We open a discussion about kitchen countertops, a topic of great interest for any custom furniture design project. The worktop is one of the most important and durable surfaces in the composition of kitchen furniture, the material with which you interact most often in the kitchen, the main work area, which integrates the hob (even the hood – downdraft or integrated into the hob) and the sink. When we talk about countertops, we refer to the worktop, either for the bases or for the island, or for the snack table.
Choosing a material for the kitchen countertop is a decision with numerous criteria, both in terms of cost and the impact the material has on the aesthetics and practical function of the kitchen. In terms of costs, the worktop will require a significant part of the kitchen’s production budget, but a well-chosen countertop works wonders for the kitchen in terms of utility, maintenance, and design.
We wouldn’t recommend that for any worktop material, however, a wooden chopping surface would work just as well.
The most serious questions we often receive about countertops concern the costs for different types of kitchen materials. People also need to know about the practical features – resistance to abrasions, shocks, heat shock, cleaning. Once we have checked all the objective questions, we reach the subjective issues – the aesthetics of the materials – colors, textures (matte, glossy, porous, smooth), the wood or stone grain, including how these factors interact with other materials.
Before discussing the materials, we talk about the shape and the specifics regarding the kitchen space, we also take into account the criteria regarding the practical functionality of the countertop, depending on the way our customer uses the kitchen and the work surfaces.
We advise not to take a material out of context, any material must be considered in the context of the project – what is the destination of the material, what materials it can be associated with, what kind of interaction the surface involves, how the material will be featured, either horizontal or vertical.
For example, we do not recommend natural wood for the worktop due to the intense activity that can damage the surface, but we can find a wood finish on HPL support that resembles the natural texture of wood.
The countertop is the most visible and tactile surface in the kitchen, so the countertop material may involve a larger investment than the materials for the fronts, but in terms of size (square meters or linear material), the costs are justified for some special materials, see countertop categories like stone – granite, quartz, ceramic.
To further develop the discussion about materials for the worktop, we will present a series of categories of recommended materials, organized according to price categories, but the hierarchy is purely general and excludes different levels of quality of each material that can lower or raise the price.
HPL panels are made from a number of layers of paper fiber, similar to the paper we use every day. These layers are impregnated with a phenolic resin and are heated while being pressed simultaneously at high pressure to obtain a thin and hard panel, made for numerous applications, from guitar bodies to furniture.
Advantages
- HPL is an economical countertop material, but very serious from a technical point of view, with variable resistance to scratches, humidity, high temperatures, it is also hygienic, non-toxic, non-porous, easy to clean and to maintain.
- HPL allows for a multitude of finishes and colors, it can reproduce textures and grains of natural materials, such as natural wood or stone look.
- HPL is flexible in glossy or matte finishes which can work with the aesthetic theme of the kitchen and the future owner’s personal preferences.
- HPL is easy to cut, it can be designed to any panel size without major losses during production work.
Disadvantages
- Low resistance to bacteria, chemicals and corrosion
- Does not react well in environments where water and excess moisture are present
- Imitates natural materials, but not also their properties
Layered HPL is a high-quality alternative to HPL, with 12 layers of overlapping HPL, made with a composition of layers of cellulose fiber impregnated with phenolic resins, pressed under heat and high pressure. Laminated HPL is an ideal material for countertops as well as for kitchen fronts.
Advantages
- Allows the fitting of sinks integrated into the countertop, also for under-mounted sinks, which cannot be done with normal HPL.
- Allows the choice of a wide variety of finishes, from unicolor, metal finishes (stainless steel), to wood essences and stone textures (quartz, ceramic).
- HPL has native edging, the edges are not applied, so they cannot come off.
- It is easy to maintain, impact-resistant, anti-bacterial, waterproof, and oil resistant
- It has high resistance to steam, temperature changes, chemicals, even corrosion.
- It is easy to clean and offers a high level of hygiene, being the perfect solution for hospitals, pharmacies, and wherever high standards of hygiene are required.
- Very good material for outdoor kitchens, summer kitchens.
Disadvantages
- The price can be double, but the quality of the material is superior
- Low resistance to bacteria, chemicals and corrosion
- Imitates natural materials, but not their properties
Fenix is an innovative material from the category of high-pressure laminates, developed and produced exclusively in Italy by Arpa Industriale, whose exterior layer is a surface with nano-technological particles (less than 100 nm) applied on raw panels with minimum formaldehyde emission (class E1), glued under pressure and heat with acrylic resin.
Using high-tech processes, the nanoparticles are evenly distributed throughout the coating. After drying the layer, these particles are completely integrated into the outer layer of the material.
Advantages
- Fenix is very soft and velvety to the touch and has anti-fingerprint properties
- It is water-resistant and heat shock stable
- Can be used anywhere in the kitchen: furniture doors, countertops, wall coverings, close to hob burners, and even inside the sink
- It has hygienic, anti-bacterial, anti-mold properties
- It is resistant to impact, friction, solvents, is repairable in case of micro-scratches
- Allows unitary design – we can create a perfect monolith consisting of the countertop, fronts, and sink, all built with the same material.
- Combines ultra-modern aesthetics with functionality in a variety of matte or glossy finishes
Disadvantages
- It can be imprinted over time with marks left by various ingredients if not cleaned after each use
- It can function as a countertop, but it is especially recommended for fronts
A discussion about countertops will inevitably consider stone, an ideal material for the worktop.
