Neustone For Kitchen Countertop

rover · February 5, 2015

On 2/5/2015 at 8:21 AM, MV-5 said:
Thanks, how about the scratch resistance, and heat resistance (ex: if drop some just boiled water...you know here i am talking about 100C not 250C :-) ) .
I know this question is difficult to be answered without having a comparison.

I except this kind of answer :-) ,

"after 3 years i can see only very minor scratches on top which is not noticeable, and we normally place hot dishes on the top and it makes no harm to top at all"

Well there aren't any noticeable scratches or stains so far but it also depends on how you takes care of it. Occasionally we keep some hot pots just out from the hob on it but it can withstand some amount of abuse. For cleaning we use an ordinary tile cleaner. The only disadvantage is that the groove between the joint is visible as for a " L " shaped pantry you need at least two sheets.

MV-5 · February 5, 2015

On 2/5/2015 at 3:10 PM, rover said:
Well there aren't any noticeable scratches or stains so far but it also depends on how you takes care of it. Occasionally we keep some hot pots just out from the hob on it but it can withstand some amount of abuse. For cleaning we use an ordinary tile cleaner. The only disadvantage is that the groove between the joint is visible as for a " L " shaped pantry you need at least two sheets.

Thanks again,

your input is very valuable.

when you were about to make your decision about pantry top (3 years back), did u consider about Quartz, if yes , what are the features lead you to opt NueStone over Quartz or granite (other than the cost, i think now cost is somewhat very close)?

xXx · February 5, 2015

On 2/5/2015 at 10:24 AM, iRage said:
Wouldn't that make it around the same price as granite ? Roughly ~1250/= per sq. foot ? Corian was more expensive.
Spoke to the Corian a sales people at an interior deco and fashion exhibition in November or something and the guey wasn't too hopeful about the product. He said they ahd only 2 colors in stock and was not sure if they would get any more.

Anyway, after what VVTi said I spoke to my floor guys and they too said that they have put titanium tops with good results. His reply to stains and stuff was "it would be like your floor. You don't replace your floor every time oil, etc falls on the floor. Just polish it goes away". So now seems like we are more convinced to use titanium.

Price of the granite depends on where the actual stone comes from as well as the colors, patterns on the stone. So it may not be a fair price comparison. Apparently brown and off white tones are the most common and economical kind.

Since Quartz is man/artificially made there a huge price difference depend on the quality and where the stone is made. So you can pick one that falls within your budget.

Recycled glass counter tops are gaining popularity as well. Not sure if available in SL.

About stains and granite countertops, well its a common problem with any natural stone. But if the countertop was fabricated properly then applying regular sealant once a year or so is enough. Its rather a different story if using a natural stone tile as a back splash. I'd definitely avoid it for the area directly behind the stove.

rover · February 7, 2015

On 2/5/2015 at 3:18 PM, MV-5 said:
Thanks again,
your input is very valuable.

when you were about to make your decision about pantry top (3 years back), did u consider about Quartz, if yes , what are the features lead you to opt NueStone over Quartz or granite (other than the cost, i think now cost is somewhat very close)?

Actually we didn't consider Quartz but we did compare granite and another product like neustone but can't really remember the name. I think Centerpoint was marketing this other product. Finally we decided to go with Neustone due to it's durability compared to granite. If you look at the picture you can see the groove that I was talking about. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TAcprHN_Zrt8Xxk5yn4_gIfaf_5svyQlcHpLgeQjfw=w276-h207-p-no

Btw that s a nice kitchen you got there. Is the high gloss material from the place at pannipitiya?

Edited February 7, 2015 by rover

VVTi · February 7, 2015

On 2/5/2015 at 10:24 AM, iRage said:
Wouldn't that make it around the same price as granite ? Roughly ~1250/= per sq. foot ? Corian was more expensive.
Spoke to the Corian a sales people at an interior deco and fashion exhibition in November or something and the guey wasn't too hopeful about the product. He said they ahd only 2 colors in stock and was not sure if they would get any more.

Anyway, after what VVTi said I spoke to my floor guys and they too said that they have put titanium tops with good results. His reply to stains and stuff was "it would be like your floor. You don't replace your floor every time oil, etc falls on the floor. Just polish it goes away". So now seems like we are more convinced to use titanium.

