Is a tiled bench top old fashioned

[essiemac]

We're renovating our kitchen and thinking of having Caesar Stone on the bench, however I've just discovered that you can't put saucepans off the stove and dishes out of the oven directly onto it, even though it says that it's heat resistant.

In our former house and current house which we're now renovating, we've always had tiled bench tops. I would love to have a tiled bench top again but wonder if it's a bit old fashioned as we're renovating our kitchen to modernise it.

We're thinking of using quite large tiles to minimise the cutting and for a more modern look. Would we need to put some sort of wooden edging around the bench or is there another alternative these days?

So I'd like to know - is a tiled bench top too old fashioned for today's kitchen?

[dennford]

No!
I still tile my bench tops. The bigget problem is the grout, although I have got grout maintainance down to a minimum, I would still be intereste in others ideas for this.

Denn

[juan]

is a tiled bench top too old fashioned for today's kitchen?

I vote yes - think you can do better if it is in the budget. If the hot saucepans are the only concern with manufactured stone then there are easy work arounds to that problem and they can look a million dollars.

cheers

[pharmaboy2]

We're renovating our kitchen and thinking of having Caesar Stone on the bench, however I've just discovered that you can't put saucepans off the stove and dishes out of the oven directly onto it, even though it says that it's heat resistant.

sorry, who ever told you that, is full of ...........! we've had our for at least 3 yrs, with cast iron pans tsraight off an induction stove, pizza stones out of a 250c oven, and always always straight onto the benchtop (its an icesnow white btw).

It is one of the major advanatges over granite as granite can have fracture points in it and if you are unlucky a hot pan can crack a granite benchtop.

Now obviously a little common sense applies - if your planning on smelting lead on the stove you may have a problem of course. And just as a little extra, i have used various porcelain tiles as pizza stones and they have cracked from use over time - so dont be expecting that a 10mm thick tile that costs $40/m is going to be better performing than 20mm benchtop material at $250/m?

back to the question - if I were to make it modern, like your suggestion, I'd go large format tiles ( I'd think of avoiding a central grout line by using 900*450 tiles or 1m * 1m and cutting them down the middle )- next is the edge - to dress it up I'd use anodised aluminium edging either glued or screwed with a stainless pan head screw (ie screws are part of the look).

The other option is to use tiles in a way that make it look like you were trying to achieve a look, rather than trying to save money - so you might lay glass or metal tiles in a small row in the center of the bench as a feature -

[essiemac]

No!
I still tile my bench tops. The bigget problem is the grout, although I have got grout maintainance down to a minimum, I would still be intereste in others ideas for this.

Denn

Thanks for your response. Grout has never been a problem with our benches.

The house we're currently renovating used to be our holiday house that we've now moved in to, so the tiled bench has been here for at least 35 years.

I've heard that grout isn't used so much these days with people opting for a glue instead. I suppose you could use a sealer, but we never did.

Good luck.

[essiemac]

I vote yes - think you can do better if it is in the budget. If the hot saucepans are the only concern with manufactured stone then there are easy work arounds to that problem and they can look a million dollars.

cheers

Thanks for your reply.

Our budget isn't the main issue, I was just scared that I would wreck my new bench top by accidentally putting something too hot on it, because I've always been able to do that.

I'd be interested to hear about your "easy work arounds" that can look a million dollars.

Cheers

[juan]

Sorry Essiemac I did not mean the workarounds look a million dollars but rather the Caeserstone or equivalents look great. I have looked at many options for my new kitchen which is next project and it will be either granite or manufactured stone.
I have not heard anything to indicate the Caeserstone cannot handle heat but bow to your research. What I meant was that you can use insulating material (timber block, tile etc) to protect the top if need be should you wish to put very hot items on it (I cannot think y u would wish to put really hot things on a bench top).

My vote is still that tiled tops would not be in fashion today and certainly will not increase the value of your home.

