# Forum Home Renovation Kitchens  Casesarstone Rivals or Alternatives

## DaleBlack

Hi , mainly due to price I was wondering what other rivals in engineered stone there are to Caesarstone or possibly an alternative (unless at a lower price there is only laminated benches). I realize I could drop from 40mm to 20mm to reduce the price.

----------


## arms

> Hi , mainly due to price I was wondering what other rivals in engineered stone there are to Caesarstone or possibly an alternative (unless at a lower price there is only laminated benches). I realize I could drop from 40mm to 20mm to reduce the price.

  and it looks cheap and known to break on sink and hot plate cutouts .builders supply tops this way so that they can rip it up you when you ask for the more acceptable thickness

----------


## phild01

...and alternatives???

----------


## DaleBlack

> and it looks cheap and known to break on sink and hot plate cutouts .builders supply tops this way so that they can rip it up you when you ask for the more acceptable thickness

  Hi thanks Arms, so 20mm is known to break on the sink cutouts? we were looking at a double sink undermount - is that a risk?

----------


## arms

while the sink will provide some support it will not be enough to stop the top from cracking when leaned upon heavily

----------


## Renopa

Haven't heard about breakages so can't comment, but imho 20mm looks a bit whimpy and don't like the join line for 40mm (some companies do a mitred edge but need deeper pockets for those)....so the choice was 30mm, had it in the last two houses and would choose the same again in a heartbeat.  Can't think of exact $$$ but not that much more expensive than 20mm.   
Last house had CS as kitchen company dealt with a CS supplier, this time around the choice was QQ as it was a better price.  In saying that, their prices change from month to month and also vary with different colours etc.  Both CS and QQ have similar colours and I'd assume the others do too.   
Don't forget to check <offcuts.com.au> to see if your chosen stone is available for a better price , also Gumtree and eBay.   
Hope this helps? 
....btw, I've had double undermounts in both houses, but both were also 30mm.

----------


## Random Username

Currently I have Caesarstone. Next time I want a good, durable bench surface, I'll be going for Laminex.  CS, at least for me, has not provided the sort of performance I'd expect given its price.  I would call it (and it's ilk) the Monster Cable or Dr Dre Headphones of kitchen fixings (all marketing and precious little extra performance).

----------


## phild01

> Currently I have Caesarstone. Next time I want a good, durable bench surface, I'll be going for Laminex.  CS, at least for me, has not provided the sort of performance I'd expect given its price.  I would call it (and it's ilk) the Monster Cable or Dr Dre Headphones of kitchen fixings (all marketing and precious little extra performance).

  I wondered about this compared to stone, I guess the man made component is too soft.
I am looking at benchtops at the moment and I seem to be swinging towards a good old reliable laminate.

----------


## OBBob

> I wondered about this compared to stone, I guess the man made component is too soft.
> I am looking at benchtops at the moment and I seem to be swinging towards a good old reliable laminate.

  The only thing holding back is the corner joins. I'm surprised they haven't come up with some solution for that after all this time.

----------


## Uncle Bob

I reckon polished concrete tops look pretty good. They might not end up cheaper as there a fair amount of work to them. There's a thread in this forum regarding DIY'ed ones. 
Here's the link http://www.renovateforum.com/f200/co...tertops-91865/

----------


## OBBob

> I reckon polished concrete tops look pretty good. They might not end up cheaper as there a fair amount of work to them. There's a thread in this forum regarding DIY'ed ones.

  ... and there's the subfloor structural work you have to do to hold them up! LOL. I do rather like them too though.

----------


## Pitto

theres quantum quartz, essastone, smart stone, trend stone, silstone to name a few diffrent brands of engineered stone. 
having done a few appartment blocks in my time for a commercial joinery company, they have put a heap of 20mm stone in. the sinks were genereally drop in, and they were done with a shadowline to make the top look not so "whimpy" as someone has put it. 
engineered stone is much easier to look after than natural stone or granite, as they have their own set of issues too. 
corian / himacs / infinity acyrlic tops look great, have no visible joins, can be repaired, have seemless intergrated sink bowls, can be repolished back to original finish, and can handle hot pots direct off the stove [so i am told ;-) ]
however you will also pay for such privilege. 
The Laminex Diamondgloss range has come along way. I was never a fan of gloss laminate, however it seems to be much more durable than before. matched with a 3d edge, you can get a great look on a budget.

