5 Must-Know Countertop and Faucet Design Considerations in a Post-Coronavirus age.

1. Non-Porous Countertops
2. Hands Free Faucets
3. Hands Free Soap Dispenser and Sanitizer sprays
4. Automatic Hand Dryer

Many Kitchen and Bathroom design options offered prior to the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak, such as countertop materials, faucets, soap dispensers, hand-drying towels must now be re-considered with an eye towards preventing pandemic propagation in public places.

 “Hands-on” faucets and door handles, Manual soap dispensers, Hand towels, Porous Countertops that do not prevent transmission and/or harbor these dangerous agents, especially in a commercial bathroom setting, must be examined by designers in a whole new light. Given what we know today, it must be considered that some of these options will go the way of dinosaurs as we seek maximum protection from contagious viruses, bacteria, etc. 

This is not yet a legal liability issue for commercial bathrooms, but keep an eye out for that since litigious parties are always on the hunt for such things.

Let’s examine several kitchen and bath design elements to see the best choices for preventing virus transmission:

1. Countertop

We spend a lot of hands-on-contact time eating and drinking on countertops. It is inevitable. Transmission of germs on countertops we lean-on and touch so frequently must be addressed. Think of your own kitchen, favorite busy bar, or restaurant table.

Non-porous countertops such as Glass, White Glass have a HUGE advantage over traditional porous surfaces such as granite, natural quartz, marble going forward.

Glass Countertops can be made in 3/4″ thick glass, backpainted any color, and are very rugged and non-porous.

       Backpainted Glass Countertop

White Glass countertops are 2 or 3cm thick, opaque, stain-free, non-porous and commercial tough countertops.

White Glass outdoor Countertop Bar at American Social restaurant in Tampa Fl

Non-porous materials are both cost-effective and beautiful options for your countertops.

While some suggest that Engineered Quartz is non-porous, cleaning it with Bleach is not permitted. It will void the warranty. From the Cambria website: 

Do not use or expose Cambria Product to certain cleaning products, including, but not limited to, BLEACH, Soft Scrub®, or paint removers. Do not use abrasive or harsh scrub pads.

Nor is it a viable material if you are using hot pans in the kitchen, hot styling tools in the bathroom, or outdoors where UV light will degrade and yellow the plastic quickly.

Spraying with Microban antimicrobial spray can temporarily help. From their site:   

Microban keeps surfaces sanitized against bacteria for up to 24 hours, even after multiple touches* on hard non-porous, non-food contact surfaces.

2. Hands Free Faucets

Fortunately, there are many non-contact faucet options available.

Implementation has been slow, but expect this trend to accelerate. Any commercial restaurant, bar would benefit from installing hands-free faucets in their bathrooms.

Google “Hands free faucets” and you will see many exciting options.

These can be set to hot/cold/warm and sensors detect motion with another setpoint for time on before automatically shutting off.

Retrofitting currently installed faucets can also be accomplished elegantly. Grohe’s foot-touch sensor is demonstrated in this video:

3. Hands Free Soap Dispenser and Sanitizer sprays

Just like faucets, touchless soap dispensers are a great idea for preventing agent transmission.

Google “Automatic soap dispenser” to see many results for home or commercial use.

For on countertop installations we like:  Simple Human and Toto

For Commercial wall-mount sanitizer we like: Automatic Sanitizer Sprayer

For Commercial wall-mount soap dispenser we like: Alpine

Below is a wall-mounted side-by-side soap and faucet dispenser.

4.   Automatic Hand Dryer

Well entrenched already. We like:  XLERATOR

Summary:

We believe that responsible Hospitals, Reception desks, Bars, Restaurants, Schools all now need to consider non-porous Glass and White Glass countertops,  hands-free faucets, touchless soap dispensers, automated hand dryers as THE STANDARD for new construction. Using materials that harbor dangerous biological agents in their porous surfaces could soon become a point of litigation. 

Non-porous materials are both cost-effective and beautiful options for your countertops.

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