Kitchen benchtops, oh the confusion...

Following on from Michael's kitchen post last week, we're going to do a little 'benchtop chat'! This is a topic that's super-confusing because of the amount of choices and conflicting information out there, so here's a little of what I've learnt.

There are many options for kitchen benchtops out there - timber, stone (either engineered or natural), stainless steel, laminate, acrylic, polished concrete... and within each category, seemingly endless choices. Keep in mind that pretty much anything can look lovely if it's combined with the right cupboard finishes, flooring and styling. Here is an example of an inspiration piccie from Laminex:

Not bad!

 The points to consider are:

1) what you like the look of
2) how you want it to function
3) cost!
(in no particular order ;-) )

For us, we like the look of, and the functionality, of engineered stone. So what is engineered stone?

Thanks Wikipedia!

Effectively, engineered stone tends to be harder and less porous than natural stones such as marble or granite, which can make them more user-friendly. We had granite in my family kitchen and I still have memories of mum struggling to get oil stains out of it. Traditionally, engineered stone has also been more cost-effective, although its rising popularity means that it may not always be significantly cheaper than natural stone. On reno forums, some people are reporting granite to sometimes be the same price as engineered stone or even a little cheaper. Marble however, a gorgeous natural stone option, will come in far more expensive.

There are stacks of choices in the engineered stone category: Caeasarstone, Essa Stone, Quantum Quartz to name but a few. The price between companies seems pretty competitive by all reports, so it comes down to the colour range available, and the customer service offered by the particular company you are purchasing from.

We're aiming for Caesarstone, budget allowing... (more on that later). At the moment, the Calacatta Nuvo, from the 'Supernatural Ultra' category, is my preferred option BUT as we found out on the weekend at Freedom Kitchens, there is a huge price variation between the different Caesarstone ranges.

Calacatta Nuvo courtesy of Caesarstone. Effectively a copy of 'real' Calacutta marble,
which looks gorgeous but costs a packet. And I would likely spill something on it
on the first day anyway...

So how much does Caesarstone cost? Like many finishes in the building industry, this information can be difficult to come by. Caesarstone is priced by the slab, which is 3060mm x 1040mm, in various thicknesses. So you will need to know how many slabs you require, but also how many cuts you need (to make room for cooktops, sink, tap etc.) and then what sort of edging you want. If you want a waterfall end, this will add to the cost again.

Today I attempted to contact a couple of kitchen benchtop and stone companies, and none of them would give me a straight up 'per slab' price, without edging, cuts or installation. All of them wanted the measurements/plan of our kitchen, and the initial quote that's come in has not provided a price breakdown at all. I'll be able to post more information when the other quotes come in. I must say the lack of transparency in many facets of the building industry about the raw cost of materials is a little frustrating.

Another thing that you can't rely on someone else to do for you - tweak your design. Michael has calculated that we may be able to fulfil all our benchtop requirements out of one slab of Caesarstone, which would dramatically cut our costs. How? By reducing our overhang on the return bench by 7cm. We have measured it all out and it would still be functional. This would save us thousands and still get the outcome we want.

Depending on discussions with stone masons, we may have to adjust our expectations. We're still in the planning stage, but our thoughts are that if we can't afford one of the 'better' ranges in Caesarstone, then we might go to timber. It can look gorgeous and modern, and personally, I prefer it to one of the less 'natural' engineered stone finishes.

Sleek and modern timber benchtop, gorgeous.
Image courtesy of choicetimber.com.au

Stay tuned for updates, and more posts as we gather more information. As for progress on the build itself, we are hoping to get some full building quotes back in a week or two. Comments are always welcome :-) And thanks for reading!

K
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