Low maintenance, sturdy, attractive kitchen worktop.

[MollyBdenum]

I am getting a new kitchen. The floor will be bamboo and the cabinets will be smooth and painted a matt off-white.

What sort of worktop should I get? I cook a lot and am a lousy housekeeper, so it mustn't need a lot of care and upkeep, and shouldn't stain easily. If it looks good after being roughed up a bit, that's a bonus.

I am not snobbish about laminate, although I prefer things that don't pretend to be other things, and really want the cheapest good quality thing that meets my criteria.

Wood is out as it needs too much care, but I'm not really sure what would be best.

Silestone is the way to go. Nothing stains it. Unless you took power tools to it I cant think how you could rough it up.

Its not cheap though.

You didn't mention cost, or who will fit it.

Laminated chipboard worktop is absurdly cheap in diy sheds and other suppliers. If you plan your kitchen to take square-edged pieces with no fancy joints and angles, you can get the yard to cut it, then just lift it into position and fix it. If the person installing it bears it in mind, you can unscrew it, lift it off, and fix a new one in an afternoon every time you fancy a change, for less than £100 depending on your choice. Or you can replace it with something posher when funds allow. If you like that idea, don't tile down to it.

Ikea laminate worktops

PigletJohn - where should you tile down to if fitting laminate workshop?

Am about to source one. Though probably won't do any tiles to start with, thanks to lack of budget. Maybe just tile behind the cooker?

You can use an upstand or a plastic sealing strip for the joint against the worktop. If you tile and grout it will crack and leak, and the tiles will break if you try to change the worktop.

An alternative is to leave a 5-10mm gap and use silicone sealant.

Opinions will differ.

Laminate with an upstand is sounding more and more appealing. I like natural materials, but laminate does actually seem to be the most practical material.

Granite or Silestone. Granite is indestructible. It costs a lot but never ages or needs any attention. Just wipes clean. I don't put hot oven dishes on it though and use chopping boards. Granite has an upstand so is a very neat finish. Taking off a work surface and starting again because it is damaged is pure hassle and can damage the cupboards and the walls. Don't even contemplate it. If you want a bomb proof work surface, pay for the best.

Love our new granite in Ivory fantasy. Colour doesn't even show up crumbs!!

I can lift mine off at whim

because I built it that way.

So if I get laminate with an upstand, can I tile above the upstand if I want to? I might just paint, though. A really bright mid-century yellow.

sure you can. You can even tile behind the upstand if you want, but leave a little gap between tiles and worktop. If you have the whim to change to top one day, the new one might be a different thickness.

In a kitchen, paint should be very washable. Vinyl silk will do. It is not at all difficult to repaint later.

We have just installed Durapol laminate and I really like it. Have the matching upstand, love the clean look. Having quartz for island unit but couldnt justify expense for all the worktops too.

My laminate worktop seems indestructable. I picked a dark colour because I know we would be harsh to it. I put dishes from the oven directly onto the laminate (ocassionly). I have curry and red wine spills. Nothing stains it and I can't see the scratches if there are any.

I've seen concrete used on a few blogs recently - sounds odd but it can look really nice. Cheap and hard wearing I would imagine. A quick google will probably give you more information.

I love the look of concrete, but it isn't at all cheap, and is very hard, so bad for breaking plates and glasses on, and also for head bumps on small children. If I were in an adult-only household it would be my preferred option, but I think for the life I actually live, laminate, although lacking in glamour, is the option that best fits my requirements.

Oops, sorry! I just made an assumption that it would be cheap - wishful thinking! I think it looks great too, but hadn't thought of safety issues. In our last home we had ikea laminate as a work top - it looked okay, but after maybe 5 years the edges did start to chip so it's a good idea to buy extra trim when you fit it, if you do go for that option. When we tried to do that we realised they had discontinued the style / colour we originally had. We now have solid wood, which I thought would be high maintenance, but my husband is happy to give it a quick sand and oil now and again which gets rid of any marks. I told him if he wanted wood that was the deal! But in fact it's not a big hassle if you can be bothered.

twitt there was a thread on here not so long ago that concrete is actually quite hard to maintain, marks quite easily etc.

I stand corrected - I am in fact clueless about concrete work tops!

If your budget allows then I would say granite is perfect no maintenance.

If you choose the right colour you can get away with it even being filthy without it being obvious by sight. I have to touch mine to check whether it still has bits of dinner and jam on it!

Iroko wood with a coating of liquid wax/oil stuff that you paint on.

I got ours from worktop express and am not a careful housekeeper and it still looks great.

I suppose I could sand out the couple of scratches or dents but I like it 'weathered'.

I dithered about iroko just now, as it looks very lovely, but if I got that, I really ought to get a sit-on sink to prevent water dsmsge and the only decent one with 1.5 bowls and a drainer is the astracast bistro which costs so much more than other sinks that I don't think I could justify it.

Have you considered Dekton? It's like quartz but no staining or thermal shock so it sounds like the holy grail of worktop surfaces - if you like the very limited range of colours, that is. I think it's made by the company who make silestone.