Kitchen worktops
Kitchen worktops
Countertops
We produce high quality kitchen countertops and islands made of quartz, granite and marble.
We offer both simple and economical surfaces and surfaces made from exclusive materials with the most sophisticated designs. We take pride in our high-end kitchen and bathroom surfaces, and are pleased to work with all of the leading quality local furniture manufacturers.
Stone tables
Tabletops can be both an individual accent and matched to the kitchen work surface.
Surfaces can be made of marble and granite as well as quartz composite materials. In our offer you will find stones from manufacturers such as Caesarstone, Silestone, Technistone, SENSA, etc.
You can create different stone profiles for each table. For stone tables, the thickness is most often made of 2 or 3c m thick material, but also available in 1.2cm thick stone - but this requires a more serious construction or a full base underneath. On the other hand, if you want a thicker material than 3 cm - you can glue the stone at 45 or 90 degrees and stick it to the desired thickness.
Stone dining tables
Stone sheets are available in sizes from 3m x 1.4m up to 3.4m x 2m. This makes it possible to create a large dining table without seams. The 3m table is for about 12 people. Stone table tops can be placed on metal structures and legs, wooden structures. The table top can be submerged in a wooden frame, the legs can also be finished in stone and many other options are available.
Coffee tables and console surfaces
For small stone surfaces such as dresser surfaces, coffee tables, shelves, it is better and more economical to choose a smaller piece of stone from our warehouse - VIA warehouse has many different types of granite, marble and quartz.
Garden and barbecue tables
Granite and DEKTON materials are suitable for garden tables. Because they are frost-resistant, heat-resistant, and ultraviolet-resistant, they do not fade in the sun. We do not recommend other stones for outdoor tables.
Sink installation options
While choosing the most appropriate material for a kitchen worktop in our warehouse our clients became surprised of such a wide choice of sinks and puzzled with a question – How to choose the best kitchen sink? Collecting all typical questions from our clients, we decided to address a Latvian representative of the company FRANKE Normunds Dambis.
How do people usually choose kitchen sinks?
Most often a client comes to the shop with already made plan of the kitchen, where a kitchen sink has its own place. In this case a choice of sinks lessens. Still there are variants, but to my mind as a specialist that a plan should be started with a sink itself, since you spend about 60 per cent of your time in the kitchen at the sink. If you begin planning your kitchen with the choice of a sink, then this important and necessary thing will become the most comfortable for usage and more functional.
What are the best sizes of a cupboard under a sink?
The best size of a cupboard is 60 cm, then it is possible to use either large or small sink. The most kitchens in Latvia have enough room for a cupboard with the size of 45 cm only. If you plan to spend much time in the kitchen, I would recommend you to choose a cupboard with a size of 80 cm, where 2 sinks can be installed.
What for are two sinks in the kitchen? And how functional is a small sink?
If a person likes cooking, they need rather much space for the process. Foodstuffs should be washed, peeled or defrosted. Dishes should be washed. That is why it is better to divide all the processes into two different sinks. A small sink is used in the same way as a double one, though it is better to use it for foodstuff washing only for not to overload a large sink.
What are the types of sink installation?
Stone kitchen worktops can be called as all-purpose because they allow to install any kind of a sink. Actually there are three types of sink installation, such as top mount, drop-in and undermount sinks. The undermount sink is considered to be the most comfortable in appliance, because you can easily flick away crumbs straight into the sink with one movement. The drop-in sink is like the top mount one, the former is dropped in the stone worktop, and it seems and is on the one level with the worktop. As to the top mount, it can be installed in the easiest way, still it has rimming that complicates cleaning such a sink.
What material for a sink is better?
The company FRANKE offers stainless steel sinks, stoneware – fragranite sinks, ceramic sinks, and one of the latest materials Tectonite. Each has its pluses and minuses. Stainless steel sink has its classical value that will always serve you nicely, furthermore it will be cleaned easily. The only minus - water drops leave traces of limestone.
