Caesar stone verses granite benchtops, who the expert here???

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After spending the last few days in the dog house because I voted down a colour scheme my wife choose we now need to decide which way to go with kit benchtops.

Any pos or negs about either grantie or caesar stone from your experience please?

i know quality granite is not economical and caesar stone seems to be limited with colours available but thats all i know at this stage.

You would think after 26 years I'd learn to keep my trap shut and tow the line at home but alas I'm a slow learner when it come to design colour and that a womans kitchen is her domain.
 
I could be mistaken, but I think we got caesar stone in our bathrooms, and it stains really easily. If I were to do the bathrooms again, I'd get something more easy to keep clean.
Pen
 
I'm a granite fanatic.:)

We remodeled a kitchen once and used slabs of Italian granite which was tooled at the site.

We lived with that kitchen for 7 years and loved every minute of it - the granite gradually got slightly darker in places but because of the mottling effect that the real stone has anyway, it added to its beauty rather than detracted from it. I was in the food biz at the time and was a pretty hard cook, but nothing got chipped or broken and it required no maintenance.

We had the corners rounded and doubled up underneath, not sure of any way to actually describe that. The cost of installation was about the cost of the slabs themselves. I chose the slabs from the importer rather than a sample.

A few friends have had caesar stone installed, and it was just a poor cousin to granite in my opinion. I don't give a stuff about what is or isn't in fashion - if I remodeled a kitchen again it would be a granite.
 
I do like granite as well but the cost up here is prohibitive,,,only one place sells it, no competition...

i thought about getting it up from brisbane but just too difficult, im sure not putting it in, its a nightmare job, heavy as and no second chances if its damaged by me...best to outsource this type of item.

Kitchen cost is $22k with Caesar stone, $28k with granite...absurd variation......I just cant justify the extra 6 grand when i can put that into my yard...

thanks for the feedback from your both...im still sitting on the sideline with this currently.
 
no pro on the subject, but you can get a generic ceaser stone, same factory even, its even cheaper with out the brand name, Granets are not really in at the moment , but they also have fault lines, and can break,, be sure to choose your slab fault free, if you go that way,

either way they both are polished finnish and can stain a bit but with a little scrub it should come out, as it is stone, LUCK:D
 
Friends of ours got a caesarstone benchtop, dropped a bottle on it and took out a massive chunk. They said it was all bubbly inside and didn't seem very strong.

What's wrong with plain ol laminate benchtops :D
 
I had the granite benches put in and they are fantastic...well worth the extra, you can cut on them without a problem.

I put them in the kitchen and the bathrooms, cost $4,600

Chris
 
Caesar stone cannot take heat like hot pans, were granite can. You can also cut on granite, it does dull/cloud from wear, so a polish is sometimes required, like with bees wax or a full machine polish, but my parents have never had this done and still looks great, no scratches etc.

Price differences are large, and colour/style are different to Caesar stone.
 
I think the staining factor and inability to take heat is a real let down in these new products.

They're in about th same league of price of granite (compared to alternatives) , but fall so short
 
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How big is the kitchen?
Some things to consider.

With a big kitchen you may need multiple sheets of the material and some products join far better than others. For example the natural products like granite can suffer from noticeable joins because the joining compount discolours over time).

Corian doesn't have this problem but doesn't like Heat
Will you be putting very hot pans directly onto the surface? Probably not,but if you do even by accident you should consider Granite or Stainless Steel but steer clear of Corian as it is likely to mark.
Granite can stain over time, particularly as it gradually loses it's polished finish so if you want it to last you've got to polish it every a couple of years.

Nearly all materials can be scratched from direct cutting but it's how the scratches show and possible treatment solutions that need to be considered. Corian for example will scratch but scratches in Corian can be filled and the surface returned to as new condition.

Granite IMO is ageless and gives a quality feel to a kitchen. These days there are many colours to choose from and there are man made granites as well. By comparison the man made materials are colder and harder on the eye, despite attempts to produce natural looking finishes.

It depends on what look you're trying to create, if you're looking for a clean bright look, then the white corian is an excellent choice.

Ofcourse it comes down to $ and some materials could be more suitable to your kitchen shape and size and could end up considerably cheaper than you think so I'd start by getting quotes and decide on the exact benchtop material later.

I hope this helps
 
I have never had a problem with staining on my caesar stone and I have it in the bathroom and kitchen.

Gumption works really well if something leaves a mark just clean gently.

Black granite apparently is a real nightmare stay clear of that. I know heaps of people with it and all they do is complain about it as it never looks clean, marks very easily.

They all say never again!
 
I have black granite on a bathroom vanity and have no problems, just wipe it down and it looks great. I think it depends on the quality.

