Consider carefully what stone will be used...

While travertine and marble are stone and quite beautiful to look at, think twice before using it as your kitchen benchtop. They are both highly porous and easily stained. Normal cooking ingredients such as orange juice, vinegar, wine or turmeric can damage the stone leaving it looking quite dull and lifeless. These stones are best saved for lighter trafficked areas such as bathroom vanity tops or bath hobs.

The characteristics of the pitted holes and troughs on the surface of travertine is naturally occurring and beautiful to look at, but a nightmare to maintain. Consider using the filled variety where the surface of the stone has been filled by grout and then effectively prepared to a smooth honed or polished surface.

Granite is tough, durable and easy to clean and it is for this reason it has gained widespread use in kitchen benchtops. It comes in a variety of colours, patterns, and variations that to find one that is aesthetically pleasing to your individual taste would not be difficult.

As a guide for choosing the stone - the darker the stone the less chance of staining, discolouring or the need for frequent sealing, if at all.. But on the negative side it also tends to show fingerprints and dust more readily. If you have a small kitchen, a dark coloured stone may make your kitchen appear smaller than it is. Also, a highly variegated and patterned stone has more potential to hide a stain that a plain even coloured one.

Great care need to be taken when purchasing cheap granites. They are usually processed in China and are not premium or 1st choice material. These granites are of inferior quality and may have had oil’s or dye applied to the material to either darken the colour of the stone or to hide defects in the stone such as fissures or veins. Through the years, these dyes or oils would give the granite an effect of fading and correctly polished granite should not fade. The fading is nothing more that the dyes and oils drying out. Unfortunately the only solution is to re-polish or change the stone. The rule in purchasing granite (as is the case most often) is,
"you only get what you pay for."