Show the trade-offs
Large-format slab
- Best for
- The easiest wet-kitchen surface to keep clean — the fewest joints to hold grease.
- Watch out
- Handling and cutting are specialist; a single damaged slab is a whole-panel replacement.
Cost and scope2
- Relative cost
- The highest of the four.
- Consequential work
- Requires a wall flat enough to take a large panel and a decided junction at the worktop.
Small-pattern feature tile
- Best for
- Bringing character to a working wet kitchen.
- Watch out
- Small tiles mean a lot of grout, and grout plus wok grease is the hardest combination to keep looking new.
Cost and scope2
- Relative cost
- Higher — the cost is in laying.
- Consequential work
- Consider an epoxy or stain-resistant grout; this is the decision that determines how it ages.
Stainless steel
- Best for
- Behind a heavy-use hob.
- Watch out
- Shows every smear and scratches with abrasive cleaning; it reads commercial, which not every client wants.
Cost and scope2
- Relative cost
- Higher.
- Consequential work
- Fixing and edge detail need specifying, and the junction to adjacent finishes must be drawn.
One option isn't shown yet — coming soon: Plain porcelain tile.