Hi Joaney & Lainy I also use only windex on all my bench tops. The granite I had before was a white with a few burgundy streaks and gorgeous highlights through it. Can't remember the name, might have been River White but not sure and I found nothing stained it at all. The marble in my bathrooms I have now look very expensive and impressive but I know every single mark on them even though a visitor mightn't pick them out. In my kitchen I now have Caeser stone and if you want a virtually indestructible bench top this would be it. I have blackbutt timber floors and as they have a lot of color, I chose all white in the kitchen with just a tiny fleck. I just love granite because of the beautiful grains you get running through it.

900mm is still 'standard' however I quite often do 950mm for my clients. It is not a difference that will stand out as wrong, and is really more in proportion with the heights of people today. Some things to consider / look out for with the increased bench height: - often the joiner might try to put the extra 50mm into the kickrails as it is cheaper & easier for them. This DOES look disproportionate so I would definitely recommend paying the extra $ to put the height into the cabinets instead. - If you are having a free-standing stove not all of them are able to be adjusted tall enough to suit a 950mm benchtop, so check the specs carefully. You may end up needing to build a plinth for the stove to go on. - Be sure to ask for a filler to go above your dishwasher, otherwise you will end up with a sizeable gap between the top of the dishwasher & the underside of the benchtop. - The distance between any overhead cabinets & the stove top is dictated by standards, so an increase of 50mm in the bench height will result in the overhead cabinets (if you are having any) also being 50mm higher.

Hi all our terrazzo bench has been installed and in use for over 12 months. This bench was poured in Italy and then finished by a stonemason off-site type. When 1st installed I spilt some lemon juice which created a mark so we are careful not to use acidic items on the bench. I am not sure if this happened before or after we sealed it but I think it’s important to seal any natural stone product and we used the sellers recommended product called “slow drying sure seal” but I won’t vouch for its effectiveness as I can’t compare it to anything. Over all we love the look but I think you need to be a little more careful around natural products than engineered ones so it may depend on your lifestyle

Thanks Bigreader, we don’t have a floor plan for the house but the relocated power points, tapware, sink and new dry walls are all happening. We won’t see power cords or washer hoses once it’s done, they will be behind the scenes. Can’t change door hinge on fridge either, we have checked that already, and we can’t extend to buy a new fridge as well as this one isn’t very old and we’ve had to buy a new washing machine as well as the hot water system. It sure does all add up!