Hi Jackie, Might be a little late to help but how is it getting on? There's a couple of things that can be done to test and eliminate the problems. Firstly to eliminate that it's water staining you should get a hair dryer and place it onto the stains, if the marks disappear or get better but come back within a couple of days then it's water staining (stains come back as only the water close to the surface has been dried out). Now if the hair dryer doesn't work and the stains remain there could be 2 other issues: Soap stains - We've got a process that seems to work incredibly well but will require some explanation so try out the hair dryer first and let me know what happens. Silicon bleed - If the underside of the worktop hasn't been sealed properly then the silicon that the fitter used when fitting the sink basin will now be bleeding into the stone - unfortunately this is unfixable. By the way, if you've having trouble in having something done about this and we can get to the bottom of the staining of the stone we're happy to provide you with statements and verification if you wish to pursue the issue further. Nonetheless keep in touch with how things are getting on. Marius

Generally it has to be Quartz, though we do love others, as sometimes they can give the right feel for the design you want. Different metals can look amazing and Quartz can't replicate these. We are just starting a project that has mainly Quartz but one side of the island will be copper . . . Can't wait to see the finished look

You don’t have to go all out to give your kitchen a fresh new look. If your units are still in good condition, a cheaper and easier option would be to just update the work surfaces. We have a range of different worktop materials available, including quartz, corian, wood, granite, glass and laminate. And this doesn’t have to be the same throughout the kitchen. Contrasting materials has become a very attractive choice in kitchen designs and this is not limited to the units. Why not create a contrast with a stone worktop and a wooden island worktop? Contact us to discuss options.

My friend has Corian in her kitchen as a seamless worktop, sink and splash back. She also has it up and over the window sill. It looks great but it does scratch easily and it does leave watermarks. She had been talked into it by the kitchen company which she now regrets. It wasn’t cheap. I think granite is incredibly hardwearing if your budget stretches to it. Quartz is very popular too.