Question 1

What is Recast, in plain English?

Accepted Answer

Your laminate benchtop stays where it is. We prepare it, then pour a specified countertop epoxy that cures into a new working surface about two millimetres thick. You keep the cabinets, splashback, sink, hob and the layout you already paid for. You change the look, the feel and how the top cleans. It is a surface decision, not a renovation.

Question 2

How is this different from painting the bench?

Accepted Answer

Paint is a film. It chips at the edge, marks under a mug, and never reads as a new material. Recast is a self-levelling flood coat — Shore D 80–85, heat-rated, UV-stable — with enough body to encapsulate the edge and behave like a solid surface. If it marks in five years we can sand and recoat it. You cannot do that with kitchen paint.

Question 3

How is this different from a vinyl wrap?

Accepted Answer

Wraps peel at sinks and hobs, bubble with heat, and trap moisture against the board. Fine on a feature wall. Fatal on a working bench. Recast is a thermoset coating chemically locked to a keyed, degreased laminate — not a sticker.

Question 4

How is this different from a 7 mm stone overlay?

Accepted Answer

Overlays are real stone, with real silica cutting rules, real mitered aprons, and $700–$1,200 / m² installed. They still sit on the same particleboard we inspect. If that board later swells, thin stone can crack. Recast is a fraction of the money, none of the licensed fabricator circus, and it can be recoated. You do not get a quartz look-alike — you get a poured surface with its own character.

Question 5

How is this different from ripping the kitchen out?

Accepted Answer

Replacement means demolition, a plumber, often a smashed splashback, two or three weeks without benches, and a bill that starts around stone prices before hidden work lands. Recast keeps every service in place. Pour day, light use the next morning. The kitchen never stops being a kitchen.

Question 6

Will it look like cheap DIY resin?

Accepted Answer

Only if someone pours craft resin, skips the degrease, or copies a metallic floor kit. We specify industrial countertop epoxy with hardness, heat and UV in writing, we seal before we flood, and we finish at a sheen that belongs in a working kitchen. The goal is a quiet, continuous top — not a viral swirl.

Question 7

What kitchens are a good fit?

Accepted Answer

Sound post-formed or square-edge laminate that looks tired — the 70s, 80s, 90s and early-2000s galleys that make up most of metro Perth. Cabinets you like. A splashback you do not want to smash. A layout that still works. Bayswater bungalows, Subiaco terraces, Joondalup family kitchens, Cottesloe apartments: if the board is sound, Recast will take it.

Question 8

Do you only recast rolled bullnose edges?

Accepted Answer

No. Rolled post-formed bullnose is common in Perth, so we are set up to encapsulate it — and we do not cut it off unless you ask. We also recast square edges, pencil-rounds, breakfast-bar overhangs and islands. The edge is part of the pour, not the whole product. If you want a thicker contemporary arris we can build the edge up before the flood.

Question 9

What about islands and breakfast bars?

Accepted Answer

Same system. Seating sides get the same continuous skin, so stools no longer sit under a brown drip-edge. Tell us at measure — overhangs need a little more resin and a guided wrap.

Question 10

Can you recast around the sink and hob?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Cut-outs stay. We mask, seal and flood to the existing openings. We do not disconnect the plumber. Undermount sinks on laminate are a special case — we inspect the cut and the seal; some want a bead, some want a conversation about whether the substrate is honest enough.

Question 11

What if there is a chip, a burn, or a join?

Accepted Answer

Small chips and heat marks can be filled and sanded before the seal coat. Joins in the old laminate will not vanish like a magic trick, but a 2–2.5 mm flood with a second top coat reads as one surface, not a patchwork. We will show you on the actual bench, not in a brochure.

Question 12

What if water has got under the laminate by the sink?

Accepted Answer

Then we stop. Swollen, sagging or rotten particleboard cannot be recast — and a 7 mm stone cap cannot save it either. Honest no is part of the service. A localised repair is sometimes possible; a wet run is a different job.

Question 13

Do you recast timber, butcher’s block or tiled tops?

Accepted Answer

Tiled tops are a no — too many joints, too much movement. Butcher’s block and solid timber can take a clear flood only if they are stable, sealed, and you want the pale-oak-under-glass look, not a chopping surface. Most Recast jobs are tired laminate. We will say if yours is not.

Question 14

Can you recast a busy patterned laminate?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The old pattern is a substrate, not a finish. Once the flood coat is on, it is gone. That is often the point — beige fleck, fake granite print, 90s speckled cream: all of it disappears under white, terrazzo, concrete or vein.

Question 15

How do I clean it?

Accepted Answer

Damp cloth, mild detergent, done. Non-porous means tea, oil and tomato do not soak in. Avoid bleach baths, abrasive creams as a daily habit, and solvents like acetone. The care note we leave is short on purpose.

Question 16

Can I put a hot pan on it?

Accepted Answer

The system is rated to at least 90 °C continuous — mugs, toasters, residual heat, an air-fryer sitting there. A pan straight off a high gas flame is still a trivet job, the same as stone. Heat rings on cheap resin are why we refuse art-resin kits.

