The possibilities are endless with our RGB Solution.

You can even add a unique design by our Master Glass artist Michel Mailhot:

Visit our Lighting section for more details.

Client: Linda from Holmes Beach, Florida

Type of countertop: Crystal, 1.5” thick
Texture: Granula
Edges: Textured
Dimensions: About 100 square feet

Here is a comparison of the most used material available on the market to help you make a wise choice:

GLASS COUNTERTOPS (ThinkGlass)

• Maintenance Free: YES
• Requires Sealing: NO
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: YES
• Scratch Resistant: YES and if there are little scratches, they will not show on textured glass
  
• Heat Resistant: YES
• Chemicals Resistant: YES
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: Limited
• Ease of Installation: **
• Recyclable: YES
• Cost: $$-$$$

RECYCLED GLASS COUNTERTOPS (Vettrazzo, Icestone)

• Maintenance Free: NO
• Requires Sealing: YES
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: YES, if well sealed
• Scratch Resistant: YES
• Heat Resistant: YES, but sealer might not
• Chemicals Resistant: YES, but but sealer might not
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: –
• Ease of Installation: ***
• Recyclable: part of it is recycled but might not be fully recyclable
• Cost: $$

CONCRETE COUNTERTOPS

• Maintenance Free: NO
• Requires Sealing: YES
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: NO
• Scratch Resistant: Sealer could scratch
• Heat Resistant: yes, but sealer might not
• Chemicals Resistant: may damage sealing
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: NO
• Ease of Installation:***
• Recyclable: YES
• Cost: $$

GRANITE COUNTERTOPS

• Maintenance Free:NO
• Requires Sealing: YES
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: Yes, if well sealed
• Scratch Resistant: Hard, but can scratch
• Heat Resistant: YES, but sealer might not
• Chemicals Resistant: NO
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: NO
• Ease of Installation: ***
• Recyclable: YES
• Cost: $-$$-$$$

QUARTZ/ENGINEERED STONE COUNTERTOPS (Ceasar Stone, Silestone, Samsung)

• Maintenance Free: YES
• Requires Sealing: NO
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: YES
• Scratch Resistant: Hard but can scratch
• Heat Resistant: Limited
• Chemicals Resistant: Limited
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: Limited
• Ease of Installation: –
• Recyclable: –
• Cost: $$ -$$$

WOOD COUNTERTOPS (Spekva)

• Maintenance Free: NO
• Requires Sealing: YES
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: NO
• Scratch Resistant: NO
• Heat Resistant: NO
• Chemicals Resistant: NO
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: NO
• Ease of Installation: **
• Recyclable: YES
• Cost: $ -$$

STAINLESS/COPPER COUNTERTOPS

• Maintenance Free: YES
• Requires Sealing: NO
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: YES
• Scratch Resistant: NO
• Heat Resistant: YES
• Chemicals Resistant: NO
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: –
• Ease of Installation: ***
• Recyclable: YES
• Cost: $$

SOLID SURFACE COUNTERTOPS (Corian)

• Maintenance Free: YES
• Requires Sealing: NO
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: YES
• Scratch Resistant:NO
• Heat Resistant:NO
• Chemicals Resistant: NO
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: YES
• Ease of Installation: ***
• Recyclable: NO
• Cost: $

LAVA STONE COUNTERTOPS (pyrolave)

• Maintenance Free: YES
• Requires Sealing: NO
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: YES
• Scratch Resistant: YES
• Heat Resistant: YES
• Chemicals Resistant: YES
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: –
• Ease of Installation: –
• Recyclable: –
• Cost: $$$

PAPER COUNTERTOPS (Paperstone)

• Maintenance Free: NO
• Requires Sealing: YES (natural)
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: –
• Scratch Resistant: NO
• Heat Resistant: No excessive heat
• Chemicals Resistant: NO
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: Limited
• Ease of Installation: ***
• Recyclable: YES
• Cost: $

TILE COUNTERTOPS (Ceramic, Porcelain)

• Maintenance Free: NO
• Requires Sealing: YES
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: Grout NO
• Scratch Resistant: YEs
• Heat Resistant: YES
• Chemicals Resistant: YES
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: –
• Ease of Installation: **
• Recyclable: NO
• Cost: $

LAMINATE COUNTERTOPS (Arborite, Willsonart, Formica, Nevamar)

• Maintenance Free: YES
• Requires Sealing: NO
• Mold/Mildew Resistant: YES
• Scratch Resistant: NO
• Heat Resistant: NO
• Chemicals Resistant: NO
• Manufacturer’s Warranty: –
• Ease of Installation:**
• Recyclable: NO
• Cost: $

1-    EVALUATE: First, I need to be able to perceive what is in the client’s head. That’s the exhilarating part! Bertrand usually talks to the client first to get a feel of what they want, and then I talk to them or meet them face-to-face to further explore their idea.
2-    CREATE: I ask them to provide me with a picture of the room where the glass will be featured. Then I put my creative brain at work and try to design the perfect piece for them.
3-    SUBMIT AND APPROVE: I provide the client with some drawings and samples if necessary. On major projects, I also prepare a 3D model.

