When it is time to update a house, most homeowners want the kitchen renovated first, because the kitchen is often the centre of the home. It is where families gather for meals, and during gatherings with friends and family, the kitchen is where everyone congregates, so most people want their kitchens to look their best. If you are updating your kitchen, new benchtops can drastically change its appearance.
Types of Benchtop Materials
Kitchen benchtops are made from a wide variety of materials including:
- Stainless Steel
- Timber
- Quartz
- Laminate
- Concrete
- Glass
- Acrylic
- Natural Stone
The choices can be overwhelming, but there are some criteria you can use when choosing benchtops for your kitchen. Select the best benchtops for your needs by considering:
- Your budget
- The kitchen style
- How well they will last
Expensive Benchtop Materials
Some of the more expensive materials for kitchen benchtops in Perth will be stone, quartz, concrete, and glass due to the way the materials are found, their handling during shipment, and how they are installed. Since these materials are heavy, the cabinets they sit on will need to be reinforced so they don’t break when the benchtops are installed. Every precaution is taken to ensure the safe arrival and installation of these materials, and the reinforcement of the cabinets will increase the cost of your kitchen update.
Inexpensive Benchtop Materials
Benchtops made from stainless steel, laminate, and acrylic cost much less than stone or quartz and do not need to be handled as carefully as the more fragile materials. Laminate benchtops can be cut to fit on site during the installation, so they are often one of the least expensive options for your kitchen. Once you’ve decided on the material, you can then choose the colour and texture of the benchtop you want for your kitchen.
Colour Options
Most of these materials come in a wide range of colours, including stone and quartz. Laminate, acrylic, and polished concrete benchtops can be made in almost any colour that you want, and the natural materials also come in a wide range of patterns. You can easily pick the colour of the benchtop to match the cabinetry or the overall colour scheme of your kitchen.
Long-Lasting Materials
When selecting benchtops, you will also need to consider the maintenance required to keep them looking nice. Some of the materials—such as the natural stone, concrete, and quartz—are porous, so they will need to be sealed to keep from absorbing liquids and generating bacteria. Laminate, timber, and acrylic benchtops can be damaged if hot pans are placed on them, but other materials, like the stainless steel benchtops, will hold up well without needing any maintenance.
When selecting the material for your benchtops, the cost and the maintenance may be your primary considerations, because you can buy most of them in any colour you want. The contractor updating your kitchen can suggest the best materials for your kitchen benchtops, or you can look at samples and pick them out at home improvement centres.