What kitchen worktop do you have?

[alecguinnessgenuineclass]

And would you buy it again?

We're trying to choose a worktop for the kitchen in our new house. Currently there's a mix of wood, granite and stainless steel.

I'm a bit overwhelmed by the choices! We had wood in our last house and I found it a pain to keep oiled. Granite feels a bit heavy and cold to me. There seem so many new materials I've never heard of! Just wondered what other people have?

Another vote for corian, very easy to keep clean with a bit of cif.

Quartz in the utility, that’s good too

White corian here too, 5 years and very pleased with it, I considered quartz but i was worried about chips as I'm heavy handed when cooking!

Compact laminate I’m very pleased with it

I've got Silestone quartz currently which is brilliant, looks great, easy to clean and very good for making bread and pastry on.
I've had solid wood before and it was very high maintenance, I was single at the time and extra careful about everything I ever put down on it but there's absolutely no way it would work in our family home, it would be wrecked within a week.

We have a coloured corian - a grey colour and the chips and scratches really show up on it. It was here when we bought the house, I have no idea how we fix it.

My SIL has white corian and I love it, it does not show up the marks like mine does.

The one good thing is - our sink is the same material but in white. There are no joins for dirt to accumulate and the white sink is very easy to clean. A bit of cif and it is sparkling. Any stains are easily removed with bleach.

Stainless steel with integrated sink and splash back - no joins to collect dirt as pp said. And cream granite with grey swirls and bits of Smokey quartz on the island. I love them both.

Laminate. Don't see the point of dear ones having so many DC. From Howdens. Dark colour. Can't remember what it was called. New kitchen was installed July 2019.

Lucerne Lake quartz, 30mm. It's brilliant. Just a subtle off white shade with grey marbling through it, great price point too

Depends on value of the house too! Laminate doesn’t cut it in a £50,000 kitchen!

Granite doesn’t stain. The surface is highly polished. There are other new man made surfaces that are cheaper than Corian. They cornered the market but if you look at John Lewis there are numerous man made options with great properties.

I would never put a hot dish from the oven on my granite worktop or chop anything in it but they need no maintenance. They don’t need oiling, sealing or avoidance of water.

I think stainless steel looks industrial and isn’t suitable everywhere and in every home. It does scratch.

Our builder recommended quartz so we are going with white quartz. We had wood in our previous house and I really loved the look but was rubbish at caring for it and it did start to go warped and slimy around the sink area.

Had wood before and loved the look but it is a pain to maintain; the oiling, the inevitable water damage, chipping...

Recently changed kitchen and went for a white marbled quartz. I love it. It's bomb proof and requires no specific maintenance. Spilt red wine, tomato sauce etc on it and it doesn't stain, and it's gives a real luxury feel to the kitchen too. Would definitely recommend!

Lots of votes here for quartz. @Loofah01 just googled it and I absolutely love that Lucerne Lake quartz! Beautiful! How does it feel to the touch, is it warm/cool like marble? It looks smooth and glossy, does it have any texture to it?

(feel like those questions seem quite creepy, lol - I am not a countertop perv I swear)

@alecguinnessgenuineclass

Lots of votes here for quartz. *@Loofah01* just googled it and I absolutely love that Lucerne Lake quartz! Beautiful! How does it feel to the touch, is it warm/cool like marble? It looks smooth and glossy, does it have any texture to it?

(feel like those questions seem quite creepy, lol - I am not a countertop perv I swear)

Hahaha, counter top fetishist lol

It's very much like marble; not a pure quartz top, it's actually a composite and incredibly strong which is great for things like breakfast bars. Definitely cold, same as marble or granite would be but actually most surfaces are cold initially so not an issues for me, I won't be lying on it (fetishists might??)

According to the few suppliers I asked for quotes it's a big seller as it ticks so many boxes and goes with many types of kitchens, the upshot of that is bigger discounts available :)

We have a patterned Formica topped beech ply. It's bomb proof so far, everything just wipes straight off.. very useful with 2 young kids.

Marble. Had wood worktops previously and it was a complete pain.

White carrera marble quartz - its transformed my whole kitchen, i love it. Had black granite before which was a nightmare as every fingerprint showed and i spent half my life buffing it. Also have had wood in the past which i wouldnt ever have again, looks crap after a year or two unless you really look after it (water damage espdcially around sink, gouges and marks from knives etc). Quartz is very hardwearing, needs no maintenance and if you get a light colour its a quick wipe and youre done.

I have a granite-effect laminate. It's fab and so easy to keep clean

Silestone (which is a quartz) in Stellar Blanco. Looks great, very robust, no staining. My next kitchen will have a quality quartz too. Worth every penny.

laminate. There wasn't much wrong with the old laminate (at least 20 years) apart from iffy colour and a few bits of iffy installation. New one is fine after 2 years and does withstand hot pans (although probably not ones out of the oven, haven't tried that). also stands keys dropped on it which happens here. We were warned against some of the whizzier new types which won't cope with that.

only marking is from some kind of bleachy thing which was for wine making and got spilt.

don't buy stylish thin laminate worktops, bad to install and not very robust. No need for superexpensive flashy things. And no wood unless you have a wife to do the maintenance.

don't buy stylish thin laminate worktops, bad to install and not very robust. No need for superexpensive flashy things. And no wood unless you have a wife to do the maintenance

I’ve the thin one round my bathroom cabinet. Honestly it’s indestructible and weighs a jack ton.

This is exactly the level of info I was hoping for, thanks everyone. It's so hard to tell from looking online and surprisingly few places seem to want to send out sample slabs of granite etc 

@Loofah01 thank you, I think that has probably clinched it for me!

Our old wood worktop warped and went blue around the sink area. Admittedly we never oiled it but honestly, who's got time, I barely manage to get my own hair cut twice a year let alone oil my kitchen counters. It's a shame because they look so beautiful if they're looked after.

That was a joke about the samples, by the way

White corian here - worktops and sink - it was in the kitchen when we bought the house. It's so hard wearing and looks lovely. Really pleased with it.

Thanks for this thread. We were blindly going to have wood and have now been totally put off and will be going with corian. Very helpful timing for us!

Close call! My lovely friend did her kitchen make over, pushed the boat out once in a lifetime type thing. Now her wooden worktop is in a state, she tries, but like many she's busy and the water damage around the sink is too much to keep up with. Such a shame as it was gorgeous.