have emailed them to see if they care to comment. Love your site!
~Lorrie
January 27th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Dear Lorrie,
As the manufacturer the best answer I can give for end price to the consumer is a price range that incorporates the many variables that come with the purchase of a premium countertop. Vetrazzo is priced comparable to high-end stone at about $110 to $160 a square foot installed. This takes into account the varying size of a job, the mix selected, shipping, dealer and fabricator labor costs.
We are so confident in the quality of Vetrazzo that with your purchase of Vetrazzo comes a 10 year warranty which many surfacing companies do not provide. You can be confident that as the original manufacturers of recycled glass countertops, starting in 1996, Vetrazzo’s artful recycled glass surfaces have always used 100% recycled un-processed glass and 100% US labor and materials. As a market leader Vetrazzo has the highest recycled content of any material in the recycled glass countertop market at 85%.
I hope this information has been helpful and please feel free to visit http://www.vetrazzo.com. We try to provide as much information to the consumer as possible so that they can be confident in their sustainable choice for countertops.
Cheers,
Craig
May 28th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Vetrazzo are nice but super spendy… not to sustainably priced.
We have done Fuez.com and Icestone.biz and seem much more cost effective depending on what part of the country your from.
I heard there is no warranty with Vetrazzo either?
August 1st, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Two years ago, we installed a Vetrazzo countertop in our $250+K kitchen remodel. After the first 6 months the little glass pieces started chipping out of the filler especially around the edges. Now the top is stained in two places and the Vetrazzo website says this just adds to the beauty…. wrong… it just looks stained. The surface, in many places is rough where the filler is breaking down. The original company was located in California, but it has since been sold to a company in Georgia. We went back to the manufacturer and got nothing but nasty emails telling us it was our fault for not maintaining the surface properly. This is NOT the case, everything in our kitchen is BEAUTIFUL… the Vetrazzo countertop will have to be replaced. It’s definitely NOT sustainable!
August 2nd, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Hi Corinne, I am sorry to hear the problems you’ve had with Vetrazzo and will definitely take that into account. You are absolutely correct that a countertop that needs to be replaced that quickly is far from sustainable, not to mention a waste of the the money you invested. It’s also beyond disappointing that he company was sold and that their customer service department is not helping you. Thank you for your input. Has anyone else had a good or bad experience with Vetrazzo?
~Lorrie
September 27th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Just wanted to update all my readers. I reached out to Vetrazzo with these concerns in August 2011 and they never replied. My advice at this point would be bypass this company and explore other options. It’s always important to review warranties and guarantees and this is especially true with companies who do not have a proven long term track record!
~Lorrie