Worktops

[Hallamoo]

I'm having real trouble trying to ascertain the prices of kitchen worktops.

Can anyone in a nutshell, put these is order of price, lowest to highest?

Laminate
Granite
Quartz
Silestone
Compact laminate

Can anyone recommend a hard working affordable alternative to stone? I don't want something with lots of maintenance.

Thanks in advance!

Laminate is definitely the cheapest—I'm not 100% certain about the others but I think quartz and granite are similarly-priced and Silestone is slightly more expensive.
I got acrylic (Maia) in my new kitchen—it looks and feels nice, and the scratches can be sanded out.

Ooh, how does Maia compare price-wise?

It's on a par with quartz/granite if you buy from a retail shop, but much cheaper to install. However, I ended up getting mine as offcuts from the manufacturer (Sylmar Technologies) on eBay and it was cheaper than the laminate I was going to buy! Plus I had enough left over to do end panels as well.
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/chameleon-trader/m.html?item=112870559178&hash=item1a479c0dca%3Ag%3AdoMAAOSw7s5Xhkao&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Silestone is just a brand of quartz - but comes at a premium because of the name.

You could look at Minerva as well though we managed to get quartz for a similar price.

Minerva, Maia and Corian are similar (Corian is the most expensive as I believe it's solid acrylic).

Quartz seemed to be a minefield when I was looking into it. There are so many different 'grades'. And the fitting can cost more than the actual material. And, if you are replacing a laminate worktop with quartz the floor-standing cabinets all have to be reinforced to take the weight of it.

Thanks all. We're replacing the whole kitchen so don't need to worry about re-inforcing the floor units.

So what I'm hearing is; laminate is the cheapest (which I already knew), and everything else is a bit of a lottery, depending on where you get it from! Still confused!

Following as I'm in the same predicament!

We wanted something better than laminate but nothing seems to fit our needs quite right. We love the wood look but I don't want the maintenance. You can get some very good quality and realistic laminate wood effects now though so we are considering that.
I love the look and feel of granite, but obviously it's very expensive and I didn't realise you had to consider the weight or fitting costs

Oh and our b&q have quite a few varieties out as samples near the kitchen planning desks so maybe if you have one nearby you could go in and have a chat with them?

When we were looking we found granite was more expensive than Silestone.

Did you know you can’t put a hot pan on Silestone? Good to know before you start looking as it’s something that might annoy you.

We’ve always had laminate, last did our kitchen in 2008 and it is still in great condition, no scratches etc. Was one of the cheapest from Howdens as well! If I was to fit a kitchen now I’d go with laminate again, particularly as the finishes have improved a lot over the last decade.

House we are buying has quartz. It’s beautiful but I’m glad it’s there already, because I could never have justified it had we planned on refitting the kitchen; it was apparently c.£4k for an approx 12ft run with openings for hob and sink, and a peninsula.

In the same boat as keepingbees.

Are Corian/Maia hard and clanky like granite or "softer"?

We're refitting our kitchen ourselves on a budget.

Worktops are pricey so we are using laminate from Worktops Express online as they make the cuts/joins so DH can fit it himself.

Laminate is the cheapest (which I already knew), and everything else is a bit of a lottery, depending on where you get it from! Still confused!
That's basically it, in a nutshell!

Are Corian/Maia hard and clanky like granite or "softer"?

They are softer but 'cool' and definitely have a different feel to both granite and laminate. The companies will send samples, but be aware that the samples are usually 'unfinished' so look a lot duller than the installed product. I almost didn't get it for that reason, until my carpenter pointed out that fact. (I was going for a black and the sample looked more like a dull grey.)

A friend of mine had corian and it scratched so badly she ended up getting it all replaced with granite a couple of years later.

We wanted something better than laminate but nothing seems to fit our needs quite right.

I was the same, and until I discovered there was a cheaper way to get acrylic I was going to go for a square-edged laminate worktop (basically there are tradesmen/companies that will apply a square acrylic edging to a laminate worktop, or you can buy a laminate that's already square-edged but there isn't much choice in those). I really don't like the look of the rounded profile that most laminates have, so I was prepared to pay more to have that changed. Might be worth looking into as IMO it upgrades the look of laminate by about 1000%!

I've got Corian in my current rented place and I hate it. The matt finish goes and it starts to get this odd sort of worn shine. You can get DuPont to come and refinish but I would imagine that costs quite a bit. It's only 18 months old as well.

If I had the choice I would always choose granite as it's tough, beautiful and it lasts but I do appreciate it's probably the one with the highest initial outlay.

Interested in that approach Chrys! Can you point me in the direction of any companies?

I think this was the company I got the sample/quote from:
www.savoytimber.com/help-and-advice/abs-edge-banding-for-kitchen-worktops/

Actually, I remembered it incorrectly. It was this company. You can choose the worktop you want and the edging.
www.toprite.co.uk/worktops/laminate

... so this is the sort of effect you get (although as I said, you can choose the edging so if you wanted it to be the same colour you could do that).

Thanks so much Chrys, really useful.

I saw a house recently with a recycled glass worktop which looked lovely so I am thinking of getting this. It is supposed to be stain resistant & I think is a little cheaper than granite or quartz.

Plausible - I've seen that worn shine on Corian, always assumed it was on high traffic areas, not just after 18mobths!