Solid surface kitchen worktop and sinks?

Xeorix

We're looking at getting a solid surface in our kitchen, although we're running into a bit of an issue.

Were looking at the DIY ones - Maia, Magna etc as these are just under £2k which is within budget. These are the ones where there is a 6mm - 26mm 'veneer' of solid surface mounted on chipboard. Full 30mm solid becomes almost as expensive as Quartz.

The first question is - has anyone got one of these surfaces installed. What type and what are your views. Any preference over one make to another?

Secondly, the sink. We would want under mounted sink, although I've recently found out that the likes of Maia say you must use their sink modules otherwise your warranty is invalid. These sink modules of upwards of £1000, so it puts the total cost near the price of Quartz or Corian!
Are there any of these DIY solutions which let you use your own sink?

tigs33

How big is the kitchen/worktops? We had a Quartz worktop fitted recently and the price was fairly competitive, also the fitting was so painless

cddc

Full undermount sinks in the resin on chipboard worktops are not a good idea.

Used to sell Earthstone, where as long as you just went under the resin, not under the chipboard, you were fine.

Water and chipboard don't mix well, which is why no one would recommend under mounting sinks fully in them.

Sheridans supply Apollo Slabtech (to Wickes and others) as a DIY product. This is a full resin slab. An under mount cut out and installation can be done on site by a skilled fitter.

Would really recommend a templated product, unless you are very sure of your fitter though.

Also do not choose a resin based product if you want a dark worktop. They all scratch white. You can polish the scratches out but they will drive you properly nuts in a dark colour. Mid brown or lighter are perfectly fine though as you don't tend to notice them.
.

Xeorix

tigs33 wrote: »

How big is the kitchen/worktops? We had a Quartz worktop fitted recently and the price was fairly competitive, also the fitting was so painless

In total we need about 5.5m of 600 deep and then 2.7m of 900 deep. We've been quoted £3.7k for Silestone Kensha fitted which is way over what we can afford at the moment

cddc wrote: »

Full undermount sinks in the resin on chipboard worktops are not a good idea.

Used to sell Earthstone, where as long as you just went under the resin, not under the chipboard, you were fine.

Water and chipboard don't mix well, which is why no one would recommend under mounting sinks fully in them.

Sheridans supply Apollo Slabtech (to Wickes and others) as a DIY product. This is a full resin slab. An under mount cut out and installation can be done on site by a skilled fitter.

Would really recommend a templated product, unless you are very sure of your fitter though.

Also do not choose a resin based product if you want a dark worktop. They all scratch white. You can polish the scratches out but they will drive you properly nuts in a dark colour. Mid brown or lighter are perfectly fine though as you don't tend to notice them.
.

Of course, we wont be going for a full undermount, only mounting beneath the resin, It's more for the look and also the streamline.

We can fit ourselves without issue, extremely experienced in all trade work but never fitted anything other than laminate or granite!

How do Earthstone work with the warranty and undermounting your own sink?

I'll take a look at slabtech again, TP suggested this too me when we were looking at their kitchens. We opted to go for a handleless Crown Imperial in the end though so prices are just going up for the modern seemless look :rotfl:

thescouselander

Op, I think you should shop around a bit more. We've been quoted £1000 less for almost the same amount of worktops with upstands, cooker splash back and a window ledge in technistone.

cddc

Xeorix wrote: »

How do Earthstone work with the warranty and undermounting your own sink?

From memory, fine, as long as you follow their recommendations. Have seen several stores with the displays done this way.

They would hardly allow retailers to display it in this fashion if they would not warrant sinks mounted that way.

Xeorix

thescouselander wrote: »

Op, I think you should shop around a bit more. We've been quoted £1000 less for almost the same amount of worktops with upstands, cooker splash back and a window ledge in technistone.

Can you remember where you got that quote from? Your username suggests you're located near me :rotfl:

CKdesigner

Hi

Kensho is a fairly expensive colour from Silestone. You could try Niebla or Gris Expo as alternative colours which will cost less. Or a cheaper quartz alternative to Silestone.

To be honest I would only recommend Silestone quartz as I feel it is the best quartz, but there are alternatives.

Have you not got a price for the Silestone worktops from your kitchen supplier? This has got to be the best way, as for example we use an excellent fabricator for our stone work, they only supply to the trade so their prices are competitive and when we supply the worktop as part of the whole kitchen project then we only add an administrative charge to the worktop price to cover our costs.

CK

Xeorix

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi

Kensho is a fairly expensive colour from Silestone. You could try Niebla or Gris Expo as alternative colours which will cost less. Or a cheaper quartz alternative to Silestone.

To be honest I would only recommend Silestone quartz as I feel it is the best quartz, but there are alternatives.

Have you not got a price for the Silestone worktops from your kitchen supplier? This has got to be the best way, as for example we use an excellent fabricator for our stone work, they only supply to the trade so their prices are competitive and when we supply the worktop as part of the whole kitchen project then we only add an administrative charge to the worktop price to cover our costs.

CK

We're not doing our kitchen in a traditional way We're fitting it ourselves, so simply got the units on a supply only basis through another fitter - managed to shave £3k off the retail price.

Worktops they can supply Maia and Minerva, but they always recommend a 3rd party for any stone or solid. We've had a quote from them for some Quartz, but it was far too expensive.

CKdesigner

Fair enough you have saved quite a bit of money on the units but in real terms this saving is being eaten up in your time needed to source the worktop and other components for the kitchen separately.

I bet if you had gone to a decent independent kitchen specialist for the complete job then in real terms their costs wouldn't have been too different at all.

Anyway, I'm sure you will get there in the end.

I would suggest for you now, in the position you are in to contact 1 or 2 local quartz fabricators, go and see their workshop, ask to see a couple of previous customer's jobs they have done, really look carefully at the quality of their work. Check all overhangs are even, joints are of decent quality, etc. Then go from there.

The problem is people shop around for the best price on granite or quartz but forget in getting the cheapest price the quality of the fabrication suffers.

Good luck

CK

Xeorix

CKdesigner wrote: »

Fair enough you have saved quite a bit of money on the units but in real terms this saving is being eaten up in your time needed to source the worktop and other components for the kitchen separately.

I bet if you had gone to a decent independent kitchen specialist for the complete job then in real terms their costs wouldn't have been too different at all.

Anyway, I'm sure you will get there in the end.

I would suggest for you now, in the position you are in to contact 1 or 2 local quartz fabricators, go and see their workshop, ask to see a couple of previous customer's jobs they have done, really look carefully at the quality of their work. Check all overhangs are even, joints are of decent quality, etc. Then go from there.

The problem is people shop around for the best price on granite or quartz but forget in getting the cheapest price the quality of the fabrication suffers.

Good luck

CK

Thanks. I don't mind spending my time for myself as I class it as "free", obviously if it was for something else i'd value it.

I've sent some quotes off to local suppliers so will see what they say