What are the projects you are the most proud of?

The most impressive technically, was the American Embassy in Ottawa. 98 x 6’’ thick blocks ranging from 14 ‘’ to 60’’ that were put together to form a pyramid. It was before ThinkGlass, about 13 years ago.

As part of ThinkGlass, my most interesting project was the « Chocolate fountain » sculpture in Hotel Bellagio in Las Vegas. It was a difficult project but the results were amazing.

« Chocolate fountain » sculpture in Hotel Bellagio in Las Vegas

What is your wish for ThinkGlass?
I would love for ThinkGlass to last forever. The hardest thing for a company is to keep the passion alive and to be able to reinvent itself.
ThinkGlass is on a roll. The company is doing great. People from around the world love our products.  We are always pushing the limits of creation and excellence and I hope that we will be in business for a long long time.

INTERVIEW WITH MICHEL MAILHOT, THINKGLASS MASTER GLASS ARTIST
Michel Mailhot is the artist behind ThinkGlass amazing glass countertops, glass walls and all the other amazing glass products.

How long have you been a glass artist?
Approximately 34 years, but I have been selling my arts for about 30 years.  I now have a team of 16 people working in the workshop with me.

Why did you choose glass as a medium?
It’s glass that chose me!  Since I was a little boy, I always knew that I would make a career in the arts. My first contact with glass happened almost by mistake. I wanted to put glass pieces on a ceramic vase. While being fired, a piece of glass fell at the bottom of the kiln and took the imprint of the object at the bottom. I loved what I saw and I decided to continue to experiment with glass.
My first oven was a copper-enameling kiln. I now have 21 industrial kilns.

Why did you create ThinkGlass?
As an artist, in order to progress, you need to collaborate with others, because you cannot do everything by yourself. When I met Bertrand, I knew that we had to work together. A business partnership is like being married, you have to be complimentary. Bertrand and I, we make a great team!

What challenges do you face as an artist?
The real challenge was always and is still to make a good living out of my art. I spent my first years perfecting my techniques so I could have a workshop and some staff.  As ThinkGlass continues to grow, my challenge is now to find more time to continue to evolve as an artist and to spend more time working on my glass sculptures and glass murals. It is getting easier now as I have an incredible team working for me. Probably this fall or winter, I will start selling some of my glass sculptures and glass murals on our Web site.

With ThinkGlass, we now offer a lot of different products for commercial and residential clients, like glass countertops and glass walls, but did you know that when I started my career, I was making glass luminaries and glass sinks? I was the first glass artist in the world to make glass sink, but as everybody started making them, I decided to explore new horizons. (TO BE CONTINUED)

10 top reasons why you should get glass countertops for your kitchen or bathroom :

1. Wow factor that makes it the focal point of your kitchen
2. High-end appearance
3. Maintenance free
4. Non-porous, making it suitable for Kosher kitchens
5. Most hygienic countertop on the market
6. No Cross-contamination
7. Can endure high heat without cracking or scorching
8. Impossible to stain
9. Textured finished underneath that masks fingerprints, common wear and allows scratches to go unnoticed
10. Can be edge lit to transform your countertop, creating a floating and ethereal beauty

In addition, ThinkGlass countertops are made of 25% recycled glass and are 100% recyclable.

Send us your pictures featuring our glass countertops. If your submission is chosen as one of our countertops of the month for 2009, you will be automatically entered in a draw for a chance to win a 3 days trip for two to Montreal Jazz Fest 2010. Your countertop will also be featured on our Website and in our monthly newsletter sent to architects and designers.

The prize includes 3 nights accommodation in a world-class hotel, 2 tickets to see one of the indoor jazz show of your choice and a private visit to ThinkGlass with president, Bertrand Charest and master glass artist, Michel Mailhot.

Please send your countertop pictures to info@thinkglass.com. We will accept submissions until December 31st, 2009. Anybody who has sold (ex: dealers), designed or owns a ThinkGlass countertop is eligible to participate.

Please note that ThinkGlass employees and their families are not eligible to participate.

We recently got a client who wanted to install his brand new glass countertop himself. We provided him with all the instructions on how to do it. Here is the feedback we received from him afterwards.

“Dear ThinkGlass staff,
Thank you so much for your help installing this. We’re thrilled, and I don’t mind telling you I had a month of doomsday nightmares thinking about all the things that could go wrong trying to carry this 500lb piece of glass into the house and set it on my structure. (The most common one was that my untested, un-engineered, “total guess” structure would collapse under the weight. It hasn’t. Yet.) And I doubt any local firm has much experience doing what we did, and if there was such a firm, I hate to think what they would have charged me. So thank you again for making this possible.  I hope you enjoy the pictures. Definitely need that backsplash now…”
Doug Hall

Here are some pictures of the installation:

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Designer: Elina Katsioula-Beall, CKD; DeWitt Designer Kitchens, Studio City, CA
Co-designer: Sarah Michalowski, CKD
Type of countertop: Crystal, 1.5” thick, edge lit with LED
Texture: Granula
Edges: Polished
Dimensions: 36”x 72” for the island and 36″ in diameter for the table.

Photo Credit: Suki Medencevic