How To Choose A Right Benchtop For Your Kitchen?

It does not matter if you are renovating your kitchen or building a new one, you must make sure that you get the material right. You must know how to pick the best quality marble benchtops for your kitchen. It is important to get the benchtop manufacturers right in this context. The thing is that you have various kinds of products out there in this context these days. Some of them are affordable, but not so good. You also have luxurious materials while others are durable to the hilt. All these materials come with their advantages and disadvantages that you must know of. For example, if you want to buy a granite benchtop this is something that you must know – black granite benchtop: the pros and cons.

We must also say in this context that these materials vary in terms of price. A lot in this case also depends on the benchtop manufacturers that you buy the product from. So, before you decide anything in this context, it is important to ensure that you have done proper research in this context.

Having a budget in mind

This is perhaps the most important consideration in this context. Before you even start looking at these products, you must know how much you could spend in this context.

Knowing your budget will let you know which of the 5 benchtop materials to consider for your kitchen. This way, you could approach the right benchtop manufacturers for your needs as well. When you know how much you can spend in this context, you could whittle down your options properly. This would make sure that you do not waste time exploring products that are out of bounds for you. There are a few important factors that you must include in your budget, though. This includes the cost of the material, to begin with. Apart from that, you must consider expenses incurred in hiring labourers and the installation work.

Your benchtop manufacturers may also need to do extra work to make sure that the benchtop has been installed correctly. Doing this would cost you some additional money in this case as well. You must also know how to maintain these products, as that would help you save money in the long run. This is where information like tips to maintain quantum quartz benchtops can be so very helpful for you in every sense of the term. You must also have some spare money to meet the contingencies that keep arising in these cases. Please remember that if your budget is small, you would not get the best products in this context for sure.

In that case, your benchtop manufacturers could not offer you products that look good and work well at the same time. You would have to select materials that would never match up to your expectations in terms of looks and performance. So always perform some research on the functionality and performance of each such material and get an idea of how much they would cost you.

Ability to handle the heat

Do you love cooking? In that case, you would want a kitchen benchtop that must be able to withstand the heat that may be generated thanks to such an activity.

Some materials can be damaged easily – all you need is a bit of heat and they are harmed. Therefore, always talk to the benchtop manufacturers before you decide anything in this context. It is always better in these cases to go with materials that can resist the heat. The thing with buying materials that cannot stand the heat is that they are damaged irreparably by the heat. You do not want the heat to damage permanently your benchtop, do you?

It is also important that you take proper care of your benchtops, even when you are buying heat-resistant materials. You can always talk to the benchtop manufacturers and find out more about the same. For example, you must always place hot items on surfaces where they must be placed like the stovetops. You can also buy items such as pot rests so that the hot and heavy utensils do not form heat marks on your bench.

Ability to handle moisture

It is a known fact that kitchens are wet. After all, you are doing so much over here – preparing the food, cooking it, and then washing up after you are done.

These surfaces are always dealing with a lot of moisture. Talk to your benchtop manufacturers and find out what would be the most appropriate product for your needs. Please remember that various materials will perform differently when it comes to water resistance. It is no use choosing a material that is porous as it would absorb stains and water quickly. It is always better to go for the denser materials that offer far superior resistance to water. In fact, how water resistant a surface also decides how hygienic it is. In the case of porous surfaces, the water seeps in.

This leads to the growth of harmful organisms like bacteria and mould. You must always talk to your benchtop manufacturers and find out ways of preventing the same. In some other cases, you may have to seal the surface from time to time to ensure that it does not get damaged by water and related stains.

Durability

As is common knowledge, you would subject your kitchen benchtop to plenty of wear and tear regularly. So, you must choose a surface that can withstand that amount of damage. After all, you would place your heavy pans and pots on it, which would knock it hard.        

You would use your sharp knives on it every day. Always talk to your benchtop manufacturers and find out how this could affect the product. If you have a tough surface, you will not have to touch it up regularly or even repair it that much. The thing is that most of the materials you have these days are good enough to withstand a few scratches of the knives. However, it is always better to use a chopping board rather than doing so straight away on the benchtop surface.

As far as impact and knocks are concerned, there is a lot of variety! Sometimes you would see damages happening mostly on the corners in the shape of nicks and chips. In some of these cases, you could make minor repairs or replacements and smoothen out the issue. However, it is always better to talk to your benchtop manufacturers and get the hardest materials that you can afford.

Amount of maintenance needed

The various benchtop materials differ from each other in terms of the maintenance they need. Are you someone who does not have time for household chores or someone who does not enjoy cleaning?

In that case, you are better off avoiding materials that need to be cleaned and maintained constantly. We are mainly talking of the sealed surfaces over here. Talk to your benchtop manufacturers and find out the most appropriate option in this context. You also have some surfaces that are nonporous and thus need little maintenance. However, the problem with these surfaces is that they may get fingerprints and streaks. This makes it challenging to keep them clean – they look bad pretty soon. In such cases, you have to use specialized cleaning solutions that are meant only for that material.

In some other low-maintenance options, you may get joins and grouts, which can make it hard to clean them effectively. So, talk to your benchtop manufacturers and find out the best solution for you in this context.

How good does it look?

It does not matter how much you can spend in this context, as you would always find one product or the other that would suit your aesthetic preferences. Such products would be in keeping with the overall style of your home, too. Here, buy materials that would suit the other furniture in your kitchen.

Let us say you want a material to complement the oven or fridge in your kitchen. You can talk to your benchtop manufacturers and get the best options in this case. If you want to use materials that create a contrast, you will get that as well. Always consider the atmosphere you wish to create in your kitchen. You need not worry as you would always get the most appropriate material considering your needs. This way you could make your kitchen luxurious if you wanted to. If you want a minimalist and sleek look, you can do that too.

Conclusion

The world of kitchen benchtops is wide. This is something that you would understand once you talk to the benchtop manufacturers in your area. Even as you explore this vast and diverse domain, you would come to understand one critical thing. It is your budget that would ultimately decide the product you get in this case. However, it is just as important to understand what you want from the product as that would also go a long way in helping you make the right decision in this context.