Benchtop Caesarstone versus Granite

Spot on!!!

Sorry, but just on this point- Corian is nothing like engineered stone. If properly installed it is seamless & it can indeed be buffed or repaired if ever necessary. Regarding food prep, Corian does not propogate bacteria and is used for laboratory benches, hospital sinks etc.

SOrry to revive an old thread, but i've read a lot about engineered stones (caesar/essa/QQ in particular) chipping around the edges of an undermounted sink, even by people whom are careful in their kitchens. Just wanted to know does granite chip as easily on such edges?
It is an important factor in my kitchen as I really do love undermount sinks, but I'm going to be heartbroken if it chips after all the money we are spending on it.

Arris the edge or better still bull nose it
Otherwise go concrete

Thanks Onc... think concrete floors AND benchtop AND outdoor areas would be a little too OTT.
So you think engineered vs natural stone as far as chipping goes would be much the same?

BTW Hubby wants to give you a call at some stage for a 'chat', probably in the new year, I hope that is okay with you

Hi ya Greeny,
No prob for us with any chips,i'm careful but not majorly!
Our kiddies are older than yours too,still no probs

Thanks KA. Have a few granite samples here. Not really the look I want on my concrete floors but i'll make it work somehow
I've been considering the sink that has the rim around it, just for peace of mind on my big investment benchtop (even though undermount looks nicer) I have a feeling they don't come in the same dimensions though so in the end it will come down to sizing.

Going over to your thread soon

Been there,done that.
At the moment i am having HUGE issues with putting granite all through the house.
Just can't find tiles that i go wow thats the one.
May have to rethink & go for lam tops

Are you going browns or greys? I found browns easy but now we've switched, not so easy.
I want to just go a laminate in the bathrooms, but we're spending so much on rectified tiles and even more so the tapware that i'm worried we will devalue it if we dont go stone so i'm thinking just an engineered stone for the consistant colour. Having to pick the 'right' slabs for the kitchen will be hard enough.
Didn't you already have the granite picked out for the kitchen? Where do you have to get your tiles from? I've picked out a couple to take to the designer- I've not had the wow factor either, so over tiles I'm at the stage I don't care anymore- just pick something, anything!
I'll try remember to upload my granites to FB later and link it on the thread. They're not the best samples, and when I went in they had 2 new ones I really liked but no samples yet (and I've already driven north twice this week just to get samples so I can't be bothered going back again just for samples!).

Don't bother going to my thread- I haven't had time to update. I find having to link to pictures just far too painful- facebook is all too easy.

i use my kitchen heaps as i do lot of cooking. I am planning to go for either ceasor or essa stone. does any one know if they get chipped at edges. i am not going for undermount sinks though. But all the other edges, can i go for normal edge or should i be selecting bullnose etc.

They say bullnose is the best for avoiding chips, but there are other options if you don't want the round look.
Yes, it does chip- but some people use their kitchens a lot without chipping, I guess it all depends on how rough you are in the kitchen or any accidents that may occur.
Whenever i'm at a restaurant/bar (most have engineered stone these days) I always walk along the perimeter of it to check out how many chips they have. I'm quite surprised they still use it given that it does get chipped edges- although surprisingly not as many as i'd expect given the high usage in such areas.

Whenever i'm at a restaurant/bar (most have engineered stone these days) I always walk along the perimeter of it to check out how many chips they have. I'm quite surprised they still use it given that it does get chipped edges- although surprisingly not as many as i'd expect given the high usage in such areas.[/quote]

thanks Mrs Green - do restaurants have normal edges or bullnose?

I've never seen bullnose in an engineered stone before. Not sure what you mean by 'normal' edge- if you mean a square edge well i've only ever seen these in the bathrooms of such places.
If you google for stone benchtop edge profiles you should find the information you are after. I most commonly see bevelled and pencil edge. Just going on what i've seen in WA, I don't know what's common in other states.

Page 26 of this document have edge profiles- some of these i've never seen before, but it also has the more common ones- only with different names to what we use in Australia. http://www.marble-institute.com/consume ... tertop.pdf

I also found the test on the next page interesting: Benches covered in Ecoli the washed and rinsed, reduction in bacteria.... (note engineered stone isn't in this list-nor the new types of plastic benchtops, but I still found the statistics interesting).

Granite .......................36,000 to 1*
Stainless Steel ...............4,000 to1
Concrete ........................2,400 to1
Tile ...................................900 to1
Wood ................................500 to1
Plastic Laminate ...............285 to1

Oh yeah I chose granite.I had a good chat to a lot of stonemasons and they told me the resins and glues are terrible for food preparation areas, better for bathrooms. The companies won't tell you this and they will try and bamboozle you with stats and tests. But common sense tells you this just another man made product that adds to our cancer epidemic.

Good choice McKinnon.

It depends on the resins and glue, as some are inert once cured; you probably get more exposure from plastic containers such as for water and food. As you know, granite has joints, so need something to join between them, and looking at my current granite benchtop, it looks somewhat like a resin to colour match the granite. Also FWIW, granite might be mildly radioactive, depending on its composition; probably not enough to be harmful.

I'm actually happy with my current granite benchtop, but for the new kitchen will go with Caesarstone (or similar) and SS (around the sink) to eliminate joints.

Been in our house for approx 15mths now. No chips on our c-stone anywhere - including our undermounted sinks!! And that is a rough family of 5 with 3 kids under 5 whom tend to throw things into the sink rather then place it LOL.

Sorry Mrs G with a late reply,going for browns,the same one we have now i think boy is this picking tiles HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep sure is- I couldn't have done it without my designer! Highly recommend her! IN 3 hours we picked ALL tiles, cupboards, handles and benchtops for 3 bathrooms and the kitchen, plus wood for stairs/upstairs flooring, internal paint colour, the colour/material of the gas heater,a custom door- she has collated it into a word document and forwarded it to the builders. On Tuesday afternoon we will do the externals. All i've left to do is glazed windows quote, pick a hot water system/s, pick lights (Tuesday morning) & WE ARE DONE!

I've decided on flush sinks instead of undermount. Have gone granite from Zuccari, it's called Nero Marinace (I think). Has huge pebble like stones in it. We did have another grey one with black/metallic things in it which she really liked from my samples, but said something about certain materials in stone being affected by citric cleaners so I just crossed it straight off the list, I don't want high maintenance. I'll probably kick myself for the dark bench since I hated the last one but oh well, it's pretty.

This has been a really interesting thread to read.

In case anyone is interested in what happens over the long term with granite slab countertops I can relay my experience. I had a major kitchen remodel done many years ago and used a pale apricot coloured grained granite which was sourced from India. There was no bullnose finish- just a smooth edge. I had an undermount sink.

The kitchen was bombarded with use. I'm an avid cook and was in the food biz at the time - also had boisterous kids who cooked very messily. Over the years the granite gradually darkened in the areas of most use. The area around the sink also darkened quite noticably from water. However it was just as beautiful 10 years later as the day it was installed. The darkening just added to the patina and character.

Nothing ever cracked even though I slammed hot trays and pots onto it (I was warned about thermal cracks so should have been more careful). There were a couple of small chips which happened right by the sink where I washed huge heavy pots but nothing major. Maybe I got good luck with good strong slabs.

It came already sealed and was fabricated on site. I didn't do anything to keep it shiny or do any kind of maintainance. It was so easy to keep looking fantastic because you couldn't really see any smudges.

I had a knife slot cut into the granite to store my knives - some as big as chinese cleavers -and this I would do again.

For me it's a no brainer: I wouldn't hesitate to have a granite countertop again.