Ultra thin worktops—reassurance please!

[Linguaphile]

We have just gotten to the point of no return with our kitchen. My DH was desperate for modern thin worktops, and since we are also tall, he wanted the 40 cm overhang for our kitchen island seating. This means we’ve ended up with a 12mm quartz worktop that now has little supports underneath to support the worktop. The designer says they’re going to basically be invincible (she said the thinness actually makes them less prone to cracking?) and that the worktop is super strong so won’t need babying, but I’m still having a small freak-out, both that it will look weird having a paper thin worktop hanging over in an L shape by 40cm and that it will be more prone to damage. Does anyone else have these sorts of worktops?? It’s not like we can change anything now as it’s all been ordered, but hearing some positive experiences would be appreciated.

(This is just the computer render, so will be using paint, backsplash, good stools etc to warm up the space).

thin worktops are the in thing.
is 12mm stronger than 20 or 30mm??? no corse not if same material.
She has told you what you want to hear but the tops will be fine esp with the supports (depending what or how they are) this should give the extra required support as many worktop places do say not to go over 300mm without additional support

Thanks Diseno, yes I thought that when she said that. 🙄 But hopefully will be okay then with the supports.

Do you actually mean quartz? As in a natural product & not one of these modern composites? I have extensive quartz in my kitchen and was warned it's way more delicate than people think & that it's prone to splitting along natural fault lines within the material that aren't visible in the polished surface. We have a 3m island that the kids wanted to 'tummy surf' across when it was shiny & new & the stone fitter nearly had kittens saying it might split & to definitely keep off. I'd be wary of having such a large overhang without support.

If you can, go and visit an actual stone merchant - not one of the glossy shops & speak to someone who actually cuts the stuff. They'll have better knowledge.

We have a 12mm Neolith worktop and splashback, but with no overhang like your plan. I remember reading that this thickness in Neolith couldn’t be used for a large overhang without additional support, but obviously this would vary with each material and also any other cuts and joins.

We had a lot of questions before we proceeded with our worktops and so we spoke to the manufacturer as well as several fabricators and asked for images of previous jobs to be sure we would end up with the quality and appearance we were seeking.

It’s a composite... I thought all quartz worktops were? This one is like 93% natural quartz and 7% binding resin, supposed to be super strong.

It will still have supports underneath, so it won’t just be hanging in thin air!

Just looked this up but do you mean you have quartzite worktops Friday? I think the engineered stone is meant to have less of a propensity to chip than the full on quartzite because the resin gives it a degree of flexibility...?

That’s interesting Jett, the Neolith was also one we looked at, some really lovely options!