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looking for opinions on this one. The missus wants the sink the middle of the worktop so that when using the oven you have space directly next to it to lay your trays. I prefer the sink to the left to free up the worktop. Does anyone have any first hand experience with a sink in the middle and do you find it a hinderance rather than a positive? We have a dishwasher so the sink use is minimal. Still got a few days before the floor gets foamed in, so have a chance to agree to disagree etc. Cheers!

We have a 700mm nook in our kitchen which we are making into a hot drinks station. The cupboards above and below the worktop will house mugs, boxes of tea and coffee beans, and on the worktop itself about half of it will be occupied by a coffee machine and the other half of it will be occupied by a small round 300mm diameter undermount sink and a boiling water tap. I would have ideally preferred a 200mm sink so as to give more space to the coffee machine, but we haven't been able to find one that works with our colour scheme, so 300mm it is. I came across this article which discusses the pros and cons of different reveal styles and it made me think I could have a negative reveal so that I lose less than a 300mm diameter from my worktop. The only disadvantage quoted in the article of a negative reveal is said to be "The countertop ledge can easily chip, and its exposed underside may attract mold. Though these risks depend on your countertop material, a durable stone countertop might cancel out those concerns." We are fitting 30mm thick caesarstone so I'm assuming this counts as "durable stone" and that chips are not a risk factor. Given the only thing splashing down that sink will be hot water, tea, coffee and the odd bit of unused milk, should I be worried about mould? Could I have a 25mm negative reveal all the way around so that my sink hole ends up being just 250mm in diameter or is this asking for trouble in terms of mould? We are having MVHR in case that makes any difference.

Dear all, Was going great guns putting our utility units and worktop in until last night. I cut the worktop and slid it in place and found this: The laminate worktop is square edge and if I route a curve on this I'm told the edging tape & adhesive doesn't match it well enough to make a seamless join. I'm pretty sure it would be OK on the edge of this bit though. I'm torn now. 1. Do I just stick some edging tape and accept it looks an awkward junction and then move on to the next job OR 2. Order a new end panel and leave it at 600mm deep (current one is trimmed to 580mm to match the cabinet (560mm deep) + 20mm doors ). Take off the old one and replace it. I would need to do both sides. More £ than option 1. Reinstall cabinet the tall cabinet (RHS of the pic) and accept that the door is 20mm back from the panel edges OR 3. As per 2 but remount the cabinet 20mm off the wall so the door is flush with the panel edges. Washing machine going in next door so unlikely that anyone will really notice that these doors are further out from the wall than any other one. moving the cabinet 20mm off the wall will involve a fiddle since id does need a good brace since the rear panel has to be removed for the fridge. I could fix to the end panel. Hope thats clear. Its times like this that I wished I was in the trade and just knew what to do. Interested in your thoughts. Cheers CC44

I was planning to apply Osmo oil to my Iroko worktop (about 8 months old now). My wife got some bleach on it and also it has discoloured from leaving something cold on it. Will applying Osmo oil alone get rid of the stains or does it need sanding? Never done it before! Thank you in advance hope you are staying safe!

Hi guys. So after much chin scratching the time has come to select our preferred kitchen worktops. I’ve listed the obvious contenders below after perusal here and elsewhere. Any other thoughts or options? We are after a light colour scheme so staining/general robustness is a concern. Corian - Initially the preferred option but mixed reviews here. Doesn’t seem to be as wear/stain resistant as initially hoped. Granite - nice but we would prefer a lighter, plainer look and most granite seems to be dark and/or speckled Glass - Also a contender but very little out there in terms of real world reviews. Anyone have it here? Marble - I like the look of this but again appears to be prone to staining/wear. Quartz - not looked in detail but could be an option. Any thoughts here? Timber - Versatile but probably too dark for our preferred aesthetic Polished concrete - would likely clash with our grey floor but open to suggestions. We steered clear of a polished concrete floor as we understood the results were a little unpredictable.

Attached is a plan of our single upstairs room which we use as a study office. I currently use an old office corner desk but want to construct something more permanent so my desk sits under the window which affords a good clear view out (might not get any work done, but hey). Mezzanine.pdf The room is 3.5 metres long, and I want to return around each corner by about 1.6 metres to create a shallow U shape. Ideally we would like to have an oak finish, and the obvious choice would be oak kitchen worktop. The problem is the cost of doing so due to the additional haulage costs I have to pay. An alternative is to build the actual structure with plywood, then top with either MDF veneered in oak, or with engineered oak flooring. The biggest issue that I can foresee is that of deflection - I am aware that single spans of 18mm ply or MDF would be limited, although a sandwich of the two glued together would presumably offer more scope for unsupported lengths. Likewise I know oak worktop would need some support, albeit at 40mm thick, less than the ply or MDF used on their own. What is the maximum length of span before some form of support is required and how best to provide support without having support legs at the front?

It's looking like I will get my kitchen units from DIY-kitchens. I've mapped out the design and like what they have available and their price is competitive. The only problem is that the main worktop run is a bit over 4m and the island is worthy of its name and too big for their standard sizes. I got a quote from Worktop express by emailing their fabrication department. They got back to me with the quote in a couple of days and it's very competitive. I was originally seduced by some flashy looking granite but kept getting drawn back to solid walnut and that's what I've got the quote for. I received my samples yesterday, too, and they are very lovely and go well with the door sample that I ordered from DIY-kitchens. Worktop express are certainly worth checking out.