Hi I just thought I would leave a comment about the visibility of joins in reconstituted stone such as Caesarstone tops on islands longer than 3 metres. From a patern point of view; by selecting a style that has a fine grain certainly helps with reducing the visibility of a join. As for the join itself, the technology and tooling used to make such joints has come a long way in the last 10 years; therefore if you use a Kitchen Manufacturer who uses up-to-date stone fabrication methods, then such joins can be next to near invisible. Below is a kitchen we made with an Island that is over 4.3 metres long and has a join through the centre; where the join actually has to be pointed out to be seen. We have seen Kitchen Manufactures use the two height method but you really don't have to do this to achieve a long island. If you would like a long island, then you should not be put off by having to have a join; careful selection of your material, manufacturer and planning can achieve great results. Hope this helps anyone reading this article and the comments above.

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/

Thanks for your super quick reply outdoors mainly but under cover and might bring into the entrance hall thanks again I am just about to do another post - my letter box was knocked over and I was wondering if I could use some old saddle bags to make one, will post the pics appreciate any thoughts. Thank you very much

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!