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?

We have had composite stone bench tops for many years. First was Askilan (not even sure this is around anymore), then caesarstone which we had for over 15 years. It had one tiny chip at the edge of the under mount sink. It had a gloss finish in a white fleck and never showed a mark or stain. Replaced with a new caesarstone when we renovated the kitchen, this one has a Matt finish and shows more marks but us just as easy to clean - I love it.

We got an engineered stone resurfacing in marble for our bench and splashback. Looks amazing. We went with Granite Transformations in Taren Point (Sydney), very happy with their customer service and speed of installation. We changed our sink and that could be easily done with the benchtop overlay. You could get rid of the ugly bullnose and get a straight edge too. They also do stone, which is a bit cheaper, but marble looks so good. Granite Transformations Sydney South

When anything goes wrong it’s what is written on the paper that prevails. If the quotation you accepted says drop in and that is the supporting document then you’re out of luck. A total redo would be at your cost. You may be able to negotiate that they do it at a discount out of goodwill.