Meet Porter Bishop, Surface Homes
At Kokeena, we know that great cabinet fronts are only part of the picture, but the countertop you pair them with matters just as much. That's why we love talking to people like Porter Bishop, showroom coordinator at Surface Home here in Portland, who thinks about these kinds of decisions every day.
We asked him about sustainable countertop materials, what's trending in Portland right now, and how he helps customers find what they're looking for.
Tell us about Surface Home and your role there
We're a design-forward flooring store and I work in the showroom on the residential remodel side with designers, general contractors, and anyone who walks in the door. We offer free design services for anything the store carries. My specialty is helping people figure out what they want; they kind of know already, and I help them put it into words and find the products that exist to complete their vision.
Silica-free countertops have been in the news lately. Are you seeing more customers asking about them over quartz?
Man-made quartz countertops have silica in them, and there have been some bad actors not using wet saws and not using respirators. That silica can get into a fabrication shop, into employees’ lungs, and cause silicosis. All of the fabricators we use in Portland use wet saws and respirators, so the process is mitigated.
There have been a couple of newspaper articles over the last three years about the issues. For instance Australia banned quartz, Los Angeles County was looking at it, and the New York Times wrote about it recently. So there are a lot of people reading about the dangers of silicosis. We haven't heard of any incidents here in Portland, but we do have a lot of people asking about it.
One brand, Cosentino, has always been a low-silica product, and they just launched a new product called Éclose: six colors, completely silica-free, with the same usability specs as quartz.
What other sustainable materials are you seeing get attention?
Soapstone and paperstone, of course, but also cement. Cement Elegance, made here in Oregon, in Bend, and other manufacturers, are producing porcelain slabs. With Cement Elegance, it's 85% local, so they're not shipping anything in, and it's between 10% and 15% recycled aggregate material. It can be custom made, so there's no waste, since it's made to a customer’s countertop me
What broader trends are you seeing in Portland?
Bolder colors. Not always brighter, but bolder color decisions: yellow, pink, blue, green, or red. We're not seeing a lot of those in a full residential kitchen yet, but they're showing up in powder baths, mudrooms, and in restaurants and bars. We're also seeing a lot of retro colors come back in tile, with more texture.
People are also wanting more natural products. I think it's important to help people think of their places as more permanent rather than worrying about selling in one or two years. If you're going to be in your house for a long time, you want it to be good for you and your family for the next 25 years.
Final thoughts
If you're starting a remodel and need help with the countertop side of that equation, Porter and the team at Surface Home offer free design services and are worth a visit. And when you're ready to tackle the cabinet fronts, you know where to find us!
