Hi mikaelamaya, I'm getting porcelain benchtops for my new kitchen, so like you, I'm interested in how other people go with them. I was listening to a radio segment the other morning ('Homies' with Simon Marney) and they said the new porcelain benchtops were more more stain resistant than composite stone benchtops, and suggested that a caller replace her stained benchtop with a porcelain one. That gave me hope! I've been testing a sample of Arte Domus (Sydney) porcelain and so far its resisted red wine, beetroot, turmeric, oil and tea. My only concern with it is whether it will chip easily. I guess I'll just sand back a chipped edge and call it 'patina'. I'm going for porcelain because of its matt finish and slim edge, and because I can get a whole slab for an island bench without joins. I'm also putting it on the bathroom vanities, so I hope I'll be happy with it. Anybody else out there with experience of this product?

Hi There, not all the Caesarstone tops leave finger marks I have the Raw Concrete in my kitchen and yes we do need to clean it but its a really nice look in a matte finish and we are happy with it, I have had many years experience with stone benchtops and silestone is OK but it can differ from the sample a little as they source the materials from multi-able countries which can create variations to the sample, Caesarstone is more on point when matching the colour sample and this would explain the extra cost in the product. In short id suggest like I do with all my clients go to a show room where you can see the stone in large samples to best gauge the look and feel of the products looking at 100mm x 100mm samples does not cut it when spending the amount you do for stone. good luck with your search. http://www.caesarstone.com.au/find-a-display https://www.silestoneoceania.com/where-to-buy/

Thank you everyone for your responses. I’m still undecided - I have a few weeks to consider what to do. The bench top salesperson showed me some photos of the few people who have added a small amount of benchtop stone to add some height (and it’s always because of a busy 60 x 30 patterned tile that the owners want to keep perfect) and in her words it looks ‘dicky’. Not least because the tile sits flatter against the wall than a 2cm thick slab of benchtop. It leaves a pronounced lip of 1.5cm where tile meets benchtop addition Then there’s the safety concerns mentioned above about flames near stone which I had not considered. Big reader - I love your maths but I’m only 150cm tall. Even with a low bench and oven height of 94cm (my oven’s lowest height setting) plus 70cm of tile between the bench and overheads, the cupboards are already 14cm above my head. This barely makes them usable for me even now! Adding another 15cm instead of the 10cm, while looking lovely and keeping the pattern intact, means my short-arse self will have real difficulty reaching anything safely. Every cm counts when you’re short! But I do appreciate your input!

I've long been concerned about the formaldehyde in laminates, which also continues to outgas after installation, but until recently questions about it were met with a blank stare. A few years ago I was pleased to see a sign in the kitchen section of Masters making a claim regarding that (I think it was the first time I saw the E0 rating?) but when I asked for information about it no-one knew what it meant and eventually they suggested I talk to their 'supplier' which turned out to be the hardware supplier who knew nothing about the laminates. Very disappointing when retailers of better safer products fail to take the opportunity to educate customers and promote those products. Good on you Anne Marie for wanting to ask intelligent questions. (I could start a whole new thread....)