Kitchen worktop confusion, which material?

Sedge123

I've been looking at kitchen work tops, I've seen Corian installed which we loved but I'm concerned about the durability of it. Not sure about granite but also looking at quartz.

We've only done one kitchen before and installed cheap laminate tops from Wickes, I'd like something a bit more upmarket but I'm getting very confused. Definitely not looking at wood - too much upkeep. I was shocked at the cost of the worktop from diy kitchens (looking at their units) as it doubled the cost of the kitchen!

Does anyone have any advice please?

FreeBear

Something else to look at - Polished microcement. Available in a variety of colours, and you could mix crushed glass (or any other aggregate) in for added interest.

EssexExile

We've had quartz, Caesarstone, for over 10 years & like the fact that there is no maintenance. The installers were pretty useless but the product is good.

lg13mza

We have previously had corian. It is excellent when new, but marks easily. We made the mistake of polishing it and then I had to re-polish about twice a year. We have just installed a diy kitchen with quartz worktop. I figured the money we saved on the units v's other retailers could be put towards the worktops.

phoebe1989seb

We've used granite and wood (iroko/teak) in three previous kitchens. Iroko darkens over time and suits our style more than the lighter species. The wood was fairly easy to care for - imho - with regular oiling, but I'm a bit OCD and wipe spillages/drips quickly I know when we've had guests turn our kitchen taps on they just allowed water to spill everywhere and guess for them wood wouldn't be such a good idea

Current kitchen has granite - installed by previous owner - but we've reconfigured our rooms here and the kitchen is now our utility. I got some samples of Minerva, but wasn't that impressed and they don't do a width large enough for our island.

Therefore the new kitchen (former reception room) will again have iroko, but we're going to do polished microcement (beton cire) on the island. Not tried this before but it has the look we want and comes in all sorts of colours

Sedge123

lg13mza wrote: »

We have previously had corian. It is excellent when new, but marks easily. We made the mistake of polishing it and then I had to re-polish about twice a year. We have just installed a diy kitchen with quartz worktop. I figured the money we saved on the units v's other retailers could be put towards the worktops.

Thank you, that's exactly the sort of of experience I wondered about. I think we might give the corian a miss. Will investigate quartz.

Sedge123

EssexExile wrote: »

We've had quartz, Caesarstone, for over 10 years & like the fact that there is no maintenance. The installers were pretty useless but the product is good.

Thank you, I'll look into quartz I think- I never even knew there were different makes of quartz worktop..... it's a whole new world :rotfl:

Furts

Sedge123 wrote: »

Thank you, I'll look into quartz I think- I never even knew there were different makes of quartz worktop..... it's a whole new world :rotfl:

We have Silestone Chrome. This is quartz and like EssexExile the installers were useless. It looks good but does attract dust - seems to charge up with static I guess. It is also very hard on crockery - we have many chipped bowls and saucers, and we are quite gentle and respectful here!


Another room has Duropal laminate. Much cooler to the touch, much more forgiving on crockery, does not attract the dust and is a fraction of the price. Basically, a good worktop and it even comes with a drip groove. However it does not have the polished wow factor of the Silestone - if that matters to you.

Sedge123

FreeBear wrote: »

Something else to look at - Polished microcement. Available in a variety of colours, and you could mix crushed glass (or any other aggregate) in for added interest.

Thanks. Not heard of that before so will head off for a google.

Ectophile

I've got Silestone quartz in my kitchen. Not cheap, but really pretty. It's the black with sparkly bits (crushed mirror) mixed in.

So far, there's no chips or scratches. If it gets dirty, a damp soapy cloth has been all I've ever needed.

Sedge123

Ectophile wrote: »

I've got Silestone quartz in my kitchen. Not cheap, but really pretty. It's the black with sparkly bits (crushed mirror) mixed in.

So far, there's no chips or scratches. If it gets dirty, a damp soapy cloth has been all I've ever needed.

Thanks just been looking at the Silestone website (they even have an app ) there are some gorgeous colours on there, just waiting for them to send me a quote after submitting measurements. I quite like the fact that they come and do the template for you (although I realise this comes at a cost!), saves any stress over not fitting. I'm just waiting for the quote for the template and installation to get an idea of the overall cost.