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Australia to ban engineered stone

abc.net.au

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Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#71

Post by dylan604 »

legitster wrote: post #18

> Earlier this year workplace ministers tasked Safe Work Australia, a government WHS agency, with investigating how a ban could work and whether low-silica engineered stone could remain on the market safely. > The report found there was no safe level of silica, concluding: "The use of all engineered stone should be prohibited." I don't understand this logic. Silica is also present in natural stone too! If they are no…

if this was an american decision, i'd suggest the natural stone lobby was better than the engineered stone lobby.

Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#72

Post by dylan604 »

insaneirish wrote: post #27
archontes wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think that folks will install it on site without cutting it?

As far as countertops go, field cuts are rather uncommon. Laser templating works well. Holes on the other hand tend to be done in the field. But, people don't wear PPE even though it's simple and easy to do.

>But, people don't wear PPE even though it's simple and easy to do.

are you saying that wearing the PPE is simple and easy to do, or did you mean they don't wear PPE because the job is so simple and easy to do?

Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#73

Post by WinnieRallycar »

Yodel0914 wrote: post #64
zaphirplane wrote: post #31

No arguing against the ban I have to say the alternatives from the article are significantly more expensive, not durable or silly (concrete) Anyone had luck with one of the alternatives * Natural stone * Porcelain * Laminate * Tiles * Concrete * Wood/Timber

Anecdotally, we have laminate benchtops which have been in place for ~30 years (long before we bought the house) and they're pretty much flawless, despite being treated pretty roughly. We're having the kitchen re-done soon and will go with laminate again.

I’ve been in my house for 27 years, and the laminate is basically perfect still, with absolutely no special treatment. Incredibly impressed.

Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#74

Post by Gigachad »

timeon wrote: post #26
Freedom2 wrote: post #5

I'm not a huge fan of government overreach like this. Workers should have refused to work with the material if it were truly dangerous, and the free market would have eventually pushed engineered stone out, giving way to innovation for a better, safer material.

Is this satire?

It’s your brain after too much HN

Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#76

Post by nothacking »

Silica is one of the most common minerals on earth. Any type of stone countertop has a potentially dangerous amount of inhaled. Just use a dust mask when cutting/grinding stone or when around people who are. If anything, synthetic countertops could (but currently is not) be made to have very low levels of silica, but people should still not be breathing them in.

Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#77

Post by ioseph »

zaphirplane wrote: post #31

No arguing against the ban I have to say the alternatives from the article are significantly more expensive, not durable or silly (concrete) Anyone had luck with one of the alternatives * Natural stone * Porcelain * Laminate * Tiles * Concrete * Wood/Timber

I have a 1940s house with solid timber benchtops, yes they take a little more care (no hot pans) but from what I hear stone counters stain easily anyway. The nice thing about wood is you can just sand it back and refinish and it will look amazing again. Large slabs are pretty expensive these days so when installing a kitchen downstairs we went with finger jointed timber, was cheaper than stone and slightly more expensive than engineered stone.

Aesthetically they're ugly but stainless steel is probably the best in terms of cost, ease of maintenance and cleaning

Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#78

Post by dylan604 »

amluto wrote: post #42
insaneirish wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as countertops go, field cuts are rather uncommon. Laser templating works well. Holes on the other hand tend to be done in the field. But, people don't wear PPE even though it's simple and easy to do.

I’ve watched a contractor cut holes in a countertop in the field. They did it wet. I’d still wear safety glasses if I were doing this, but IIRC there was no dust. I’ve never seen someone cut a countertop on site. They do it in a shop. (Why didn’t Australia instead ban all countertop cutting in shops that doesn’t use dustless tools?) Hmm, I just looked it up. Home Depot sells the tool for under $30.

I made an at home modification to our stone counter top when replacing the stove/oven. The new unit was 1/4" too wide. I did the whole tenting and wet cutting, but not nearly wet enough for the obvious reason. I was in full spaceman suit though, as I was sure the amount of water wasn't going to cut it.

I would NOT recommend this to anyone though. At the time, the turn time and expense of having the counter removed, altered at a proper shop, redelivered and installed was prohibitively expensive.

Re: Australia to ban engineered stone

#79

Post by Astraco »

zaphirplane wrote: post #31

No arguing against the ban I have to say the alternatives from the article are significantly more expensive, not durable or silly (concrete) Anyone had luck with one of the alternatives * Natural stone * Porcelain * Laminate * Tiles * Concrete * Wood/Timber

Granite countertops are cheaper, more durable and have better thermal resistance than artificial stone ones.
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