Choosing a Kitchen Worktop: Quartz, Granite, Wood or Laminate

There is no single best worktop. Laminate is the most affordable and quickest to fit. Solid wood is warm and repairable but needs regular oiling. Quartz is hard-wearing and low maintenance, granite is natural stone with good heat resistance, and marble looks beautiful but marks more easily. The right choice depends on how you cook, how much care you want to give it and your budget.

The worktop is the part of the kitchen you touch most, and it has a big effect on both the look and the timeline of the job. Here is how the main options compare.

Laminate

Laminate is a printed decorative layer bonded to a chipboard or MDF core. Modern laminates can look convincingly like stone or wood.

• Good for: tighter budgets, rentals and utility rooms.
• Care: wipe clean. Use chopping boards and trivets, as knives and hot pans can mark the surface.
• Watch out for: water getting into cut edges and joints, especially around the sink, which makes the core swell. Well-sealed joints and edges matter.
• Fitting: cut and fitted on site, so it goes in at the same time as the units.

Solid wood

Oak, walnut and other hardwoods give a warm, traditional look and suit shaker-style kitchens well.

• Good for: people who like a natural material and do not mind some upkeep.
• Care: wood needs oiling before use and regularly after that, particularly around the sink. Standing water leaves marks.
• Plus side: scratches and small burns can often be sanded out and the surface re-oiled.
• Fitting: cut on site. The boards need room to move slightly with changes in humidity.

Quartz

Quartz worktops are engineered stone: crushed quartz bound with resin and made into slabs, so the colour and pattern are consistent.

• Good for: busy family kitchens that want a stone look without much maintenance.
• Care: non-porous, so it does not need sealing and resists staining. Most makers advise using a trivet for hot pans, as the resin can be damaged by direct high heat.
• Fitting: made off site to a template, so there is a wait between the units going in and the worktops arriving.

Granite

Granite is natural stone, so every slab is different.

• Good for: people who want a natural material that is very hard-wearing.
• Care: generally handles heat well and is hard to scratch. Some granites benefit from periodic sealing, so ask your supplier about the stone you choose.
• Fitting: templated and made off site, like quartz.

Marble

Marble has a softness and veining that is hard to copy, but it is the most delicate of the stones.

• Good for: people who love the look and accept it will age and mark over time.
• Care: it is softer and more porous than granite or quartz, so acidic things like lemon juice, wine and some cleaners can etch or stain it. Sealing and quick wiping up help.
• Fitting: templated and made off site.

How the worktop affects your timeline

Laminate and wood are cut and fitted on site straight after the units. Quartz, granite and marble are measured for a template once the base units are fixed, then made off site and fitted on a later visit. In the meantime the kitchen has no proper worktop and often no sink. Our guide to how long it takes to fit a kitchen explains where that wait sits in the order of work.

Questions to ask yourself

• Do you often put hot pans down straight from the hob?
• How much maintenance are you happy to do?
• Do you want undermounted sinks and drainer grooves cut into the worktop? Stone suits these best.
• Is the kitchen part of a full renovation or a makeover? New worktops on existing units is a common makeover, covered in kitchen renovation vs kitchen makeover.
• Do you want the utility room to match? A matching but cheaper material can work well there.

Worktops fitted by ATR

As part of a kitchen renovation we fit quartz, granite, marble, solid wood and laminate worktops, and we work with your supplier to sort out missing or incorrect parts as they come up. The same materials can be carried through into a utility room so it feels like part of the kitchen. We are happy to talk through the options on the free visit.

Planning a kitchen in Upminster or Grays?

We cover Upminster, Hornchurch, Romford, Grays and the rest of Havering and Thurrock. Call 07795 673584 or ask for a free quote.