Question 17

Can I chop on it?

Accepted Answer

Use a board. Shore D 80–85 is hard enough for plates and cutlery; it is not a sacrificial chopping surface. Direct knife work will mark any benchtop you actually like.

Question 18

Wine, turmeric, beetroot, olive oil?

Accepted Answer

Once fully cured, a proper countertop epoxy is non-porous. Spills wipe. Do not leave harsh chemicals sitting. Full stain resistance arrives with full cure — give it the first week.

Question 19

Will it feel like plastic?

Accepted Answer

It feels closer to a solid surface or a thick glass-resin than to laminate. Cool to the hand, continuous, no joins. Not cold like granite, not hollow like thin wrap. People notice the edge first — there is nothing to catch a cloth on.

Question 20

Is it glossy and covered in fingerprints?

Accepted Answer

Default sheen is a calm gloss. Pure white shows more than greige or concrete. We can specify satin or a fine texture topcoat if you cook with teenagers and afternoon sun. Say so at sample stage.

Question 21

Is it slippery? Those YouTube floors look lethal.

Accepted Answer

We do not pour floors, and we do not pour ultra-gloss metallic systems on a kitchen. High-gloss floor kits are a documented slip hazard when wet. A benchtop is a working horizontal you stand at, not a traffic surface. Different chemistry, different sheen, different job.

Question 22

Will it yellow in Perth sun?

Accepted Answer

Only if someone pours cheap craft resin. We specify a UV-stable countertop formulation and ask the mill for that in writing. North-facing windows in Cottesloe, Scarborough, City Beach still get the UV-stable grade — non-negotiable. Under-cabinet LEDs too.

Question 23

Is it food safe?

Accepted Answer

Once fully cured, a proper countertop epoxy is used worldwide on kitchen surfaces and is non-porous. We still want hardness and heat data in writing. “Food safe” on a listing with no Shore D or heat rating is a red flag, not a specification.

Question 24

How long is the kitchen out of action?

Accepted Answer

Prep and pour is typically a day. Light use the following day. Full cure continues for several days. You are not living without benches for two or three weeks, and we do not disconnect the plumber.

Question 25

Do I have to move out? What about the smell?

Accepted Answer

You can stay. We ventilate. There is a chemical smell during the pour and the first evening — open windows, keep pets and kids off the wet coat, sleep in the house if you like. It is a day of disruption, not a decant.

Question 26

Do you move the hob and sink?

Accepted Answer

No. That is the point. Mask, seal, flood to the existing cut-outs. Licensed plumbing stays licensed plumbing — unused.

Question 27

Can you fill old tap holes or a redundant soap dispenser?

Accepted Answer

Often yes, if the substrate around the hole is sound. We plug, fair, seal and flood. Mention it at measure so it is in the quote, not a surprise on pour day.

Question 28

What happens on a wet or very hot Perth day?

Accepted Answer

Epoxy is chemistry. We pick the pour window — temperature, humidity, dew point — because a flood coat in a 40 °C kitchen or on a dewy July morning is how you get amine blush, fish-eyes and a recut. If the day is wrong, we move it. Better a delay than a defective top.

Question 29

Can I see a sample first?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Samples on your actual bench, in your light — a Floreat skylight and a Mount Lawley galley do not render white the same way. We do not ask you to pick a finish from a phone screen.

Question 30

Do you cut the bullnose off?

Accepted Answer

Not by default. Most Perth post-formed tops have a rolled edge. The epoxy is designed to flow over that curve and fully encapsulate it — deck and face as one piece. Cutting it off is extra carpentry, extra waste, and usually unnecessary. If you want a thick square look we build the edge up before the flood. The bullnose is a typical Perth detail, not the entire Recast story.

Question 31

Can I have a square, 40 mm-looking edge?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We build the profile up, then flood so it reads as a contemporary slab edge. Still no silica, still no plumber. Specify it at measure — it is a different detail, not a surprise on the day.

Question 32

What about a thin pencil-round?

Accepted Answer

If that is the existing profile, we encapsulate it. If you want to change to one, we can fair the edge before the seal coat. Three profiles, one resin: wrap, pencil-round, or built-up square.

Question 33

Can I match my splashback or cabinets?

Accepted Answer

We can sit a sample next to them and get close. Exact paint-code matching of a 15-year-old sage door is a fool’s errand — pigments and light will not conspire that perfectly. Better to pick a field that makes the cabinets look decided: white against charcoal, concrete against olive, terrazzo against timber.

Question 34

Can I have a matte or satin finish?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Ask at sample stage. Satin hides fingerprints better than a mirror gloss, especially on pure white in a Scarborough apartment with western sun.

Question 35

Is the marble a sticker or a print?

Accepted Answer

Neither. Soft Carrara vein is layered pigment pulled through a self-levelling flood. Every kitchen is one of a kind. It will not match a slab in a yard, and that is the point.

Question 36

How does pale oak work if resin cannot make wood grain?

