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FALL RIVER HERALD NEWS: Counter Culture
Corian Countertops in a day: Do they make the cut? Yes

By Paula Kerr
Herald News Staff Reporter

Now I need a new floor. Last week Don Freitas and Nick Luongo dropped by my house and installed new Corian kitchen countertops. They did it in less time than it took me to sort through samples, choose a color and drive the ever patient folks at RISSCO Fabrication around the bend.

While I'm happy with the upgrade, the home improvement gods dictate that I now be grumpy about something else. And it looks like that's going to be the 25-year-old fire-flashed quarry tile kitchen floor that looked good until the counters came along.

Anyway, Don and Nick, team leader and fabricator, respectively, were assigned by RISSCO to make - and later install the countertops right outside my front door in a huge MobileFab truck. The vehicle houses a complete workshop that eliminates the chance for human error, because the team alone does everything from measuring to fabricating to installing.

It's also convenient and cost-effective because if a measurement is off, it's simply a matter of stepping back into the house for an additional calculation.

"A walk in the park compared to conventional fabrication," explained Don, a Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School graduate, as we went over the game plan at 7 a.m.

Right up until the moment they began, I had the opportunity to make minor changes. But I'd come to a decision after much hand-wringing - nocturne Corian with a double Roman ogee edge - and I was sticking to it.

There were two reasons for the dithering. Corian, a blend of natural minerals and high-performance acrylics, no comes in so many shades that making a selection is a job in itself. Some colors, like pepper ivory, terra and Maui, are virtually indistinguishable from granite. Secondly, I chose nocturne or black that while beautiful - it resembles slate when installed - requires lots of maintenance.

Deborah Valentine, marketing and sales manager for the Warren, R.I.-based RISSCO, as well as Sheila Brassil, a designer who did the measurements and estimates, both tried to dissuade me on the shade. They wanted to avert regrets down the road and I appreciated their candor. But, hey, they were dealing with a woman in need of countertops to match her giant schnauzers!

Valenitne, the first one I talked to at RISSCO after spotting an ad for the patented MobileFab process, really didn't have a lot of convincing to do. the process - no more costly than conventional fabrication - sold itself.

I'd been updating my kitchen for the past two years and the faux finish paper, recessed lighting and stainless steel appliances were fine by me.

Then, painter Dave Rybicki suggested - since I was doing everything backward anyway - new countertops might be next. He was right, of course, because the quarter-century-old white laminate was beginning to show its age.

However, I hesitated. These days I'm into instant gratification in the home improvement department, so I wasn't about to endure measurements, templates and construction debris. But MobileFab and Corian were a shoo in for the job, and the rest is history.

Well, almost. There are still Don and Nick, the stealth installers who were in and out of the house all day, unobtrusively going about their work, even refusing my offer to make a Dunkin' Donuts run.

Don took a cautious approach to ripping out the countertops. As he explained, the carpenter who built my kitchen on site intended the laminate-over-plywood construction to stay put. "It's a one in a million job," he observed, working so carefully that neither the new paper nor paint were marred.

With removal completed, the pair hauled in oversized pieces of Corian, known as blanks, on which Don essentially traced the countertops' measurements with a scratching tool, eliminating the need for a template. RISSCO has patented this Footprinting system - along with the MobileFab process -which makes for the perfect sizing the first time, every time.

From there was a simple matter for Don and Nick to fabricate the countertops in the truck, which is a brave new world of routers, silicone and huge clips that remain surprisingly dust free thanks to a state of the art ventilating system.

Paul Dubuc, president of RISSCO, is the brains behind the MobileFab system. A 17-year veteran of the fabrication business, he was determined to minimize the risk of human error common in conventional settings. Usually in those scenarios, too many hands are involved in the process, where the individual who draws the template isn't necessarily the individual who fabricates the countertop.

"Don has the luxury of meeting with you, addressing your concerns, understanding your needs, then going to work," Dubuc told me. "It's the difference between off the rack and custom made clothing. The fit is perfect. A lot of people use the analogy."

Dubuc is the first to admit his mobile workshop was elementary. Still, it took years of experimenting to develop the truck.

"An engineering feat," he said, explaining each one carries high-tech ventilation that protects workers from the residue that comes with fabrication. "A lot of people said it couldn't be done."

RISSCO has four patents on the process, some pending, and is now selling the truck to others in the field. Eight are being outfitted for delivery to the Chicago area, and along with the vehicle, new owners will get a message from Dubuc that is as simple as the onsite idea itself.

"Customer service is what makes it work," Dubuc said. "It's a positive experience in the construction trades." He's a stickler for that, in part because he knows many contractors act as if they're doing the client a favor.

So when the RISSCO folks say the truck will be curbside at 7 a.m., it's there. "We're on time. We start with a tremendous amount of credibility," Dubuc said.

And never mind that everybody who works for the company is so upbeat, even at an early hour. Don and Nick remained that way at my house even though the job took several hours longer than most. When they finally fit the countertops in place, Nick was all smiles and offered that the day had flown by.

Dubuc said there's a simple explanation for the sunny attitude.

"Daily, they're satisfying someone, and when that continues to happen it spills over... Happy people breed happy people."

OK, so everyone's happy except me, because now I've got the floor thing going. Know anybody with a jackhammer?