Fragranite sinks are in favour due to their wide range of colours, and these traces from water drops are almost unseen. They will serve you as long as stainless steel sinks on conditions of correct cleaning, refuse from very aggressive household chemicals. They are resistant to food colouring.
Ceramics is a comparably new material for kitchen sinks in Latvia.The main plus is its easy in usage and cleaning. Such sinks do not absorb some food traces, their tops are hygienic. The only minus is their high price.
Tectonite is a sink made of glass fiber covered with 0.2 mm of durable facing strength. This new technology ensures greater resistancy to heat, stains, easy treatment. Tectonite does not have any minuses at all. The only reason why people hesitate to apply Tectonite sinks is their awareness to a new material. But I suppose that they will change their attitude in course of time. Since I myself use Tectonite sink for two and a half years and it is still as new as at the very beginning!
What colour to choose?
The choice is dependent on the material of a kitchen worktop. It is advisable to begin with the choice of a kitchen worktop, and later to find the most matchable tone of a sink. Black and beige are the most favourable colours among our clients. Probably black is popular because the stove and other kitchen equipment are black which looks like a complect. Beige is mostly chosen for its practicality – all dirty spots are less noticeable. Usually professional sinks are not produced in all possible colours, though the company FRANKE presents a rather wide range of colours, so one can find the most appropriate variant. Some specially choose a tone of the sink in contrast to the kitchen worktop which makes their kitchen a little bit spirited.
What are the most widespead mistakes in the choice of a sink?
First of all you have to trust your designer of kitchens, their experience and practical knowledge. They will immediately see both its look and how functional the offered variant will be. The most widespread mistake is a sink purchase of a wrong size which causes additional reinstallation of kitchen furniture and worktop.
If you have not find a kitchen designer yet, we recommend to visit one of the company FRANKE places of sale, where a shop assistant consults you on the best solution.
If you did not find the answer to your special question, I advise you to address stone finishing salon of ‘VIA’ Ltd (SIA "VIA" akmens apstrādes salonu), where you definitely obtain a professional consultation, as well as a qualified realization of your project!
To find an idea you could enter Franke 2016/2017 e-catalogue on the site of the company FRANKE here - FRANKE-KATALOGS
Stove installation options
There are many varied stove surfaces - ceramic, induction, gas, in different sizes and shapes. However, there are only two ways to incorporate the hob into the stone. But there are only two ways to incorporate the surface of the stove into the stone. A classic known to everyone – top-down.
However, the latest design trends for kitchens are about concealing as much as possible - as if cooking on a stone surface alone, it has made it possible to submerge the stove on a level with the stone surface. With standard, top-mounted stoves, everything seems clear: a hole is made in the stone of the right size for your stove and then built into the stone surface.
There are several nuances with submerged stoves. It should be noted that the stone creates a "staircase" where to place the surface. There will be a gap of ~ 2 mm around the stove. Stoves with metal frame, bevelled edges, rounded edges are not intended for submerging. So, the more straight and flat the stove is, the steeper and more angular the edges are, the more accurate the result will be.
Measurement - assembly - manufacturing
In what order do we work?
A customer, designer or planner looks up for us, gives us approximate dimensions and other planned specifications. We choose stone tone, thickness. Ideally, if you have the opportunity to visit to us at the factory-warehouse (all in one) we can show our extensive warehouse, show all the variations of the stone, speak in person about the desired details, and suggest the best option. An approximate calculation is then made.
For more accurate calculation you need to know
the surface length, width, depth. Desired stone thickness. Edge profile processing. Type of sink installation. Stove installation type. Location of the object, city, which floor it is. If you mount the surface yourself, is it going to be exported - will it require export packaging?
After calculation, if you are not satisfied, we look for other options, but if everything is satisfactory, we arrange the documents and reserve the stone or order it if it is not in our warehouse. Delivery of the stone can take from 1 to 4 weeks, depending on the particular manufacturer, volume and availability. We go for measuring when the stone is ordered / reserved and the furniture / kitchen / structure is 100% ready, leveled, when it is no longer planned to move. At the time of measurement, it is necessary that the site has all the elements associated with the production of stone details. For kitchens, it would be - sink, stove, extractors for submerging, sockets, water mixers, pop-up buttons, soap dispensers, drinking water mixer and more.
