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Appliances Design Dilemma Kitchens

Kitchen worktop thickness

7 years ago

Hi all,

I'm getting a new kitchen installed, including an island with hob and am looking at getting Corian worktops. My issue is that the hob and extractor I want (Siemens/Neff downdraft extractor with an induction Domino hob either side) specifies that the worktop should be 30mm thick, whereas my options are 24mm or 38mm, and I definitely prefer the thinner worktops. Having spoken to Neff about why they require 30mm I've been told "we recommend the thickness of the work surface to be at least 30 mm. This is recommended due to the weight and heat produced by both the extractor and the hob. "

Does anyone have any experience with hobs on thinner worktops? Any recommendations on whether I have to just settle with the thicker worktops, or whether it would probably be fine with the 24mm ones?

Thanks all!

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Comments (4)

Daisy England
7 years ago
If you want Corian you can have whatever thickness you want. It’s fabricated to your choice. It’s bought in as a slab and then fabricated by a qualified and certified Corian installer. Corian will not guarantee their worktops unless the installer is certified by them. Many kitchen fitters say they can install Corian but they can’t. They have to attend a training course. Be wary of this.

Thinner worktops are more fashionable at the moment. Don’t forget there are many other options in similar surfaces to Corian that are available at slightly cheaper prices.
Oli Hutt
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks Daisy, that's certainly useful.

I'll speak to the company doing the worktops for me and see if they can do them at 30mm, though I guess the issue still remains of whether I need to go up to the thicker worktops or can get away with the slightly thinner tops that I'd prefer. I'll see what they say though, thanks again!
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PRO
Lifestyle Kitchens
7 years ago
The only issue i ever have with hobs and thin worktops is the depth of the hob, so it really depends on what you have under the hob. Really can't see any issue having the thinner worktop and certainly haven't heard or read of any problems. Induction hobs are thicker than standard hobs, upto 60mm thick so if you have a thin worktop you might not have a working drawer below, if there's a built under oven than this could be an issue. Induction hobs do get warm and have fans in them so they produce warm air underneath which can warm up whats in a drawer below so some hobs state a heat board should be fitted but that doesn't affect the worktop. As previously stated Corian is fabricated to your spec and can be made to pretty much any thickness, it comprises a board core and corian top with a front edge glued to it so it can be pretty much any thickness but make sure you have a certified Corian installer for your guarantee. There's also plenty of alternatives to Corian on the market but as with all these types of worktops they can scratch quite easily (can be polished out) and dark colours show scratches the worst.
Oli Hutt thanked Lifestyle Kitchens
Oli Hutt
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks @Lifestyle Kitchens - that's good to hear! There's either going to be a cupboard or drawers underneath and looking through the installation manuals for the hob and extractor I've seen the need for enough space to ventilate the hobs so that should all be fine with the right choice of drawer. Given all their in-situ photos show the extractor and hob on thin worktops it seemed a bit weird if that wasn't possible!

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