Your kitchen surface really is the jewel in the crown, bringing everything  together beautifully in both an aesthetic and practical sense. The surface you choose should reflect your lifestyle whilst still fulfilling your aspirations.

Essentially, there are 5 different material choices available for your kitchen work surface. We want to make sure that the surface you choose from us is the right surface for you.

Whatever material you decide to go with, you can be assured that we only deal with well established and reputable suppliers and manufacturers, all of which we have built up a solid relationship with over time.

Below is some useful information to help you make an informed choice of surface that will give you many years of pleasure and use.

 

  • Laminate: Offering a huge choice in colours, textures and finishes, this is also the most cost effective material on the market. However, please be aware there are many different qualities available.

Budget surfaces' offer little or no resistance to heat, moisture and scratching, whilst a premium laminate surface can carry a guarantee of between 10 years and a life time against all natural defects.

  • Solid Wood: Oak, walnut, beech, cherry, iroko and bamboo are just a few examples of this warm and popular material.

The harder the wood the greater its resistance to general wear and tear. Another important factor regarding the quality of your wooden surface, is it's country of origin and the storage methods used.

A big plus side to wood, is the abillity to repair any moderate scratching or accidental scorch marks from hot pans.

It's worth noting that there is a certain amount of up-keep involved in maintaining a wooden surface, both from a cosmetic and hygienic point of view. Well worth the effort how'ever!

  • Acrylic: Inconspicuous joints, non porous, hygienic and heat resistant to an excess of 240. Acrylic is also repairable and can be worked like wood.

Available in a wide choice of colours and generally warrented for 10 years, this is a popular substitute to granite.

Costs vary hugely, depending on the thickness, which can vary between a 3mm coating on an MDF core to a 40mm solid slab. A front profile of up to 100mm can be added to give the illusion of a more premium product and also a more contemporary look.

The installation process can be complex to achieve the desired results and a full templating and fabrication service could be required.

  • Quartz: Most manufactur's offer an amazing 93% natural quartz, which has fantastic reflective qualities to it and a greater cosistency and solidity of colour.

With a similar look and feel to granite, quartz has the benefit of being non porous, very hygienic, and incredibly heat and stain resistant.

For a solid slab rather than a quartz topped MDF board, you can expect costs to be slightly higher than granite.

  • Granite: With its natural beauty and diverse pattern and colour options, granite is still considered by most, to be the material of choice for their kitchen work surfaces.

Granite is generally available in three grades. Granite sourced from the surface of a site will be of a lower quality and thus less expensive than that sourced from further below.

Each slab of granite will be totally unique to you, because of it's random colour and patterning.

Although not indestructable, granite offers good protection against heat, scratching and general wear.

It's these qualities that make granite the surface of choice, whether it be an aspirational choice or a lifestyle requisite.