# Forum Home Renovation Kitchens  Drilling hole in Caesarstone benchtop?

## chrisbirmele

I need a 18mm hole in my new Caesarstone benchtop.  What type of drill do I need for this?  Secondly, is it a risky thing to do?  I am not clumsy but a bit apprehensive about drilling holes into an expensive new benchtop....

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## Godzilla73

G'day, 
The Green Shed sell diamond coated hole saws that'll do the job, use a cordless drill on a mid to low speed and keep the bit wet. To help getting it straight and stop it wandering, get a piece of 18mm mdf and drill a 18mm hole in it and secure it to the top with either quick clamps if you can or double sided tape. The mdf also help create a well to hold the water to keep the bit cool.

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## Master Splinter

Speaking as an owner of a just-over-one-year old Caesarstone benchtop, my advice would be to use a screwdriver to pry the benchtop up off the cabinets and pop it outside for the council hard rubbish collection day. 
After twenty years of happily living with laminex tops, the caesarstone one is definitely not an improvement (well, it cools hot plates of food faster than laminex, if you rate that as an improvement).  Main problem is edge chipping; there's at least five chips in the edge (mostly near the dishwasher) where occasional contact with a cup or plate has knocked a chip out of it.  For the price you pay for it, I think that sort of performance is utter rubbish.

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## LinesElectrical

> Speaking as an owner of a just-over-one-year old Caesarstone benchtop, my advice would be to use a screwdriver to pry the benchtop up off the cabinets and pop it outside for the council hard rubbish collection day. 
> After twenty years of happily living with laminex tops, the caesarstone one is definitely not an improvement (well, it cools hot plates of food faster than laminex, if you rate that as an improvement).  Main problem is edge chipping; there's at least five chips in the edge (mostly near the dishwasher) where occasional contact with a cup or plate has knocked a chip out of it.  For the price you pay for it, I think that sort of performance is utter rubbish.

  Having worked with and installed the product and i am sure you know but for everyone else. If you contact a approved ceaser stone installer they would be able to colour match a glue filler that would be colour matched and be sanded to create a nearly invisible seamless repair. 
Laminex can't do that.

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## Master Splinter

Yeah.  But I've never _had_ to do that for laminex; it's (assuming I haven't suddenly become mighty clumsy) stood up to that sort of treatment without any discernible marks, unlike the caeserstone chips which are exceedingly obvious when your run your hand along the edge.  While I'm tempted to fill the chips with a tinted epoxy, the idea of getting someone in to fix product shortcomings for any price other than free doesn't appeal.  Basically, at caesarstone's price, I expect better performance than the competition, not worse.

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## Hoff

> Yeah.  But I've never _had_ to do that for laminex; it's (assuming I haven't suddenly become mighty clumsy) stood up to that sort of treatment without any discernible marks, unlike the caeserstone chips which are exceedingly obvious when your run your hand along the edge.  While I'm tempted to fill the chips with a tinted epoxy, the idea of getting someone in to fix product shortcomings for any price other than free doesn't appeal.  Basically, at caesarstone's price, I expect better performance than the competition, not worse.

   Is there something wrong with yours in particular?  I've had CS bench tops in my last three homes over 9 years, and with 3 destructive kids, have never had any chipping or scratching. Nearly every family member of mine and most friends also have the product and I've never seen a chip and would rate its hard wearing as a key attribute.

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## Gaza

> caeserstone chips

  could be a cheap fake caseserstone

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## Godzilla73

> Is there something wrong with yours in particular?  I've had CS bench tops in my last three homes over 9 years, and with 3 destructive kids, have never had any chipping or scratching. Nearly every family member of mine and most friends also have the product and I've never seen a chip and would rate its hard wearing as a key attribute.

  It' can depend on which colour you get, the ones with the coarser "ingredients" can chip easily, where as the finer looking stone is a bit better chip wise but they all show scratches.   

> Yeah.  But I've never _had_ to do that for laminex; it's (assuming I haven't suddenly become mighty clumsy) stood up to that sort of treatment without any discernible marks, unlike the caeserstone chips which are exceedingly obvious when your run your hand along the edge.  While I'm tempted to fill the chips with a tinted epoxy, the idea of getting someone in to fix product shortcomings for any price other than free doesn't appeal.  Basically, at caesarstone's price, I expect better performance than the competition, not worse.

  How thick is you're stone MS, not being a smart @@@@@ but is it actually Caeser stone or a knock off (This was common a while back) and what colour is it?

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## Master Splinter

If it's "Seasirst0ne" brand, the colour and texture looks a spot on match for showroom samples...

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