Spoilt for Choice
The kitchen is the heart of the house, it is the most functional and the most used and the most important place in the house to look after properly, and this is an established belief amongst everybody. The kitchen has got many different components that make it up, such as the kitchen cabinets, the flooring and wall cladding, the appliances, and the brassware, the handles, the lighting, the island, and much more! However, the worktop is one of the essential parts that make up a kitchen. The worktop is the first thing in the kitchen that catches the eye, and so the worktop must be made out of a very eye-catching material. However, the worktop is also the most frequently used and the most abused part of any kitchen, as it is the main work surface obviously, and so it must be very durable and long lasting at the same time. Fortunately, there is very wide range of various materials, colours and designs that are on offer on the market for clients to choose from, so let’s explore the best options to choose from when in need of a new countertop surface.
Granite is the traditionally common material to be used as a kitchen worktop. It is of course a natural material, and so Granite work surfaces are very unique…the design only occurs once in nature, and so if you choose to go for a Granite, other people might have similar worktops, but they will never be the same…yours will be exclusive. Granite also has got some glorious designs, even though Granite tends to come in dark colours generally speaking, but it will still look epic in any sort of kitchen. Being natural, you might think that Granite may stain easily if something is spilt all over it, however if you make sure to reseal it every so often, then you can rest assured that your Granite countertop will not stain swiftly after a spillage. One small issue with Granite is that it is a little pricey, and so Granite is not for everyone unfortunately, and this is because it is a natural material, meaning the extraction of Granite slabs does take longer compared to the production of man-made stone, and so the supply-demand proportion is relatively lower.
Some people have been using porcelain to make their countertops over the past two decades or so, and this is due to the porcelain’s absolute beauty. Porcelain worktops are arguably the best-looking worktops out of the stone range and options, as porcelain is a print of a digital design onto a stone base in simple terms, meaning that it does not contain any imperfections, and that the colours can be made to be extremely vibrant. The stunning designs and colours of porcelain become even stronger in Dekton, which is a recently modified sort of compressed porcelain, meaning that not only there is a wider range of colours that can be achieved on Dekton, but also that Dekton is much stronger and so slightly more durable than normal porcelain. Even though Dekton worktops are much stronger than porcelain ones, they are not as long-lasting or durable as other stones though, because you will find that the edges are ever so slightly more fragile, and so if they are bashed really hard using another very hard material such as a metal pan, the there is a small possibility that the edge may chip a little over the years. Back to the plus side though, Dekton is a man-made material, and so it is very much resistant to any staining, as long as it is wiped down regularly.
Quartz is the material that we recommend you go for when browsing stone worktops. Quartz is the cheapest out of the four materials we mentioned here, but that is not to say it is the worst quality. The opposite applies actually, whereby Quartz generally tends to be the stone that is least prone to staining, most durable, most long-lasting and even the one that requires the least maintenance. Quartz also comes in many different colours and designs, so you will be able to pinpoint a design that suits your preference and your kitchen the most. To some people, it might not look as mesmerising as Dekton, and this is due to the fact that Quartz is a composite stone – as in all the different ingredients of Quartz are put into a template tray, and they are cooked together to form a sturdy slab, and so the colours might not look as vibrant as those on Dekton or porcelain. However, similarly to the Dekton and Porcelain work surfaces, Quartz worktops are very stain resistant, and again this is because Quartz is man-made. In addition, Quartz consists of around 7% resin, therefore making it extremely heat resistant too! Moreover, Quartz features a smooth surface, and so it does not contain any small pores like other types of stone. These pores are usually where bacteria, fungus and other micro-organisms tend to grow, and resultingly they make infect food and cause food poisoning in consumers. However because Quartz is free of any pores, there is no place on the surface of the countertop that allows for these microbes to grow, so Quartz has been proven to be a more hygienic material to use as a work surface in the kitchen.
We can see that when looking for a stone countertop, you are spoilt for choice. Stone looks amazing as a kitchen work surface, and we have established that a work surface (especially in the kitchen) must look stunning, as it is the first component of the room that catches the eye. Even though you have so many options for a worktop, each type of material has its own characteristics and its own features. Depending on your requirements and priorities, each feature may be a positive or a negative for you specifically, and so it is easier than you might think to narrow down your options and choose a stone countertop that is just about perfect to cater for your needs.
