Thank you. Looks great! Huge amount of money, though. We will make something along these lines ourselves, I think.

Such a practical and boring answer but I'm all for dark polished granite - way easier to clean (and looks lovely in a contemporary kitchen, too!)

It is recommended by Silestone.com that hot pans not be put directly on to the surface, and, that you use a trivet. So I guess it is unfortunate that this has happened. I don't think that moderate heat includes a pan straight from the stove as that would presumably be classed as 'red hot'. I feel very sorry for you, but it is down to the consumer to know the product and use it accordingly, Silestone can be marked, and scratched too, so i guess be more careful. Such a shame. Here's their literature on care, which I think personally you should have been given at the time of installation. Silestone You can put hot pans on Granite..............my wife does it quite often if she runs out of room on the cutting boards. However, for the most part we do try and use the cutting boards in preference. Our granite has been in situ for around 15 years and still looks like new.

Hi, A wood floor will obviously help and they are right a cork floor would be even more absorbent than a harder wood floor. Obviously the disadvantage is being softer it can damage easier and does not always look great. I have added a link to a engineered wood floor that uses cork and oak and is not expensive. Its worth fitting a acoustic barrier below this also on link. http://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/accessories/651/natura_sonic_gold_acoustic_underlay?adtype=pla&keyword=&gclid=Cj0KEQjwyozABRDtgPTM0taCrKsBEiQATk6xDkeDsY6vQX1Pnj8zGPWFkjp1BZ9Nak6bOchDYO2hWpQaAiW88P8HAQ http://www.parkettkaiser.de/epages/62324980.sf/?Currency=GBP&Locale=en_GB&ObjectPath=/Shops/62324980/Products/EGG_K_485991/SubProducts/STK_EGG_K_485991-0001&ViewAction=ViewProductViaPortal&gclid=Cj0KEQjwyozABRDtgPTM0taCrKsBEiQATk6xDtcpJ4g44V7_zi4jbobK3RX-ZRUTm1LMjEQckA660H8aAtH58P8HAQ