Budget worktops when you're spending a small fortune on a kitchen...

[NeatFreak]

We are about to start a large extension with a new kitchen. We have picked a lovely white kitchen and had decided on either granite or solid wood worktops. However, the prices are just astronomical- we could change our car for the price of granite!! Laminate worktops are fine but could look a bit unfinished when we've splashed out on the kitchen itself.

Are there any options other than granite or wood that have the wow factor?Even a laminate that looks really impressive?

Or can anyone recommend somewhere to buy granite/wood that doesn't break the bank?

Any advice or help would be much appreciated

Id save the money on the cabinets carcasses and go for granite, anything else will really cheapen the finish.

I felt the same, was certain I was going for granite until I was told the price. I am not disciplined enough to have wood.

After spending a lot on the units I was worried laminate would cheapen it but I have been pleasantly surprised. It seems laminates have moved on a lot in the last few years. I have ended up with laminate (which cost the grand total of £300) which not only looks great with the units, but I know I can change in the future without regretting the cost.

I chose laminate too, initially for cost reasons. I am so glad I did though, it looks great, is dead easy to clean and I don't have to worry about wine spills, etc.

If it's a house you plan to stay in for the foreseeable future then invest in good quality carcasses. Then X years down the line when you want/need a new kitchen you can just change the doors & worktops (presuming you have standard sized carcasses) for a fraction of the price of a new kitchen.

If you plan to sell up in the next couple of years buy cheap carcasses, reduce the number of drawer units and pull out gizmos and get the expensive doors and granite/wood worktops. It won't last but will see you out and look good to future buyers.

So, presuming you are staying, I'd go for laminate. Either a cheap and cheerful laminate with the aim of replacing in the next 12-24 months or one if the better quality new ones mentioned above.

I had laminate too, and is easy care, clean and non scratch, at least with my blunt knives.

many new laminates are very good quality, but avoid gloss

the textured gloss ones are fine and look lovely, and there are some excellent wood effect ones

look at paying around £150 per 3m length as a guide to the quality -in laminate you get what you pay for

A good quality and well fitted laminate can look good but you could also consider a composite, like quartz, or a solid surface, like Corian.

IKEA do some pretty good and reasonably priced wood - you have to be prepared to maintain it though, or it will lift/split, as it's made up of lots of small pieces glued together rather than more expensive wood which is bigger more solid blocks.

If you decide to go with laminate/madmade stuff PLEASE do yourself a favour and buy the stuff with the rolled, continuous edge. The stuff that looks really awful is the stuff with the stick on strip on the edge that always lifts and peels after a while. Also avoid fake glossy 'granite look'.

You could try looking on Ebay and in salvage yards for 2nd hand lengths of granite, you'll save loads like that. You just can't be fussy about style/colour and you might not find enough for the whole lot to be the same so you might have to mix and match with wood, which looks lovely, so not a problem.

Thanks all. Laminate seems so much cheaper and more resilient but we just haven't seen one that we love yet. We're planning to stay here for many years so want to invest in good carcasses. I did see some nice corian but it didn't seem very chunky, maybe I need to look at some more ranges...

oak at ikea

We got our gorgeous ikoru wooden worktop from www.worktop-express.co.uk.
Amazingly good value and next day delivery. Cannot recommend them highly enough! They have lots of different woods to choose from.

I've used these guys on the recommendation of my builders - www.woodworktops.com twice recently. The prime grade oak 40mm - 4m is only £195 and the service has been really good.

Use a clear Matt Varnish instead of oil and it's really easy to look after.

The other thing to think about is having 2 different surfaces - granite/corian around the cooker/sink and wood for the rest if the design of your kitchen would suit it - keeps costs down a lot and can look really effective.

Thanks, those are exactly the tips I was looking for! I like the idea of having a mix of wood and granite, particularly as we are thinking of having two slightly different shades of cabinets on the wall and floor- mixing it up even more really appeals to me. Dh is going to investigate, appreciate the advice

We had granite from these people
www mistermarble.co.uk
about 6 years ago. I love it so much and it looks as good now as when they fitted it. Until I found them (on eBay!) I thought I would have to give up on any thought of having granite. It is definitely not the thickest granite you can get, and no ornate edges but we are happy

We have a mix of granite and wood. The granite was from off cuts and came in at £500. It's three finished pieces. 2 of 60cm x60cm either side of sink and a big island of 1300 x 900. We used GON, Ruthin, North Wales. They are lovely friendly people with a large range of colours of stone and happy to talk through different costs and options that will work with your budget.

corian is 37mm when fitted but will generally be the same cost if not more than granite

We bought 9m of soild oak worktops on e-bay for £330 delivered, they did need sanding and oiling but I think they look lovely.

Go direct to local stone suppliers, not through kitchen company if you want granite.
Otherwise I found some good laminates from Getalit which have higher heat resistance.

I was advised to try a funeral place for the granite - the ones who make memorials etc as they can be cheaper. Didn't do it in the end as we changed our minds about the kitchen but it may be worth looking into.

Personally, I have economised on the carcasses (thanks Ikea) and splurged out on the worktop (high end quartz in my case) and the appliances/gadgets. You can never have too many pan drawers! I can't pretend that it's a budget kitchen despite the Ikea carcasses - it's not but I did save thousands on the carcasses and still have a 'wow' kitchen. It is personal taste in the end, but it doesn't make sense to me to scrimp on the worktop - it's probably the most used surface in the house (assuming you cook a lot). Laminate/wood worktops 'cheapens' a kitchen imho. Architects/designers do this alot for good reason and in their own homes.

We sourced our honed granite from a local stone masons and I don't remember it being mega bucks

Our oak worktops also came from worktop express. Worked out cheaper than Ikea and better as we needed longer lengths than Ikea do as standard. Very happy with them.

We got ours from Here. Pics on profile.

Oh and I agree about myron. Budget cupboards and splurge on worktop, appliances.