Can I use Limestone slabs as a worktop?

[Tom]

Hi all

Well, we finally have a water supply in the house again....and this time it's all new and blue instead of old and lead!!! With this major advance in proceedings (and with the Rayburn going in next week), my thoughts are turning to finishings for the kitchen.

Could I use the same riven Limestone slabs that I'm using for the floor and window sills for my worktop, either side of the Rayburn? How would I seal them? How would they wear, with 'kitchen' use? Would I have to use grout, instead of lime mortar? Any other problems you can foresee? Or is this idea simply a non-starter? My next choice will be jet black granite but this won't match anything else, other than the top of the Rayburn, and may look a bit 'showy'.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great - thanks

Jaqy

 

[Anne]

I've been making the same decisions for a kitchen. I wouldn't use tiles though of any sort on a countertop even stone ones. I have them now and you can't even put food on the counter the grout is so dirty and forever needs cleaning and never look right from the first time you use it. Forget grouting a countertop. I didn't really want granite but in the end I opted for an antique hammered granite which I think will look great as it doesn't look anything like you'd think granite would. Other then that wood is possible but I'd look at all the granite options first.

 

[adrianth]

I bought a piece of marble to use as a small work surface once. It's chemically like limestone. I read warnings on the web that acidic foodstuffs like orange juice could etch the shine off it - though one of its nice properties was that I could sand it easily with a normal orbital sander, which was useful to get the scratches out of it when I got it from the reclamation yard. No good for cutting on, though: too soft.

Having read that warning, I used products designed for floors to seal it then "protect" it. This looked OK, but the protector gave a rather artificial sheen. But the real downer came the next time I cleaned my paint brushes in the adjoining kitchen sink: white spirit removed the protector in splotches where it splashed.

Why aren't reclamation yards full of old granite worktops? Where does granite go when kitchens are redone? I would have bought old granite if I could have found it cheap.

Adrian.

 

[Zac]

We inherited marble surfaces in our kitchen, can second what has previously been stated, surface looks well worn & rustic, just like the rest of the house , very in keeping. For a nice clean looking sparkly kitchen wouldn't recommend.

 

[NT]

If you take a piece of your limestone and chop on it with a kitchen knife, you'll see if anything comes away or if it stays firm. I'll bet if will begin to desintegrate, the limestone I lived with was not very hard stuff.


NT

 

[Moo]

White grout will always be a problem, wherever it's used. Better by far to use a coloured one (the really waterproof sort, obviously, for worktops).
You can either buy it ready-tinted, or mix your own.

 

[Nemesis]

Epoxy grout is better that other types - it is very hard, and if it gets discoloured it can be given a wipe with bleach.

I had tiled surfaces in a previous house and they were fine with epoxy grouting. Normal bathroom type grout isn't - far too porous and soft.

 

[middi]

I would have thought that using limestone as a kitchen worktop it would be a bit like using a sponge, you would need so much sealing compounds it would not look like limestone anymore.

 

[Toby Newell]

Limestone is Calcium carbonate. Same as chalk and marble. It is basic i.e. opposite of an acid. Similar to lime. Any acid will react with it. If you put limescale remover on it it will bubble and dissolve. It's quite soft and will discolour and wear but then you might like the worn look. If you want something that doesnt look worn and ultimately a little dirty in places then dont use it. At your local Topps tiles etc they can reccomend you a marble/stone sealer. As other people have said sand it clean periodically and reseal it.

Toby

 

[sarahj]

Don't use bathroom grout on a kitchen worktop - it contains poisonous fungicieds.

A point of hygiene: yes white grout shows the dirt, but surely on a worktop you would want to see the dirt so you can clean it off!!! ?? Putting in coloured grout to 'hide' the dirt sounds like a recipe for food poisoning!

 

[Nemesis]

Only if food is in contact with it - and usually people use chopping boards?

(Anyhow - I'm living proof that a bit of muck doesn't kill you... or even a lot of muck actually...)

 

[NT]

Dirty grout doesnt poison people because it dries out, so things dont multiply in it for long before they die.


NT

 

[R King]

Slate is a great alternative for period properties - we are looking at using it in our 17c house. It has a slight sheen, and sits much better (in my opinion!) with other natural materials such as limestone etc.

There are a few companies that import the stuff, but you can by it from the UK. Delabole in Cornwall is one stockist athough I'm sure there are many more.

RK

 

[piper]

There are a few companies that import the stuff, but you can by it from the UK. Delabole in Cornwall is one stockist athough I'm sure there are many more.

Don't import it!! Use Lake District slate http://www.conistonslate.co.uk - or Welsh or Scottish - not much in Lincolnshire though!

We used plain black granite either side of our Aga, and we got it from the local (Kendal) monumental masons - I mean tombstone-makers, not large members of a men's "secret" Society - which was far cheaper than it would have been if supplied by a kitchen-design company. We got Beech worktops from Habitat for the other sufaces and cut them to size - also cheaper than bespoke. However, try these people for thicker and perhaps better-looking wooden worktops. http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/worktops Usual disclaimers apply of course - they are just a very helpful company quite close to us which I discovered in the course of my own researches, and there are bound to be others closer to you.

 

[piper]

Sorry - I did something wrong in posting the link to British Hardwoods. Trying again.
http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/index.html

 

[biffvernon]

not much in Lincolnshire though!

:evil:

 

[piper]

Biff wrote: [/quote] :evil:
However, there is plenty of other good stuff in Lincolnshire, including beautiful oak windows, outbuildings with solar heat collecting roofs, yurts, dutch bikes, samphire - I could go on and on. (There may even be the odd poacher?) I would certainly like to visit that wonderful county sometime - I believe there may be some very interesting B&B's there too. All I was saying is that there isn't much slate, though I wait to be corrected!

 

[biffvernon]

Even before the railways, some slate was imported from Cumbria by ship round the north of Scotland to the Humber. For rich people only.