First on the list is granite, a premium countertop material, a purely natural stone that comes directly from stone quarries and is then cut into thin slabs, polished and made into countertops. Granite is a common igneous rock, which forms in nature under the earth’s crust at considerable depths and after a slow cooling of the lava.
In addition to the aesthetic aspect, the most important property that distinguishes granite is undoubtedly the hardness, a feature that makes it particularly suitable for uses where a high level of wear and impact resistance is required.
Granite and marble are materials made by nature (cold slabs), and quartz, ceramics, Lapitec, Dekton, are artisanal and technologically processed materials (hot slabs, obtained by baking in the oven).
Advantages
- Granite defines the classic elegance in a kitchen. Even a modest kitchen becomes a luxury space when the natural beauty of granite countertops stands out.
- One of the advantages of natural granite over a technologically processed stone is that each granite slab is slightly different in pattern and mineral color, which means that a granite countertop will be unique.
- The price difference between granite types depends on the origin of the stone, as well as the profiling of the edges or special cuts
- You can choose a more expensive granite for appearance (cheap granite is unsightly), but the quality of granite is very important, and the quality, as well as the price, varies depending on the stone quarry.
- Historically, granite has been an expensive material, but its cost has decreased as supplies have increased and processed technical stones (ceramics, quartz) have become more common.
- Works great for integrating the sink into the countertop (under-mount sink).
Disadvantages
- The weight of the granite countertop does not allow self-installation
- The price of a granite countertop can vary depending on the stone quarry and transportation costs
- A granite countertop can be very heavy
- Granite is a relatively porous stone, and if not processed properly, it can be prone to the accumulation of bacteria
- Granite slabs can have structural defects that can lead to cracks
Quartz countertops are made of processed stone that may contain a high percentage of natural quartz, but may also include other minerals, along with polymeric or cement-based binders.
Quartz slabs are not natural stone slabs, but consist of an aggregate of stone by-products (pieces of granite, marble or recycled industrial waste such as ceramics, silica, glass, mirrors) that are ground and formed into countertop slabs and other products.
We work with quartz countertops delivered by the Italian manufacturer Santa Margherita, one of the leading suppliers of high quality quartz and one of the few worldwide manufacturers certified GreenGuard and NSF.
The Santa Margherita catalog includes glossy quartz countertops and textured native matte quartz countertops, a Santa Margherita specialty. This detail is very important due to the fact that matte quartz must be sanded, and this process diminishes the qualities, but Santa Margherita obtains native matte quartz through innovative technological processes.
Advantages
- Quartz slabs have the hardness and appearance of natural stone, but the material is more durable, less porous, and easier to process than granite slabs. The production process of quartz countertops saves the hardest mineral (quartz) and removes minerals and softens impurities. This means that quartz countertops are harder and more durable than natural granite.
- Quartz countertops have a more uniform appearance, although many unique colors and patterns are available, including models that do not resemble granite (natural stone) at all, and in terms of preferences, some quartz countertops look better than natural stone.
- Some types of quartz countertops include fragments of mirrors and other bottles, brass filings, and various mixtures of granite and marble. Considerable efforts are being made to create blends that produce a unique look.
- Quartz is famous for kitchen or bathroom countertops, but it is also used in malls or airports for flooring or wall cladding, so quartz can be integrated into a kitchen design for wall cladding or floors.
- Quartz is no longer a competitor for natural stone (granite), it has become an independent material, in its own style category, with its own advantages.
Disadvantages
- The price may vary depending on the model and grain of the quartz
- Quartz (as well as granite) have small dimensions, small slabs, so they can appear
One of the technical reasons why you can choose ceramics for the kitchen countertop is the fact that ceramics provide a bridge between functionality and aesthetics.
Ceramic as a material is a reproduction of materials of artisanal stone or natural stone.
With ceramic, you can get the representation of a type of natural stone with more advanced properties than granite, for example – abrasion resistance, impact, waterproofing, as well as much lower weight. If you choose granite-looking ceramics, you will get superior qualities to granite.
Advantages
- Ceramic is a very homogeneous and hard material, waterproof, scratch-resistant, acid-resistant and easy to maintain, including very safe for food.
- Ceramics work great for fronts – see Slimtech ceramic tiles (4-6 mm), it is a very versatile material, with a large surface area, which offers the possibility of a unitary design
- Ceramics connects the aesthetics of natural stone with the functionality of artisanal processed stone
- Very good material for outdoor kitchens, summer kitchens.
- It works great for pouring the sink into the countertop from the same material (under-mount sink), giving it a one-piece look.
Disadvantages
- Unlike granite, it can chip/break (at high mechanical shocks) more easily than granite
Above technical criteria, the choice of material for the worktop is a matter of personal preference, but it is important that the choice should not simply be based on appearance, but must be considered performance related to daily use, depending on how in which you interact with the kitchen furniture.
Therefore, it is always important to consider the recommendations for use, cleaning, and maintenance offered by the kitchen supplier.
In episode 2 of the discussion about countertops, we will consider the profiling for the edges of the countertop, as well as the combination between the countertop, fronts and door opening mechanisms.
Schedule a design consulting meeting
If you’re looking for a personalized kitchen project, schedule a consulting meeting and we can discuss together all the details about your kitchen, from materials, design, and production.
