So, we're in the process of choosing a new kitchen and me and the other half are still undecided about which sort of work surface to go for.
She's got her heart set on granite, but I'm not so keen. I kind of like the look of the Corian stuff.
Anyone got any experience of either? Or alternatives? Its a lot of dough to splash out so any pro's and con's would be appreciated.
What are your requirements?
Looks? Easy care? Cold surface? Chop directly onto it?
granite has it's down sides - no hot pans, will scratch.
we've just spent 2 months laboriously trawling through samples and in the end have just gone for a good quality laminate. It's quite hard to justify the price hike up to real stone and the 'fake' stone ones didn't do a lot for us.
i've got wood. whilst you're not considering it at the moment
+ looks good
+ easy to repair if you bugger it up (just sand it down and re-varnish)
- can't leave wet pans on it
- can't put hot pans on it
- needs re-varnishing every so often
Granite is porous and is liable to stain, corian isn't and therefore doesn't.
i've got wood. whilst you're not considering it at the moment
*snort* *quack*
thanks for the replies so far gents. In terms of requirements, looks and easy care come pretty close to top of the list. Won't be cutting directly on it but with 2 young children this is likely to change over time so durability a necessity as well.
mrmichaelwright +1
except we spent about 5 minutes mulling it over before we decided laminate was right for us
it might seem like a big important decision now but once you;ve made your choice you'll never worry about it again - so why not save some money?
don;t get divorced over it or anything though, if she's as keen on kitchens as you are on bikes then just let her decide
I'm looking at getting a bamboo worktop for my kitchen. Not sure if that helps or not.
I've lived in a few houses and think the heat proof laminate stuff has been the best. It's practical not too expensive and comes in plenty of colours. I like the look of granite but it chips, scratches and might look dated in a few years. Real woods nice but if not maintained rots around the sink and as others have said you need to varnish/oil it every now and then.
another consideration with granite is that when the kids get interested in helping out cooking anything vaguely breakable will end up in a thousand pointy pieces.
I liked the look of the Corian but as soon as the wife heard the price (more expensive than granite) that was the end of that, so we ended up with laminate.
Had black granite at our old house. Wish we had it at the new one. I too now have wood.
Real wood (oak) here too. Looks great.
Treated it with Osmo Top Oil:
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Only needs a top up every six months or so and it is a half hour job.
Wipes clean. Handles red wine and curry without complaint.
Water just beads on it - so I've never had any issue with the dreaded "wet stains".
Granite? Do you really want to be preparing food on what looks like somebody's tombstone? Nooooo!!
We went for wood a year ago. Got plenty of scratches, but if you think of them as adding character and patina it's not an issue.
Oak here as well. It has seen heavy use over the last 18 months, and the only maintenance has been the six month oiling. I have caulked around the sink, so am hoping I don't have any problems with rot. I have never heard of it as a problem until catflees' comments above, mind...
We have granite. It's black with gold flecks in. Chosen by the previous owners although we had extra worksurface to match.
Pros- you can cut on it (Although we never do as it makes a mess). We can put hot pans on ours, it's not likely to scratch using anything normally found in a standard kitchen. It's cold which is good for pastry (not that I have time to bake). It's expensive and is bling for the kitchen (some people care about these things, look at all the money people spend on bikes). Ours isn't porous either but some types are.
Cons it's expensive. It will increase the amount of crockery you break. It's a pain to keep clean.
If I had the choice I wouldn't go for it again. Ours is too dark, always looks dirty unless you dry it or use a special cleaner. I'd spend the money on something else.
Concrete.
What? Look at me like I'm mad or something; look pon!
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corian
If I were to get one it would be stainless steel worktop if there is such thing ... 😀 It can look industrial but hey that's just me.
Like this ...
[url= http://www.cavendishequipment.co.uk/ ]Stainless Steel kitchen [/url] ... steel is real.
We'll be doing ours soon and it'll be laminate. I don't suppose it will do as well as the 40 year old Formica it's replacing which still looks pretty much as good as new.
Corian is also a good call; can be formed in all sorts of different shapes and colours:
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Makes sure you set off your kitchen and dining room with a CARBON FIBRE TABLE. 😐
No it's true, look!
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Anyone got any experience with the Corian? I quite like the look and the invisible joins are quite impressive. Does it damage easily or is this a low maintenance affair?
Granite is porous and is liable to stain, corian isn't and therefore doesn't.
Corian scratches easily and melts. It's for people that want to show their kitchen off to their friends before ordering a takeaway....!
If you do the research, the best performing is Quartz. It's a lot better than either of those.
It's requires virtually zero maintenance, it can stand heat and won't scratch easily
Also, if you actually cook stuff, it's cool and smooth which keeps pastry moist and doesn't transfer a texture to anything you roll out on it, like icing
The only thing that comes close is stainless steel, but that's a bit clinical 🙂
What about Titanium?
No seriously! Would it be astronomically expensive to get some titanium sheet and fix it to some ply or MDF or something? Could get the edge rolled so it looks nice.
Easy to clean, very very tough, don't corrode, takes heat, chemical spillage, etc in it's stride.
Why not?
+1 for granite.
We had these guys in [url= http://www.cglgranitesales.com/ ]CGL granite[/url]. Fitting had to have a couple of things resolved, but they are way way way cheaper then others. I would use them again, just because the pricing is so awesome. We had ~8 metres fitted for 2250.00 + vat.
Formica.
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We were explicitly told we could put hot pans on ours, and we do to no ill effect.
We have a lighter kind than the usual black, which means that you can't see scratches or anything on it. In fact, you can't even see if it needs wiping unless you catch the light.
EDIT forgot to say, it's Granite. It's been a long day ok?
do they do granite laminate or did I imagine that? wouldn't that have all the advantages of solid granite worktop at a fraction of the cost.
We had a Corian work surface fitted 6 months ago. The plus points are there are no joins, it is not porous so any marks are on the surface which means it can be removed with the Brillo pad thing they supply. The same with light scratches, you can buff them out. Anything bigger and they can come back and refinish it for you. If you damage a large section it can be cut out, replaced and refinished. The down sides are it is softer than granite, you can not cut anything on it or put anything hot on it. So you will need a heat mat for the pans and a good sized chopping board. The advice we got from the kitchen company was to go for a light colour. The resin is white so if you scratch a black Corian it shows up much more than the white or baby blue.
We went for the baby blue and with 2 kids and a dog this is what it looks like 6 months later.
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I hope this helps. Ohh and barter on the price!
Corian scratches easily and melts. It's for people that want to show their kitchen off to their friends before ordering a takeaway....
Sorry Peter I would disagree I am afraid, we spend a lot of time cooking for mates the kids butter and jam their toast on it in the morning and the red wine bottle usually ends up on it. Corian is for those who are prepared to look after their kitchen. By no means a show piece but not without it's maintainence
Wood makes you want to touch it. It's lovely.
We've got granite in the new kitchen and Minerelle (bit like corian) in the bathroom. I much prefer the look of the granite. We had drainer grooves and a built under sink, so looks very "intergrated". We used Diapol who were both cheap and very good. Our builder recommended them as he's had many good experiences with them.
Slight hijack.
Does anyone here has stainless steel kitchen worktop etc? Where did you get your supplier(s) from?
🙂
Anyone got a Maia worktop? Any opinions on them?