How to look after your worktops and cupboards
Worktops
The quartz worktops we supply come with a minimum of a 15 year guarantee against chipping or staining. See guarantees below for details
Worktops should be cleaned with a damp cloth or dishwashing liquid and a damp cloth. Beetroot or coffee, for example, can leave what is thought to be a stain, however it can be removed easily, you just need the right cleaning agent. Tough marks will come out if you use a product named Chemico or a Caesarstone cleaning agent. Chemico can be found online and at some retailers and the Caesarstone cleaning agent on their website https://www.interslab.co.za/shop/. Coffee left for a day will create a tough mark, however it will not stain. If you find any mark that you cannot remove, give us a call and we'll assist you.
Avoid using products with bleach in them on all types of worktops, whether they be quartz, granite or wood.
Avoid placing hot pots straight from the stove onto the stove surface, in some rare cases it can crack the stone. It is better to have a board or trivet that pots can sit on whilst hot.
Solidwood worktops and granite are natural materials straight from the earth. Since they are not man made, it is not possible for anyone to give guarantees on them. Solidwood worktops need to breath, and may move and shift depending on the fluctuations of temperature and humidity, this is normal. Looking after your solid tops is dependent on what coatings or oils were used in your particular case. Once we hand over a project to you, we will advise. If you are unsure, contact us and we will happily advise.
Using a product like Rubio Monocoat or others, is a great way to protect your worktop. It penetrates into the wood and stops liquids penetrating the wood. In a residential setting, the Monocoat should protect your wood for around 4 years, after the 4 year period, maintenance is needed on it. Monocoated worktops should only be wiped down with a damp cloth, any other cleaning agents will remove the coating. In tests we have done, we have used abrasive sponges and tried to scour through the Monocoat, then we placed beetroot juice on top of the area and left it for a couple of days. We then wiped it down with a damp cloth and all was removed. If you use a knife or any other sharp or abrasive instruments on the worktop, it can affect the Monocoat coating. Contact us and we will gladly advise.
Cupboards and Doors
When kitchens were first sold to the mass market, the materials used were mostly stainless steel, like most restaurant kitchens nowadays. This has changed due to the cost outlay on stainless steel. Modern cupboards use melamine on a substrate mostly. Melamine is similar to plastic and underneath that Melamine (the colour of your cupboard, whether white or grey or any colour) is chipboard or MDF. Chipboard and MDF can be hygroscopic, meaning it can absorb water. The Melamine on top of the chipboard or MDF does not soak up water, so your cupboards are mostly secure. What is important in the longevity of cupboards is to ensure water does not sit for days. You can clean cupboards with a lightly damp cloth and even some dishwashing soap. Avoid using anything with bleach. This rule works for Melamine, Wrap, Spray painted and Semi-Solid and Veneer doors.
Drawers and doors not working as they once were? To avoid numerous repairs, we always recommend using high quality hardware for your door hinges and drawer runners. The hardware we offer (unless otherwise stated) comes with a lifetime guarantee. It is rare for high quality hardware to give up, if they do, give us a call and we will replace them, no questions asked. If you are using hardware without guarantees, we are happy to come and assess what can be done. For high use areas, sometimes a door or drawer needs a slight adjustment, within the 1st year of purchasing through us we will maintain those items free of charge, otherwise give us call and we will come and advise
Our Guarantees
Hardware
We offer a one year guarantee on our workmanship. Anything that comes out of alignment or shifts, contact us to sort it out. Why one year? All our hardware and certain doors come with much longer guarantees and in most cases lifetime guarantees. Once you install those items you will notice immediately if it is not working or at most within the first year, and we are on standby for you to come sort it out should anything not work as intended.
Workmanship
We offer lifetime guarantees on our drawer runners and hinges. We recommend using the lifetime guarantee options to safeguard yourself and your investment. We also offer entry level hardware without guarantees to help fit certain budgets, and we will be upfront about what has a guarantee and what does not.
Quartz Worktops
We offer 15 year guarantees on our quartz worktops, against chipping and staining. This guarantee comes directly from the quartz producers and applicable when the stone fabricator releases tension in the stone in the right way and makes cut outs in the stone in the correct manner. If your fabricator does everything right and there is an issue of cracking, chipping of staining, the quartz producers may be able to replace your worktop. In a case where the stone needs to be replaced, the onus of removing, cutting and installing the new stone is on the fabricator or client, only the cost of the material is covered by the quartz producers. Our fabricators are trained by the quartz producers directly to ensure your worktop is covered by the guarantee. We will advise on other risks which are not covered and how to protect yourself against them.
Wrap Doors
Our wrap doors come with a 2 year guarantee against de-lamination. During our time with you we shall advise on all other door options and how to care for them, if you chose not to go with a wrap door