Photo 1. Marble benchtops by CDK Stone.
DESIGN
Granite
Options for benchtops grow for buyers The market for kitchen benchtops is getting bigger with more materials to choose from.
C
hoosing the “correct” material for kitchen benchtops can be a difficult exercise. On one hand there is the beauty of natural stone products such as marble and granite, on the other the durability and (usually) lower cost of manmade products such as engineered quartz. The three major stresses that kitchen countertops face are: scratching/cutting; staining from substances such as red wine; and high heat. To that list you can add the need for maintenance, and, of course, cost.
Marble There is little doubt that marble remains one of the most beautiful surfaces to use on countertops. A recent trend that has emerged is the use of light-coloured Calacatta marble, which has come to replace the better-known Carrara marble in many homes. The two differ in that Carrara marble tends to have very fine, consistent veins of a contrasting colour to the overall white, while
Calacatta marble has wider, thicker and more dramatic veins of colour in the white (see photo 1). Both types of marble originate in the Apuan Alps located in north-central Italy. However, all that beauty comes at a cost — if not financially, then in terms of practicality. Marble is highly porous, which means when it is untreated it will stain easily and irreparably. It is also a relatively soft stone, which means scratches can easily mar its gleaming surface. On the plus side, however, it is very heat resistant. Techniques for sealing marble have improved remarkably over the past decade, and some owners of marble countertops claim that they are not very worried overmuch by substances such as red wine or coffee, and more concerned about substances such as turmeric and other spices. Costs in Australia vary widely for marble, starting as low as $800 a square metre, and running up to well over $2000 a square metre for finished work.
44 | DISCOVERING STONE #31 | www.discoveringstonemagazine.com.au
While granite lacks some of the drama and beauty of marble, it ticks many of the boxes that marble does not. It is scratch resistant, requires very little maintenance, is stain resistant and inert when in contact with most household chemicals. It’s also heat resistant (unless you are planning on doing the odd bit of spot welding on the kitchen counter). While many granites can be used without sealing, it has become a generally accepted practice to seal these surfaces every two years or so. Costs for granite are now comparable with marble, running from around $700 to $1600 for finished work.
Man-made alternatives Engineered quartz (EQ) surfaces have been around for some time, made by companies such as the well-known Caesarstone, but new types have been steadily emerging over the past five years. Photo 2. A kitchen benchtop in Eternal Charcoal Soapstone from Cosentino’s Silestone range.