Cheers

[essiemac]

sorry, who ever told you that, is full of ...........! we've had our for at least 3 yrs, with cast iron pans tsraight off an induction stove, pizza stones out of a 250c oven, and always always straight onto the benchtop (its an icesnow white btw).
Thanks for getting back with so much information. I asked at a Kitchen Place if I could put saucepans off the stove etc. on the Caesar Stone and they had done a bit of research so I got a copy. On reading, I understood the information came from Ethem Deniz Comlekcioglu who's a partner at KAY Stone Australia. I'll go and get a sample of the Caesar Stone and use it to see what happens.

to dress it up I'd use anodised aluminium edging.
I'd seen the aluminium edging in a catalogue so went to a tile place and asked about it and the girl looked at me like I'd just arrived from Mars, a chap said that maybe a tiler would know about it.

use tiles in a way that make it look like you were trying to achieve a look, lay glass or metal tiles in a small row in the center of the bench as a feature -

Great idea, kept that in mind at the tile place where I saw some fantastic tiles. We're not on too tight a budget so can go with the Caesar Stone, but as this will probably be our kitchen of a lifetime I don't want to wreck it with burn marks.

Any other comments or advice would be gratefully received.
Cheers

[essiemac]

[quote=juan;680206]
I have not heard anything to indicate the Caeserstone cannot handle heat but bow to your research. What I meant was that you can use insulating material (timber block, tile etc) to protect the top if need be should you wish to put very hot items on it (I cannot think y u would wish to put really hot things on a bench top).

Thanks Juan, I did misunderstand your comment. I've always put a baking dish or tray out of the oven or a saucepan from the stove onto the bench to dish up our dinner.

CaesarStone is considered to be heat resistant but does that mean heat proof. Like clothing is water resistant and not water proof.

My vote is still that tiled tops would not be in fashion today and certainly will not increase the value of your home.

Thanks for your vote

Cheers
essiemac

[pharmaboy2]

for your test, goto a stone mason - preferably one you will be using - ask them about it, and how many complaints they have had, then ask them if they have a sink cutout around for yoy to test - offer em $20 for it, if they doubt your bonafides. get the heaviest bottomed thing you've got, heat it in flat out for 10 minutes on a hotplate, and plonk it down - i cant think of anytime you'd need to get something that hot in real life, but heh, this is a test!

there's a lot of difference between guaranteeing something as fire proof, and simply been confident about it - you tell someone it'll be fine - then you find out they fire clay pots in a special 400c oven then plonk em down, and its left a mark!!!!!

test it, for your own piece of mind

[Just George]

Who cares if someone else thinks they are old fashioned? If you like them, that is all that matters! I have tiled bench tops at the moment, these will go when I get to do our kitchen soon, these are a great idea if only alongside your cooktop and if only for putting your hot pots straight onto them.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Hear, hear! That's tellin' 'em George!

Sure, I wouldn't go for the little 2" square tiles (esp. not ones in 70's colours ) nor would I tile an entire bench top... but a walk through any decent Tile outlet will show there's a wide range of choice that can be used in conjunction with ordinary counter tops.

I've seen a couple of very nice kitchens with tiled areas on the counters. One was mainly white marble, but had areas on each side of the stove, each about the size of the cook-top, tiled in large cream tiles. Another had a similar arrangement using pyrex glass tiles.

The trick in making them look good is to install them so they look neat, clean and simple: eg. careful colour matching, recessing the counter top where the tiles sit, so the surface of the tiles are flush with the rest of the counter top. Avoiding excess trim.

As with most things, making it look simple takes a LOT of work...

[Ashwood]

Depends on the look & style you want for your kitchen, as well as the type of tile & how you do the trims, etc.

For instance, a rustic or country style or shabby chic home would look great with a tiled benchtop.

If you want a modern stainless steel or sleek-look kitchen with clean minimalist lines, then a tiled benchtop may not be the best way to go. Having said that, if you have larger tiles with contemporary colour/pattern, and have complementary trim then it may still work.

[munruben]

I think tiled bench tops are old fashioned but it depends on what you want yourself. I wouldn't contemplate having a tiled bench top but thats just me. Lots of people love them. I personally don't like them but go with your own feelings. You are the one who has to live with it.

[Ronaldo451]

We used Cesarstone in our new kitchen and it looks great! SHMBO insists that whenever hot things are taken out of the oven or off cooktop they are NOT placed directly on benchtop but onto wooden chopping boards - these are usually left over from preparation at the time anyway so no real drama. Although we were assured the benchtops would take some heat she did not want to take any risks and I want to keep the peace so comply...mostly.

Aside from modern and quality look this finish has the advantage of being easy to wipe and keep clean.

While it sounds trivial, there are no edges or joins for gunk to gather under (nor grout to discolour) and we opted for a recessed sink as well for just that reason. Quick wipe over the whole benchtop scooping debris into the sink and its clean.

If its within your budget worth considering cesarstone or similar....