Built for purpose

We discuss worktops with the team at Tamar Trading – a crucial but often overlooked aspect of any new kitchen or bathroom.

Family run since 1956 and with branches in Bodmin, Holsworthy and Torrington, Tamar Trading Building Supplies is an independent builders’ merchants serving Devon and Cornwall.  All three branches boast an extensive, comprehensive stock of building materials and supplies, with a team that boasts years of experience supplying the building trade. It only seems natural, then, that they’ve turned their hands to the provision of kitchens and bathrooms, with showrooms in both their Bodmin and Torrington branches showcasing their extensive ranges.

“Choosing the right worktop for your kitchen is essential”

Having edged over this year’s halfway mark, now is the perfect time to consider our kitchens and see what improvements might be made in time for the cooler months, when we spend more time inside enjoying our homes. Choosing the right worktop for your kitchen is essential. It’s one of the key practical considerations and will also create a design continuity and flow throughout your kitchen. Tamar Trading have given us their top tips on how to choose the perfect worktop for your needs.

There are many different materials that can be used to make kitchen worktops, all with their own range of benefits. The key, then, is to know what you’re looking for in yours. Do you want it to be heat and/or scratch resistant, or would you be prepared to overlook some practicalities for aesthetics? Added to this, the material you choose can impact on the installation time, which will ultimately affect the cost of your kitchen. It’s also worthwhile, according to the Tamar Trading team, considering more than one worktop material within your kitchen. This can help keep costs down and will add interest to your kitchen design too. Different materials work best in different areas of the kitchen. For example, wood will add warmth to the style but is not scratch or heat resistant, making it more suited to a breakfast bar area. Silestone quartz worktops, on the other hand, are very tough, virtually non-porous and highly resistant to scratches, stains, heat damage and impact, making them ideal for high-traffic zones of the kitchen such as sink, oven and hob areas.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for the benefits of both, why not consider the Dekton range? Dekton is a composite worktop produced using an exclusive Sinterized Particle Technology. This high-tech process represents an accelerated version of the metamorphic change that natural stone undergoes when subjected to high temperatures and pressure over thousands of years. Being highly resistant to heat and scratching, Dekton can also be designed to mimic natural wood or natural stone such as granite and marble, meaning you can have the best of both worlds! Sally Millergill, one of Tamar Trading’s Kitchen and Bathroom Designers at the company’s Bodmin branch, tells us: “The main advantage of Dekton above any other surface is its incredible resistance to heat, making it the perfect surface around hobs and next to the oven.”

Dekton combines the qualities expected by the chef in all of us, it’s a clean surface that is nice to touch, and resistant to the daily grind that takes place in a kitchen over years of use. 

It’s an ultra-sophisticated material for busy everyday life, capable of creating spaces that make the day-to-day preparation of food easy, as well as being visually stunning – perfect for instilling envy in your dinner guests!

As it is available in a huge range of sizes installation is usually simple, with larger sizes leading to a more seamless finish and, therefore, a more hygienic work surface.

What’s more, they’re ideal for use in the bathroom, being waterproof, stain resistant and non-porous. They can be used to waterproof the walls and floor, in place of tiling, creating a harmonious, hygienic and stylish room that can be enjoyed by the whole family. 

Check out some real tests on the kitchen worktops here.

Tamar Trading

01208 264700

tamartrading.com