Kitchen work top question

[henry d]

I am looking at new kitchens at the moment and "we" have seen 2 that "we" like, one is a formica top but is V V expensive as the formica bit is 4-5mm thick, the other is "solid" beech ie. it is bonded beech blocks and does look good when oiled and finished.

 

Does anyone have good or bad reports or Pro/Cons of either ??

 

Many thanks in advance.

[deadeye ive]

looking into kitchens myself H .Women are the experts and they say natural materials like wood /granite mark and stain unless treated on a regular basis .

 

quote

 

Mrs deadeye @ IKEA 6/4/08

[MC]

Solid beech is OK as long as you keep it clean and oiled regurlarly. The other type of "Formica" which is 4-5mm thick is excellent, if you scratch or mark it you can sand the damage out and should you chip it then you can get matching filler pastes and you will never know it has been repaired.

 

The best one I have seen is called "Minaralle" or something very similar. Google FGF limited and see if they have a depot in your area.

[pegleg31]

if your going to the exspense of solid surface go for granite,its the best and if you shop around its not as dear as you think.beech is good but takes alot of maintenance and the formica (corian) stuff looks good and you can mould sinks and stuff into it.but it scratches easily.

[WGD]

if your going to the exspense of solid surface go for granite,its the best and if you shop around its not as dear as you think.beech is good but takes alot of maintenance and the formica (corian) stuff looks good and you can mould sinks and stuff into it.but it scratches easily.

 

granite is superb, it was expensive but it is bullet proof, does not scratch, chip or mark (even if you directly chop on it). Having had it I wouldn't have anything else now.

 

WGD

[sbald]

Hi

as above granite or slate are the best(but dont listen to anyone who says they dont mark as any worktop will mark if abused)

I have also seen polished concrete which looks alot better than it sounds but is expensive.

whichever you choose you should always use worktop protectors (tempered glass is good) and never chop on the worktop(apart from anything this is the quickest way of blunting knives.)

[WGD]

sbald, i can only speak from experience but to mark the granite i have you'd need to be doing something pretty serious, chopping carrots with a chainsaw perhaps?

 

Good point about the knives although i do have a good sharpening steel

 

WGD

[pegleg31]

granite's hard to mark but it can chip

[malkiserow]

Beech is quite hard for a wood and can look good with just a wipe of the right oil one a week or so. However you need to decide if you like it "as new" much more work or accept the worn "Terence Conran" scrubbed look. If you want the former you must always use heat guards for pans and chopping boards.

 

If you really want solid wood.... I'd use Canadian Rock Maple and nothing else. It is both harder and tighter grain than Beech and will not take food smell or taste like Beech.

 

Never use Oak for kitchen work tops.

 

Make sure the plank design/construction is very good at reducing the natural movement. Wood will always move a bit with moisture change.

[CARBINE]

Hi Hd, beech is a lot of work to keep it looking good and if you don`t they will look awful, granite is good but it can chip but are a lot more

hard wearing and I have known them to scratch and formica is good but don`t get them high gloss one`s because they scratch like hell---

hope this helps.

 

 

Carbine

[henry d]

Many thanks guys, "we" have lots to digest

[Stealth Stalker]

Henry

 

The Mineralle worktops are very good, as Martin mentioned but the price & installation costs tend to work out more than granite.

 

Personally I would go for the granite option.

 

SS

[jake_]

Morning

 

I have to agree with the majority, granite is the way forward. I put a new kitchen in my place with my father last year and took his advice and went for granite. Looks smart, easy to polish (wash it down to remove grease and then a simple pledge spray will buff up), will outlast the kitchen and the other halfs tend to love it as its available in so many different colours and patterns.

 

Very good point above, shop around as prices vary considerably. Another good tip to reduce costs is to get the kitchen fitted and use mdf as a worktop for a template, can reduce costs by about 10-15% as granite fitters charge for measuring and template stuff.

 

Good luck

[Cosd]

Hi henryd

I'm going to go with the majority here and say garnite is the way to go. It really is bullit proof.

Barring a hammer there isn't much that will damage it, maybe if you dropped a heavy pan on an edge might chip it;

But other than that, you can take boiling pans off the hob and straight onto the granite, they are clean and hygenic,

and will last forever.

 

My advise in any kitchen refit is the two most important things are the worktop and floor surface. These two components

take the heaviest use, get these right and your kitchen will look great for many years.

 

Good luck mate

[Chard]

Beech could be high maintenance.

I would never spend too much on a kitchen, because our ladies tend to be influenced by changing fashions these days.

There was a time when I would never have believed that kitchen design would be subject to changing fashion, but here we are.

 

One year it's wood or wood effect, then that becomes sooooooooooooo last year dahling, and it's out with the white stuff again

[charliebrown]

If your feeling really flush theres some lovely turkish Marble worktops coming onto the market now, otherwise granite all the way, just avoid Absolute Black, everbody seems to have it. The green colours look amazing in my opinion