----------


## phild01

> theres quantum quartz, essastone, smart stone, trend stone, silstone to name a few diffrent brands of engineered stone. 
> having done a few appartment blocks in my time for a commercial joinery company, they have put a heap of 20mm stone in. the sinks were genereally drop in, and they were done with a shadowline to make the top look not so "whimpy" as arms put it. 
> engineered stone is much easier to look after than natural stone or granite, as they have their own set of issues too. 
> corian / himacs / infinity acyrlic tops look great, have no visible joins, can be repaired, have seemless intergrated sink bowls, can be repolished back to original finish, and can handle hot pots direct off the stove [so i am told ;-) ]
> however you will also pay for such privilege. 
> The Laminex Diamondgloss range has come along way. I was never a fan of gloss laminate, however it seems to be much more durable than before. matched with a 3d edge, you can get a great look on a budget.

  What do you mean by 3d edge?

----------


## METRIX

> theres quantum quartz, essastone, smart stone, trend stone, silstone to name a few diffrent brands of engineered stone. 
> having done a few appartment blocks in my time for a commercial joinery company, they have put a heap of 20mm stone in. the sinks were genereally drop in, and they were done with a shadowline to make the top look not so "whimpy" as arms put it. 
> engineered stone is much easier to look after than natural stone or granite, as they have their own set of issues too. 
> corian / himacs / infinity acyrlic tops look great, have no visible joins, can be repaired, have seemless intergrated sink bowls, can be repolished back to original finish, and can handle hot pots direct off the stove [so i am told ;-) ]
> however you will also pay for such privilege. 
> The Laminex Diamondgloss range has come along way. I was never a fan of gloss laminate, however it seems to be much more durable than before. matched with a 3d edge, you can get a great look on a budget.

  I'm still not sold on the durability of gloss laminex, and it's not cheap, more expensive than manmade stone I have found.

----------


## arms

> theres quantum quartz, essastone, smart stone, trend stone, silstone to name a few diffrent brands of engineered stone. 
> having done a few appartment blocks in my time for a commercial joinery company, they have put a heap of 20mm stone in. the sinks were genereally drop in, and they were done with a shadowline to make the top look not so "whimpy" as arms put it. 
> engineered stone is much easier to look after than natural stone or granite, as they have their own set of issues too. 
> corian / himacs / infinity acyrlic tops look great, have no visible joins, can be repaired, have seemless intergrated sink bowls, can be repolished back to original finish, and can handle hot pots direct off the stove [so i am told ;-) ]
> however you will also pay for such privilege. 
> The Laminex Diamondgloss range has come along way. I was never a fan of gloss laminate, however it seems to be much more durable than before. matched with a 3d edge, you can get a great look on a budget.

  "whimpy" ???? too technical a term to come from my fingertips

----------


## arms

a 3d edge is 3mm thick clear pvc with the print on the inside of the edge so that when machined you cant see the glue line

----------


## phild01

> a 3d edge is 3mm thick clear pvc with the print on the inside of the edge so that when machined you cant see the glue line

  Think I have seen that.  It is a square edge identical to the pattern and I thought it looked good, if same thing.

----------


## arms

> Think I have seen that.  It is a square edge identical to the pattern and I thought it looked good, if same thing.

  that's the ones

----------


## Pitto

> "whimpy" ???? too technical a term to come from my fingertips

  fixed, sorry Arms.   :Biggrin:

----------


## Pitto

> I'm still not sold on the durability of gloss laminex, and it's not cheap, more expensive than manmade stone I have found.

  
I need the number of your stone guy.  :Smilie:   
but yes, the gloss laminate is a bit more than standard laminate, and yes, its still laminate, so will scratch, so you still need to handle with care. 
Stainless Steel, now theres another whole can of worms when it comes to care and use, but i love it.

----------


## GeoffW1

Hi, 
We used Silestone and very happy with it. We thought they had a much better range, and went to their bulk warehouse in Sydney to view the stuff in a large piece. I wouldn't say they were cheap by comparison tho. 
Yes, we were severely warned we should not climb up and stand on it anywhere. The narrow bits alongside the sink and cooktop were done as in this Caesarstone guide p22:  http://www.caesarstoneus.com/en/Docu...anual_0910.pdf 
and we were warned never ever to stress those bits by kneeling or standing on them. We have a 40mm edge but it isn't that thick around those cutouts. So far so good. 
Cheers

----------


## Random Username

Diamond gloss laminex, solid colours, sheet of 3.6 x 1.4 - $290 plus GST.

