What Material Should you choose for a Worktop application?

Posted by Kairuz Maria on November 2nd, 2016

When it comes to customization, only a few aspects in your kitchen are as flexible as your kitchen worktop. Unlike cabinets, stoves or appliances, a worktop can be made out of stone, steel, or laminate. Be it a mineral, a metal or a large piece of timber, your worktop material does have to be, at the very least, made out of a material you want and like to have in your kitchen.

As such, choosing a worktop surface is partially about aesthetics, style, and/or preference, and largely about the practicality of having that material in your kitchen. Today in the 21st century, the list of valid materials has expanded massively – from powerful, resilient thermosetting polymers like high-grade epoxy, to compressed paper. Yes, even paper can work as a great kitchen worktop – but when what you’re looking for has to be stylish, resilient and long-lasting, which means it is always best to stick to the basics.

Wood

A popular option for a kitchen worktop is the classic choice – wood. It’s not just any wood, though – quality timber like oak and pine comes with the benefit of getting stronger with age, and being naturally antibacterial. Furthermore, as long as you keep wood coated, you’re unlikely to have to worry too much about overly moist (and potentially bloated) wood. The key is keeping it coated and sealed with a fresh layer every few months. However good the choice of wood as a worktop material, it will eventually rotten by being in constant contact with liquids and water.

The biggest downside aside from maintaining a wooden surface so close to the sink is that wood, as anyone could tell you does not do well with hot pans and pots. Watch out for scorch marks, and should your stove somehow get out of control, a wooden worktop won’t necessarily help with the fire hazard.

Laminated Plywood

More economic and easily sealed, albeit less resilient and not antibacterial, plywood could be seen as the cheapest option on the market for a simple kitchen worktop – as per How Stuff Works, it’s cheap and very stable – but it’s also far from ideal. For one, plywood isn’t built to last.

When carried out in the correct fashion, a laminate worktop may last long enough to be economically sensible. That and the myriad of design options makes it a fairly flexible worktop choices, as long as you aren’t too bothered about aesthetics and looks of the worktop material.

Plastic

Outside of the typical metal, stone, and wood, there’s also man’s favorite manmade material – plastic. Not just any plastic, however, as you would then run into the trouble of a very non-durable and barely resistant countertop surface.

Instead, turn to epoxy for the ultimate level of protection, against chemical, physical and thermal damages alike. As explained at Masterbond, it’s known for its superb protective properties. The look is ultimately what will matter – do you like the way epoxy looks in your kitchen? You would also have to consider that plastic doesn’t tend to be  very resistant to heat and can potentially melt if in direct contact with hot pans and pots that come out from the oven.

Stone

Stone comes in many a different form – you can order concrete, the most basic kitchen worktop which comes with may inherent maintenance issues, or you can choose a more natural worktop made out of granite or marble.

Kitchen island in Calacatta Oro marble with 50mm edges by MKW Surfaces

From there, you could also choose engineered quartz, like Silestone, versus what What is Travertine describes as natural stone like a travertine worktop. When purchased from suppliers such as MKW Surfaces, engineered stone can be perfect for a kitchen. Engineered stones are typically common minerals mixed and fixed together through a specialized resin. These resins, while resistant to many things, are at times less resistant to heat when compared to how heat resistant a natural stone would be.

At the end of the day, the best choices are all up to you – although if you want maximum longevity and quality for your dime, you’d be hard pressed to beat engineered stone such as quartz, Neolith or Dekton surfaces.