Kitchen Worktop

[newname2668]

Morning! We are giving our kitchen a mini makeover and I’d like to replace the kitchen worktop. We currently have a wood (style? I’m not sure if it’s real) workshop from IKEA that we inherited with the house. It’s fine but has lifted in some places and is looking very tired.

We visited a marble and granite show room and fell in love with some options but it was going to be £3000 and we just don’t have that budget.

I think we are therefore looking at replacing it with another wood style top but I have no idea where to start. Does anyone have any advice on good suppliers / what to avoid / do I need real wood etc?

Thanks very much!

If you like marble, we have quartz worktops from Gemini worktops. I had a fair size to cover and from memory was nowhere near £3k. Mine was thinner than standard depth as it needed to be lighter weight. They were very helpful on the phone so may be worth a look.

We used these guys for quartz, they were about 30% cheaper than everywhere else. If you email them your measurements they will send a ballpark cost and they are based near St Albans.

Quartz Worktops Direct - Quartz Worktops Direct

Wherever you buy from I would really recommend going to see the full slab in person as the tiny samples they post out look very different from the full slab.

we went with quartz, which I really like. But honestly I’d probably do high quality laminate as it’s easier to work with and reconfigure and can look great.

Are you comparing like with like? When I was refitting my kitchen I went for granite and initially it looked expensive. However the price was not just for the materials it - it included all the detailed measuring, cutting, fitting etc and guarantees and was the complete price. This is also how composites and quartz worktops are priced IME. For laminate the cost is typically just for the material so by the time you have added on the time for fitting, measuring etc to get the quality of fit you might find prices are not as different as they seem up front.

I was almost ready to go with quartz in our kitchen remodel, as we used it in the utility area about five years ago and it has worked well. It is also handsome.

But after being alerted on a MumsNet thread, I learned that quartz is the worst for the respiratory tracts of the people in the supply chain, and it is poorly regulated.

We will be doing something else. Our laminate is only okay, but a friend has some very high quality stuff that might work. We’ve had a matte granite in a previous house that I loved, but that seems harder to find now.

I’ve also liked a few examples of Corian and such much more than I expected to. Weirdly, a previous neighbour did most of her worktops in a very traditional kitchen in a (very high quality) stainless steel that was absolutely gorgeous, and not at all cold looking in context.

I love actual wooden worktops but everyone says they are hell to maintain.

My preference is butcher block but it does require the most maintenance. It looks lovely, though.
I know laminate is not in vogue but I do actually quite like it and it is my preference over marble/quartz. It is such a personal matter.

We went with duropal laminate square edge worktops 6 years ago and it still looks like brand new , the work surface is folded over the edging so yo don't get the seams you do with some laminates. At the time 3 metre lengths were £142 each and for the price I am pleased how well they have lasted. I just have a couple of glass worktop savers for hot pans

We had the same at around the same time. No issues at all.

As we have 10m of extra-wide running kitchen counter, laminate was the only option. We chose a marble effect in warm grey and brown, and it has been much admired.