If necessary, the craftsman will bring the stove or sink to us to the factory to make sure the size is accurate. This is particularly the case for built-up sinks and submerged stoves. It is often the case that the technical drawings show the same dimensions, but they are slightly different when checked. Accuracy is important to our company, so we double check each size.
When everything is talked through, measured, the stone is already here – we prepare the technical drawings and return them to production. Within 1-3 weeks (depending on volume) we make stone parts, agree on convenient times for you and go to the assembly.
Edge profiles
To choose the very stone material is not an easy task, though this is an important and long term investment. The next step is to find the most suitable moulding profiles for kitchen or bathroom surfaces, for windowsills or stairs.
The most demanding variants are depicted below. They can be adjusted in accordance with your taste, the width of a chosen stone and the style of the whole interior.
There are numerous variants of profiles beginning from the simplest square angled with chamfers to complicated and classical products. The form of a surface not necessarily should be square angled, it can also be round, oval or bending.
To vary your choice of a classical stone surface, we would like to offer you variant 13 with its three level roundish form, so called ‘a cloud’, or variants 11 and 17 – ‘a heel’. These three types of profiles are the most favourable among our clients.
An excellent decoration of a stone surface is moulding profile 16. A stainless steel or brass pivot is being installed into a stone surface – a real Italian classical style!
Profile 18 of a cut type for walls lining visually makes the chosen material thinner.
Tips
You should carefully combine natural stone with stone or ceramic tiles. Cement joints near the surface of natural stone do not look very good. This can give you a rough and even cheap look. This is especially true of the compatibility of the kitchen countertop and the vertical panel. It is better to choose both the kitchen surface and the kitchen panel from the stone of the same type.
You should not get too excited by combining many different colors of natural stones in one room.
Stone or quartz kitchen surfaces are often chosen by people whose kitchens have previously had wood chipboard surfaces for economic reasons. As a result of humidity, fat and other foods and their preparation, particle board surfaces lose their appereance in a relatively short time. Therefore, owners choose to dismantle and replace them with more expensive, but more durable natural stone or quartz surfaces.
However, in most cases, customers know that the best option for a kitchen worktop is always natural stone - granite, quartz or marble.
If the kitchen is loaded regularly, if you like to bake and cook - it is better to choose granite, quartz or, as it is sometimes said, artificial stone surfaces. So that over the years the stone surfaces do not lose their initially good appearance. People who are unfamiliar with quartz often call it not only artificial stone, but also pressed stone, engineered stone, cast stone, stone mass, etc. We definitely want to add that the stone we offer has nothing to do with artificial, corian or plastic. It consists of 90% natural raw materials - granite chips, quartz sand, which are mixed together by a special resin mixture. It is neither damaged by load nor by food, it does not react to heat and it does not scratch.
If the kitchen is used little and rarely, marble surfaces are also placed due to its luxurious drawing. Marble is a luxurious natural material, but softer, more porous than granite and quartz. It scratches, absorbs wine, juices, jams and other colorful foods.
But if the customer is very keen on marble, we recommend choosing a darker color and a mottled pattern. For example, the Rain Forest marble, which can be found in our Riga warehouse in 4 different colors, looks very beautiful. Rain Forest is a very popular marble, as many call it a painting of "nature’s invisible artist". Often, this marble is used for shower room panels because, unlike tiles, it won't have many cement joints, which quickly become dirty and give an ugly look. In this marble you will find petrified roots and leaves, in terms of tonality, rarely is any stone so unusually rich.
There have been cases where restaurants that cook meals or serve hot breakfasts order heated stone surfaces to keep food warm. Alternatively, guest houses specializing in ski tourism can order heating elements for a stone bar counter for added convenience.