Apart from lending your kitchen a profession style, stainless steel is preferred for hygiene, easy cleaning, and durability.

A stainless steel kitchen benchtop will cost around $900 per square metre, with this estimate including template preparation, fabrication and installation by professionals. Expect to pay per sink bowl integration into the benchtop, which is around $300 per bowl. you will pay around $275 for cheap bowl fitting and polishing.

Stainless steel benchtop prices range from $900 to $950 per square metre, with textures, implementation and finishing all adding to the price. It takes at least three weeks and at most five weeks to make a custom stainless steel benchtop. In some places, stainless steel benchtops are sold for between $285 and $350 per square metre, depending on the finish.

Stainless steel benchtops are considered costly, but they offer promising hard-wearing and longevity, ensuring great value for money. The steel's thickness and design complexity all adds up to the price of the benchtop.

A fancy design will be costly, while a simple design will be available at cheaper rates per square metre. Some benchtops made of thick metal sheets can cost upwards of $1,000 per square metre. Expect to pay a professional an hourly rate of around $50 to $80 to install, depending on the kitchen's size per square metre.

Homeowners should avoid DIY when it comes to kitchen benchtop installation as you will pay an increased expense if the DIY process goes wrong. Other benchtop materials include stone benchtops, polished concrete, laminate benchtops, timber benchtops and more.

What are the benefits of a stainless steel kitchen benchtop?

They are preferred for their hygiene, easy cleaning and durability factors, unlike natural stone. Sink bowls can be easily fitted to the benchtops. Other benefits include the below.

  • Stainless steel is nearly indestructible as it is resistant to heat, rust, water, and fire, much similar to natural stone and stone benchtops.

  • You can keep hot pans on the benchtop without worrying about any damage.

  • Stainless steel is more hygienic than other products such as natural stone used to make a kitchen benchtop. Regular cleaning eliminates bacteria, mould, or germs. Any liquid or solid food products cannot penetrate the material, similar to natural stone cook tops.

  • Stain-free, preventing any stains from wine, oils, or food.

  • Stainless steel is 100% recyclable, so the benchtops become eco-friendly. High durability means that there’s no need to worry about cracks and damages.

  • Countertop installation is easy since the metal can be cut and moulded in any shape or size.

  • Requires zero maintenance, apart from regular cleaning.

How do you clean a stainless steel kitchen benchtop?

These kitchen benchtops require soft sponges and microfibre rags for cleaning purposes. Brushed or polished finishes on these benches should always be wiped and scrubbed in the same or one direction with the grain. Engineered stone such as stone benchtop demands much more cleaning. Marble benchtops require a different set of cleaning instructions altogether.

Eliminating stains

Use a stainless steel cleaner to eliminate any hard-water stains from the water, ice dispenser, or any drips of food. This is also used in engineered stone such as a stone benchtop.

Advanced cleaning

For cleaning limescale, removing coffee deposits and adhesives, use diluted vinegar, baking soda, and alcoholic solvents, such as acetone, respectively. Also, chloride-free glass sprays are efficient against polished, mirror-like surfaces.