Choosing Your Kitchen Worktop
Choosing your Kitchen Worktop
With so many offers on the market today, choosing the right Kitchen worktop might seem as an almost impossible task. Here, we explore some of the most popular, providing you with information about their composition, porosity and looks.
Neolith
Neolith is a compact surface made of 100% all-natural materials cured at 2191 Fahrenheit and compressed at 5900 pounds per square inch. Neolith is stain and scratch proof and is highly resistant to heat, fire and UV light, with near zero water absorption.
Neolith uses a full body pigmentation process. The colour and the design are integrated into the raw materials used to manufacture the slabs. This means the pigments used to colour the slab are not just a coating that can be scratched or worn off the surface, because it’s used through the whole body.
Dekton
Dekton is a mixture of the raw materials used in the production of glass, porcelain tiles and quartz surfaces. Dekton has extremely low porosity and contains no resin.
Additionally, Dekton is high UV resistant, so it will not fade or degrade over time and it’s stain proof. It’s the most scratch resistant worktop in the market. Finally, because it’s high resistance to fire and heat, hot pots can be placed directly on the surface with no worry of damage.
Quartz
Quartz contain crushed quartz mixed with resin in a ratio of 93% quartz to 7% resin. They are manufactured in a variety of different patterns and colours.
Quartz is non-porous and does not require any sealing. It’s stain, heat and scratch resistant.
Granite
Granite are cut from naturally from natural stone and polished and their appearance is not uniform.
It needs to be sealed before they are used, and this will need to be repeated year after year for as long as you own the countertop. Granite is a porous stone and can only be considered to be stain-resistant if it has been sealed properly. While some people only seal their granite countertops every 3 years, it’s best to be safe and to do it yearly.
The samples might differ slightly from the stone that you receive. Keep in mind that these are naturally occurring slabs, so the samples cannot be a true 100% reflection of the stone you are ordering. There may be colour variances or occlusions in the stone you receive that gives the slab a slightly different appearance.
Laminate
It is made if a thin layer of hard coloured plastic glued to chipboard. However, Laminate worktops are surprisingly durable.
They are the most inexpensive alternative to stone counter tops. We source our Laminate worktops from Nobilia and Leicht.
Corian
Corian is most famous brand for acrylic solid surfaces, there are other brands of similar material and composition – Hanex, Staron and Hi Macs to name a few.
Corian is non-porous, stain resistant and virtually seamless. In the fabrication process, joints can be made nearly invisible by joining the relevant pieces with Corian’s own color-matched two-part acrylic adhesive. The pieces are clamped tightly together in order to express any excess adhesive. After the adhesive dries, the area is sanded and polished to create a near-seamless joint. This seamless appearance is a signature characteristic of the material.
Unlike other worktops, Corian is repairable and renewable. Cuts and scratches can be buffed out with a Scotch-Brite pad or orbital sander. Flexible when heated, Corian can be shaped and moulded into different forms, hence its high use in commercial and artistic projects. This process is called thermoforming.
Corian is heat resistant up to 100 °C (212 °F) but can be easily damaged by excess heat. DuPont recommends the use of trivets when used in kitchens. This material can be scratched, with scratches particularly noticeable on darker colours.
Ordering and Fitting Process
All these worktops apart from Laminate need to be templated by the fabricator, this happens normally after all base units have been installed. Templating has to be booked in most cases 7 days in advance. Once the template is done, it takes between 3 to 10 working days to fit. If the worktop is made of Laminate, it has to be ordered at the same time as the units.
Our current Supplier for Neolith, Dekton, Quartz, Granite and Corian is JR Stone.
JR Stone contact details:
Address:138 Clayton Road,HAYES UB3 1BB
phone: 020 8848 1108
mobile: Rosie:07879 660960 Jan:0754 0066 809
info@jrstone.co
www.jrstone.co
We hope this information was useful to you. We have a vast range of Kitchen Worktops samples available at our Showrooms in Richmond and Kingston. Please pop in for a friendly chat and a browse if you wish to see more. We are here to help.
Leave a Reply