----------


## toooldforthis

> ... 
> Stainless Steel, now theres another whole can of worms when it comes to care and use, but i love it.

  +1 for s/s
had it the last place for 8 yrs.
tho you have to like it when it gets the 'used' look - which I do. I only used a std cleaner/polish on occasion and it came up pretty well - looked pretty slick at sale time.
haven't decided what to use in current reno - but would consider s/s again.

----------


## OBBob

> ... Silestone ...

  Silly Stone. He he, sorry ... I'm sure it's great.   
I'm also considering stainless.  If combined with another surface to break it up it can look pretty modern.

----------


## Godzilla73

> Diamond gloss laminex, solid colours, sheet of 3.6 x 1.4 - $290 plus GST.

  One of if not the worst Laminates to use imo, rippley as all get out even when when flat pressed and the "Gloss" peels off when scratched and not forgetting the stretch marks on the dark colours when postformed, but that can easily be fixed with a black texta because it's porous. 
Lithostone is another engineered stone, has the advantage of being able to be used outdoors in alfresco areas where Caesar Stone can't.

----------


## phild01

> Silly Stone. He he, sorry ... I'm sure it's great.

   :Hahaha:

----------


## mudbrick

We just replaced a 25 year old kitchen that had a laminate bench top about 50mm thick.
the surface was virtually unmarked, or should I say still looked good after all those 25 long years!
and the 20 mm QQ we replaced it with.... Boring, and I will add COLD! Serve up your roast dinner on it and it's stone cold in no time ! Maybe it would be good for making ice cream on

----------


## ChocDog

> Hi,  
> Yes, we were severely warned we should not climb up and stand on it anywhere.
> Cheers

  What the???!!! Whats the point of having a kitchen bench if I cant stand on it? Hmmm, how am I going to change the light bulbs? And I'd better tell the wife to stop dancing on it after a couple of shandys... But seriously I would have thought that CS/etc would have been strong enough to handle 80 or so kgs distributed though the approx .06m2 area of a couple of feet. Especially considering it is well supported by sitting on top of a slab of chipboard which then transfers the load back into the cabinetry struts, etc. I do have a habit of sitting on it at the moment as we havent found the 'right' bar stools yet. Maybe I'd better stop that, but I still call hokum on it.

----------


## Pitto

> I'm also considering stainless.  If combined with another surface to break it up it can look pretty modern.

  I did that recently, the client used White Macaubus natural stone everywhere except for the hotplate area, which was done in stainless. It looks great. and yes, the first scratch is the killer, but once the "used" look comes in, it handles wear and tear great.

----------


## GeoffW1

> What the???!!! Whats the point of having a kitchen bench if I cant stand on it? Hmmm, how am I going to change the light bulbs? And I'd better tell the wife to stop dancing on it after a couple of shandys... But seriously I would have thought that CS/etc would have been strong enough to handle 80 or so kgs distributed though the approx .06m2 area of a couple of feet. Especially considering it is well supported by sitting on top of a slab of chipboard which then transfers the load back into the cabinetry struts, etc. I do have a habit of sitting on it at the moment as we havent found the 'right' bar stools yet. Maybe I'd better stop that, but I still call hokum on it.

  Hi, 
That's what they said. Moreover I'm unsure whether a layer of chipboard beneath is standard practice, but we don't have such. I never thought of that one when quizzing them. 
Overhangs are an area of concern too as people put their elbows and hands on there and press down when getting off a chair or standing up. Our reaction to that was to ask for reinforcing under the overhang.  I fully agree that any benchtop at all should be strong enough for "normal" use, but then you get the debate on what that is. 
Any kitchen finish like we are discussing is a fashion decision at the end of the day, and I was perfectly satisfied with the thick strong laminate benchtop we threw out. You could have partied on it. But my fashion manager decided, and that was that  :Doh:  Don't even get me started on the glass splashback we then absolutely had to have. 
Cheers

----------

