Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Jun 03, 2009 10:03 am My partner and I have an option of either 30mm acrylic (Avonite) or 20mm engineered stone (Qstone) benchtops in our kitchen. We're having about 10.7 metres of benchtop all up, including feature waterfalls on either end of a 2.7m (900mm deep) island. Engineered stones such as Caesarstone, Essastone etc seem to be very popular at the moment. Our builder seems to prefer Avonite, using it in all of their display homes. What are the pros and cons of each? I know that with Avonite we won't have any joins/seams anywhere, however we just love one of the Qstone colours we've seen. Having said that, there are also some nice Avonite colours so this isn't a decision that we'll make purely based on asthetics. I wonder which surface is best in terms of longevity, ease of cleaning, stain resistance etc. I've read a fair bit about these sorts of products online, however at times the information seems to be a bit conflicting about which is best and based more on opinion than fact alone. So which would you chose if you had the same decision - Avonite or Qstone? New beginnings. Re: Acrylic vs engineered stone 2Jun 11, 2009 10:13 pm I'd definately go with the stone. I've had some experience with acrylic products and quartz based products. The stone will not stain , mark or scratch as easy as the acrylic products. Having said that, the acrylic is warmer, quieter, a bit more forgiving when you drop your good china on it, easier to repair if damaged, and, as you stated, seamless. Engineered stone is more durable, and easy to clean. Natural stone looks 1000 times better, but needs to be sealed at intervals. You can't really cut on any of them, and I wouldn't recommend putting hot things on them. Hi Alex, Thanks for the reply again. I had a chat with the builder, he said he will use primer, then hydrotec which comes with colour and sealer as well. A Renderer I… 12 18072 Suggestions please for acrylic rendering Color to match austral brick urban one pepper. Pic for reference. Thanks 0 5067 It's a classic case of aesthetics subjugating function where style takes precedence over practicality. 3 3943 |