Accepted Answer

It does not fake it. We fix real pale oak or a specialist veneer to the existing top, seal it, then flood with crystal-clear countertop epoxy. The grain stays authentic. The resin supplies hardness, heat resistance and depth. Pigment “oak grain” is a stylised fake — we will not sell it.

Question 37

Can you spray the cabinets and change the handles while you are there?

Accepted Answer

Yes — that is the Recast refresh. While the benches are masked and curing we can enamel-spray the doors and swap tired knobs for brass or black hardware. A new top on faded doors still reads as a patch. A new top on freshly sprayed doors, new handles in the hand, reads as a kitchen you meant.

Question 38

Do you only do kitchens?

Accepted Answer

Kitchens are the core. The same specified pour recasts bathroom vanities, laundries, butler’s pantries, home bars, study desks and alfresco serveries. Anywhere you have a tired laminate top and a sound carcass. Not floors.

Question 39

What about an outdoor kitchen in Fremantle or Attadale?

Accepted Answer

Possible, with the UV-stable grade as a non-negotiable, and a conversation about weather, wind-blown grit and how the servery is actually used. It is still a working top, not a floor pour, and not a miracle in full western sun with no awning.

Question 40

Can it be repaired later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Light scratches sand out. A tired top can take a new thin flood in years to come. Stone overlays cannot offer that. Recast is a surface you can keep recasting.

Question 41

How long should it last?

Accepted Answer

A specified countertop epoxy, prepped properly, is a decade-scale surface in a working kitchen — with trivets, boards, and the odd recoat if life happens. It will not outlast geology. It will outlast laminate, wrap, and a lot of the “quick kitchen refresh” products sold against it. We would rather tell you that than invent a 25-year sticker.

Question 42

If I sell the house?

Accepted Answer

Buyers see a contemporary surface and original cabinets that still work. You are not handing over a half-ripped kitchen or a peeling wrap. Keep the care note in the drawer.

Question 43

Is the calculator the price I pay?

Accepted Answer

No. Every figure on this site is a guide only — including the calculator, the rate card, and overlay comparisons. The price you pay is the written quote after we measure and inspect the substrate. Swollen board may mean we decline the job. Guide rates include GST. Terms: recast.konduct.au/terms.

Question 44

How much does a typical Perth kitchen cost?

Accepted Answer

Most sound galleys land between $1,200 and $3,500 for the pour, before cabinet spray and hardware — as a guide. Pure white from $240 / m²; pale oak under clear coat from $420 / m². The $1,200 minimum exists because masking, travel and chemistry do not scale down to a 900 mm laundry. The calculator is a guide; the written quote after measure is the price.

Question 45

How soon can you pour?

Accepted Answer

We reply the same working day. A measure is usually 7–14 days out. The pour itself is typically two to four weeks after you sign off the sample — weather, humidity and the finish you pick set the window. Vein and oak take a longer day. You get a pour date, not a mystery.

Question 46

Do you charge for the measure?

Accepted Answer

The first site visit in metro Perth is part of quoting, not a separate invoice. If we drive and the board is swollen, we still tell you honestly — that is cheaper than pouring a job that will fail.

Question 47

Why is it so much less than stone?

Accepted Answer

Because we are not buying, cutting, templating or installing a silica slab, and we are not paying a plumber to pull the sink. You already own the substrate and the layout. You are paying for specified resin, preparation, and a day of skilled pour — not a fabrication yard.

Question 48

What is not in the number?

Accepted Answer

Swollen-board repairs, a full kitchen spray beyond doors, exotic edge build-ups, and anything we flag at inspection. The calculator is a guide for a sound laminate top, not a quote. Site inspection is where we quote. Minimum pour $1,200. GST is included in the guide rates.

Question 49

Do you recast a single short run?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes. The minimum exists because masking, travelling and chemistry do not scale down to a 900 mm laundry nicely. Ask. We would rather say no than pour a job that cannot carry the prep.

Factor	7 mm overlay	Full replacement	Recast pour
What you keep	Old top + layout, plus a mitered stone apron	Cabinets only — if they survive the rip-out	The top, the edge, the splashback, the plumber
Typical installed	$700–$1,200 / m²	$2,500–$6,500+ once hidden work lands	From $240 / m², $1,200 minimum
Silica / licensing	Licensed fabricators only	Licensed fabricators + plumber	No silica slab. No cut-on-site stone.
Downtime	Days of specialists in the house	Two to three weeks without benches	Pour day. Light use next day.
Edge	Drop-apron square block over the curve	Whatever the new slab is edged as	Your existing profile, encapsulated — or a built-up square
If it marks later	Live with it, or recap	Live with it, or recap	Sand and recoat
Custom look	Factory stone patterns	Whatever is in the yard that week	White, terrazzo, vein, oak, concrete, pearl — poured

Overlay, rip-out, or a specified pour.

Epoxy recast versus a 7 mm stone overlay

The board underneath

Silica and licences

The edge

The week

If it marks later

The bill

Where the overlay money actually goes

Size the pour

Guide rates, before we see the board.

From enquiry to a working bench.

Specified resin, not leftover drums