For a rock-steady style, kitchens have to be more considerate than other rooms in the home. Aside from the vivid, appealing colours and physicality of your worktops, they have to endure all that you’ll use them for, whether that’s cutting, mashing, rolling or stacking fresh-off-the-hob utensils.

So how do you find a kitchen worktop that looks amazing, whilst enabling your cooking and hygiene skills to remain top-class?

The answer may surprise you… Hiring a geologist is going to open your mind (and budget) to natural stone, the predicator for a fabulous work surface. Here’s what an expert can do for you.

Identifying the very best materials

Now, you may be curious as to how, exactly, a geologist has a stake in your design plans. It’s a fair question, but think of them as a talent scout: for years they’ve committed themselves to researching the rocks and minerals that make up our world. Different stones have their own characteristics, and no-one has a better handle on what they are than a geologist, whose mind thrives on the subtle changes that accrue over millennia.

Worktops must remain strong and stable. To maximise value for your investment, it’s worth asking for a geologist’s opinion on the quality of the natural stone you’re trying to source.

Granite, for example, remains a sought-after material for kitchen builds across the UK. Yet it’s physical properties are malleable, depending on the conditions it has endured. Temperature fluctuations can weaken the stone, as can transfers from high to low pressure on its journey to the earth’s surface. That puts it at risk of cracks and perforations – a snub to excellent design work.

Geologists can spot the kitchen-worthy properties of the stone you’re aiming for. Each sample is assessed on its own merits; therefore, you have confidence in the future-proof viability of your countertops.

Cutting into the comparisons you care about

We’ve established that a geological specialist can tell what slabs – be they granite, marble or limestone – are the best of their respective bunch, in terms of the overall quality for your home. But also, in many respects, they’re useful for directing your choice of stone in the first place, well before you land on a favourite.

Factors such as texture, veining and porousness may influence (or largely direct) the decision you make. By bringing a geologist on-board, you’ll have someone who already knows those essential differences, thus ensuring you don’t make a wrong call. When time is a sensitive issue, it’s vital to nail your base material from the off, avoiding needless mistakes that’ll halt the construction schedule. Geologists can suggest in what respect, for instance, a quartz worktop can perform well for a certain lifestyle, or how a marble piece could be cut to fit within its surrounding architecture.

Crucially, a reputable stonemason already has the ear and support of a geologist – perhaps an in-house role, like the kind that’s a fixture of the RC Coppin team! We can’t stress the value of this service enough, from the first seed of your design plans through to their realisation…

Call us today for more details on how a geologist can help you achieve that dream kitchen.