Kitchen worktops
Five materials, and what each is actually like to live with. Nobody compares these honestly because most kitchen firms make more margin on one of them.
The five, side by side
Prices are indicative supply-and-fit for roughly six linear metres plus an island, which is a fairly typical kitchen. Your actual figure depends on the slab, the cut-outs and how much edge detail you want.
| Material | Heat | Stains | Seams | Upkeep | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laminate | Poor | Good | Visible | None | £900 to £1,800 |
| Solid timber | Poor | Poor | Invisible | Oil twice a year | £1,600 to £3,200 |
| Granite | Excellent | Good, sealed | Hard to hide on veined slabs | Seal yearly | £2,800 to £4,500 |
| Quartz | Fair, resin scorches | Excellent | Near invisible on plain colours | None | £3,000 to £5,500 |
| Dekton, porcelain | Excellent | Excellent | Near invisible | None | £4,200 to £7,000 |
The one nobody warns you about
Timber worktops photograph beautifully and they are the ones people regret most often.
The problem is water. A timber top around a sink needs oiling properly before it goes in, oiling again twice a year, and any standing water wiping up rather than left. Do all of that and it will outlive you and can be sanded back to new. Miss a year and the grain around the tap lifts and goes black.
A common answer is to mix: stone around the sink and hob where the water and heat are, timber on the island where you sit. It costs a little more in templating and it removes the problem entirely.
Questions about worktops
Asked at nearly every survey.
Quartz or granite, which should I have?
Quartz if you want it to look the same in every light and never think about it again. Granite if you want a natural stone where every slab is different and you are willing to seal it once a year.
Quartz is engineered: crushed stone in resin, so the colour is consistent, it is non-porous and a glass of red wine left overnight does nothing. Granite is quarried, so the slab you see is the slab you get, and it will take a hot pan better than quartz will. Quartz resin can scorch at around 150C; granite does not care.
Will you be able to hide the joins?
Mostly. On a plain colour a good fabricator will get a seam down to about 2mm and fill it with matched resin, and you will have to look for it. On a stone with heavy veining it is harder, because the pattern has to run through the joint.
Where the seams go is a design decision and we will show you on the drawing before anything is cut. Generally they land at a corner or beside a hob cut-out, never in the middle of a run where you prepare food.
Can I put a hot pan straight down?
On granite, Dekton or porcelain, yes. On quartz, no, the resin scorches. On timber, no. On laminate, definitely not.
Everybody says they will use a trivet. Most people, eventually, do not. If that sounds like your household, it is worth knowing before you choose.
Bring a sample home before you decide
Worktop samples look completely different in your own kitchen light. We will get hold of the ones on your shortlist so you can put them next to your door colour and your floor.
Ring 01302 350055.
The workshop
Unit 1 & 2, Bootham Lane Industrial Estate, Bootham LaneDunscroft, Doncaster
South Yorkshire DN7 4JU
Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm
Directions and opening hours