Chris
 
BV said:
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How big is the kitchen? fair size area to cover: 4.2 x 2.9 mtr kit so reasonable size, U shaped.
Some things to consider.

With a big kitchen you may need multiple sheets of the material and some products join far better than others. For example the natural products like granite can suffer from noticeable joins because the joining compount discolours over time). For sure it will have at least three joins I suspect

Corian doesn't have this problem but doesn't like Heat
Will you be putting very hot pans directly onto the surface? You just never know, we are now aware of this issue but if visitors come who knows what they may do never heard of corian, will look into it if its similar to caesar stoneProbably not,but if you do even by accident you should consider Granite or Stainless Steel but steer clear of Corian as it is likely to mark.
Granite can stain over time, particularly as it gradually loses it's polished finish so if you want it to last you've got to polish it every a couple of years. thats no problem for us, repolishing is not an issue

Nearly all materials can be scratched from direct cutting but it's how the scratches show and possible treatment solutions that need to be considered. Corian for example will scratch but scratches in Corian can be filled and the surface returned to as new condition. ill go and see what it is but it sounds like its not what we need

Granite IMO is ageless and gives a quality feel to a kitchen. These days there are many colours to choose from and there are man made granites as well. By comparison the man made materials are colder and harder on the eye, despite attempts to produce natural looking finishes.

It depends on what look you're trying to create, if you're looking for a clean bright look, then the white corian is an excellent choice.

Ofcourse it comes down to $ and some materials could be more suitable to your kitchen shape and size and could end up considerably cheaper than you think so I'd start by getting quotes and decide on the exact benchtop material later.

what is killing us is there is but one place where i live that sells and installs granite...no competition at all so they are expensive..im looking into other options though....thanks for the feedback everyone, appreciated greatly.

I hope this helps
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itinerantotter said:
I'm a fan of Corian - you'd never notice where it has been joined or mended.:)

cheers
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i think some people are getting caesarstone/essastone, corian and granite mixed up.

1) caesar/essa stone are a stone composite much stronger than granite. they are hard wearing, do not stain or scratch, can take hot pan heat straight off the stove onto the cold bench and act as a heatsink if you expose your island bench to winter sun. joints are seamless but still noticeable. i know - i have essastone in my kitchen.

2) corian is a poly product that can be made to fit ANY shape or contour you can dream up. lighter colours *can* stain (but not always), however, if you don't let the fresh beetroot juice pool around the sink for a few weeks then you should be okay...:rolleyes:. corian CANNOT take heat, it does scratch (however it can be re-buffed) and if you chip it, it can be repaired flawlessly. i held a piece of corian in my hand the size of a matchbox that was made of no less than 43 different pieces and i couldn't see ONE join.

3) granite is granite. if you don't know what granite is, go look it up. very hard wearing, *can* be brittle depending on where it's sourced from and joins are as obvious as my bright white moon. grantie emits silicon gas when heated (including sunlight) so those folk with full granite bathrooms in full sun are slowly poisoning themselves. but geez it looks good. granite won't "explode" when a hot pan is put on it as some people think, neither does it dicolour and is very hard wearing.
 
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Aaron Sice said:
grantie emits silicon gas when heated (including sunlight) so those folk with full granite bathrooms in full sun are slowly poisoning themselves
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I would like to read some peer reviewed published science on this. I've not been able to find anything definitive, only some heads up bulletins from a variety of organisations and a lot of rubbish from rival materials companies.

This is from ANSTO:
http://www.ansto.gov.au/nuclear_information/what_is_nuclear_science/radiation
At high altitude, passengers on flights get more exposure to cosmic radiation. If you flew return from Sydney to Los Angeles you would get 0.16 millisieverts of radiation dose. Because granite emits more radiation that other materials a home with granite tiles would expose the occupants to 1.0 millisieverts of radiation annually.Radiation workers at ANSTO receive on average an exposure above natural background levels of 0.6 millisieverts a year – well under the maximum occupational limit of 20 millisieverts annually.

But this doesn't sound very alarming.
 
Amadio said:
I would like to read some peer reviewed published science on this. I've not been able to find anything definitive, only some heads up bulletins from a variety of organisations and a lot of rubbish from rival materials companies.
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i'm not having a go at granite - i like the stuff - planning on putting a buttload in my next house.

whether it's an urban myth or not i'm not sure, but granite and silicon gas are well known companions in the geological world.
 
Oh, ok.

Yes, as I understand it most building materials emit some measure of gas.

I think that the synthetic rivals of granite and marble have taken it a step further and are actively using this as a persuasive tool (fear) to buy their products.
 
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