Which Stone Is Best for a Kitchen Benchtop?
Natural and engineered stones have been used in kitchen benchtops for decades to give homes a timeless and elegant look. Stone kitchen bench tops are highly durable and are a great investment for your home as they maintain their beauty and strength for many years.
Choosing the best stone is difficult as there are not only hundreds of colours but also different types of stone to consider
There are many factors that must be considered before choosing a material to ensure that the perfect surface type is chosen. Gitani Stone has the expertise and knowledge from thousands of stone installations on which the exact type of stone is best for your needs
Read on to Discover What Surface Is Best for You!
Marble is undoubtedly a pinnacle of beauty in the natural stone world. Its intricate veining and difficulty to procure makes it one of the most desirable natural stone surfaces in the world. Marbles have the widest variety in colours, if there’s a colour you are after there’s usually a marble to suit. Low-quality marbles can be susceptible to excessive staining and etching caused by poor fabrication or cleaning techniques.
Gitani Stone can teach you how to maintain marble properly and easily, including the option of using high-quality sealers that last multiple years and do not affect the look of the stone
Marble
Marble is undoubtedly a pinnacle of beauty in the natural stone world. Its intricate veining and difficulty to procure make it one of the most desirable natural stone surfaces in the world. Marbles have the widest variety in colours, if there’s a colour you are after there’s usually a marble to suit. Low quality marbles can be susceptible to excessive staining and etching caused by poor fabrication or cleaning techniques.
Gitani Stone can teach you how to maintain marble properly and easily, including the option of using high-quality sealers that last multiple years and do not affect the look of the stone.
Quartzite
Quartzite has become an extremely popular choice for the highest-end homes requiring simply the best surface that money can buy. Quartzites strength comes from its composition which is pure Quartz, which only a diamond or sapphire can scratch.
Quartzite is also extremely beautiful, often mistaken for a very expensive marble as they have illustrious veining and a diamond-like finish. They are impervious to staining, impossible to scratch with even the sharpest knife, and can withstand a flame directly to the face.
There are a select few quartzites that can stain without the proper experience, Gitani Stone will provide every bit of information necessary to keep your kitchen perfect
Granite
Granite continues to be one of the most popular natural stones for kitchen benchtops. Designers and architects love granite for its generally consistent colouring and extremely high durability. Granites are generally darker in colour, while white granite can be sourced its generally rarer and more expensive. Granites are stronger than most marbles but are not as strong as quartzites, this is due to the chemical composition of granite. Gitani Stone has the widest variety of granite colours in Sydney which can complement almost any kitchen design or style.
Engineered Stone
The shared opinion among stonemasons is that engineered stone simply cannot compete with natural stone. Designers around the world are now coming to terms that the beauty and exclusivity of natural stone cannot be beaten.
Engineered stones such as Caesarstone cannot have hot pans put on them, cannot be placed outside, and has a similar stain and scratch resistance to granite. Since engineered stone techniques are advancing every day an engineered bench top today looks very dated in just a few years’ time.
There are a few use cases of engineered tone that can be considered:
- Spending more on a kitchen and using natural stone whilst using engineered stone in laundry and keeping the budget on track
- Design ideas where stone must be bent since engineered stone is a polymer that can be bent carefully controlled heat
