Concrete vs Stone for Interior Countertops etc Brickwork, drystone walling, render are a few subjects covered here. Click here to post questions and get answers

[ChrisM77]

Hello everyone, new here so I hope this is the correct forum. Planning a comprehensive kitchen revamp (now early planning stage) and wondering about concrete vs natural stone for worktops, island top etc. Obvs concrete is much more versatile and can look pretty good (it really is a kind of manmade stone after all) but still not sure aboyut issues such as cracking and scratching etc.

Any advise will be very much appreciated.

[StoneWorktops]

Chris,

Concrete is indeed incredibly versatile and its biggest advantage is that you can have your worktop (or anything else, within reason) in any shape you want. Cutouts, odd angles, slopes - none of this is an issue.

Add to this the ability to use various pigments and embed items in the actual surface and you can achieve pretty impressive effects while getting a very, very durable surface.

The disadvantages? You get what you paid for, and premium polished concrete is not the cheapest of materials. It will need some maintenance, including waxing and reapplying the sealant if you want to keep the polished look. The need to seal to prevent staining and damage will also apply to porous stone (eg marble and sandstone), though granite won't mark.

[ChrisM77]

Thnx for this, I am leaning to concrete countertops for the kicthen now, along the sink and on the island in the middle if possible, and starting to get quotes and thinking of samples. Do you think it makes sense to get samples before deciding, or are images enough? Some quotes I have got were from quite far way so not necessarily easy to see.