Warning though, if you do decide to go with titanium, make sure you get a mason who KNOWS how to lay the Titanium... most maka baases will say yes sir three bags full sir, but, its a different technique and the ratios of cement to titanium powder determines the final colour. For us we used 1:8. Titanium cement costs anything from 900 to 1800 per kilo. But you use only very little. We laid 3 bathrooms (Walls and sink tops) and all the kitchen tops with less than 4 kilos.

Most buggers will lay it like they lay 'kolapu' but that's not how its done, there is a laying of it, waiting, laying again... then the final motion of the hands to smooth (What they refer to as Madinawa) will decide the kind of patterns you want to show when it dries.

Make sure you get the masons who knows...

iRage · February 7, 2015

On 2/7/2015 at 12:45 PM, VVTi said:
Warning though, if you do decide to go with titanium, make sure you get a mason who KNOWS how to lay the Titanium... most maka baases will say yes sir three bags full sir, but, its a different technique and the ratios of cement to titanium powder determines the final colour. For us we used 1:8. Titanium cement costs anything from 900 to 1800 per kilo. But you use only very little. We laid 3 bathrooms (Walls and sink tops) and all the kitchen tops with less than 4 kilos.
Most buggers will lay it like they lay 'kolapu' but that's not how its done, there is a laying of it, waiting, laying again... then the final motion of the hands to smooth (What they refer to as Madinawa) will decide the kind of patterns you want to show when it dries.

Make sure you get the masons who knows...

thanks for the warning....my contractor did a work bench for me with titanium about a year ago (which pissed me off as he took a bit more than 1 month to finish a 6 foot bench) and it has aged pretty well (so far...touch wood), Just never thought of using it as a kitchen top. My architect said the same guy had done a few of them at some of his other sites and said that apart from the usual maintenance factor what he had done has been okay. Going to check them out this week. ..so hopefully he knows what he is doing Will check on the ratios just to be on the safe side. Also, another guy said it was the same as laying a floor which I found somewhat hard to believe.

VVTi · February 7, 2015

On 2/7/2015 at 1:24 PM, iRage said:
thanks for the warning....my contractor did a work bench for me with titanium about a year ago (which pissed me off as he took a bit more than 1 month to finish a 6 foot bench) and it has aged pretty well (so far...touch wood), Just never thought of using it as a kitchen top. My architect said the same guy had done a few of them at some of his other sites and said that apart from the usual maintenance factor what he had done has been okay. Going to check them out this week. ..so hopefully he knows what he is doing Will check on the ratios just to be on the safe side. Also, another guy said it was the same as laying a floor which I found somewhat hard to believe.

That's the thing... these buggers don't want to admit that they don't have the required skill.

You need a mason ho specializes in laying Titanium surfaces.

SeanD · February 8, 2015

On 2/4/2015 at 3:47 PM, MV-5 said:
Mercantile Fortunes, right? could you please share more about your experience (or actually what you know about the quality of their job)

Yes. I'll reply and admins can delete the post if not appropriate to criticize in an open forum. However, I'll consider it keeping the market informed...the company specialized for a long time in parquet and wood finish floors. Somewhere down the line they have branched off into tiles including quartz. They were awarded a job for bathroom countertops in one of my projects, along with some floor and wall tiles (perhaps about LKR 15-20mn in business). First of all, their so called "installers" are only tile salesmen who have no clue about technical matters of installation. In addition, their workmanship was very poor (probably OK by Sri Lankan standards, but not acceptable to me) and I had to several times stop the work, reject tiles (warped, cut wrong, chipped, poorly laid, debonded, etc). They also had major issues with labour (probably not unusual in specialized construction areas in SL) with work being done halfway and then stopped for days or weeks at a time as they could not find suitable replacements. The "tile salesmen" too kept dropping in and out of the company like flies, with the result that towards the end of the project (one year later) none of the original team was there and it was another nightmare to explain to them the defects that needed to be rectified.

The so called impenetrable quartz also started showing all sorts of stains. Finally they brought in a chap from Italy who is apparantly a representative of the manufacturing company, who claimed they have not finished the product properly after installing (polish) and the quality of edges etc was also poor, but that was the end of it and there was no further outcome.

They also demand 100% of the material cost prior to installation, as a result of which you do not have much leeway for financial penalties for poor quality work. My next step will be to contact their chairman (incidentally, according to one of the salesmen even the installations at the chairman's house have the same problem).

A good example of a company trying too hard to diversify while not investing enough on training and technical upskilling of their staff.

Not recommended at all.