Kitchen worktops on a budget

Recently I have been looking for laminate worktops for a kitchen makeover, obviously laminate are the cheapest kitchen worktops you can buy. Although for what they consist of and how they are made; compressed wood chips with a plastic coating I find the price of them is extortionate.

When an item is churned out in such quantities and made of cheap, mostly waste materials I think the price should be a great deal less than the RRP of most of the ones in your local DIY store.

You can pay £150 or more for a 3 meter length of laminate worktop, and even when buying second hand people want so much for them. I even looked into buying factory seconds, which where cheaper, around £38 - £50 for a 3 meter length, although what raises this price is the postage. £30 postage on each worktop means you might as well buy new and not have the worry of having to hide the small imperfections of the seconds.

So I was amazed when I stumbled upon this: Laminate Worktop Inari Granite (W)3050 x (D)600 x (H)28mm, click on the link below to be taken to the website and see the item.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10187797&fh_location=//catalog01/en_GB/categories<{9372014}/categories<{9372039}/categories<{9372151}/specificationsProductType=laminate_0000003711606 http://bit.ly/8XW9IZ

It is just over 3 meter length of laminate worktop in Inari granite which is a mottled white/grey and black faux granite. And the best bit it is only £40 a length! That's more like it. If you are doing your kitchen up on a budget and you are buying the cheapest worktops possible because you need your kitchen to be functional and easy to clean but you don't want to end up breaking the bank then why not spend £40 per 3 meters rather than shelling out more than 3 times that on what is essentially a cheap item anyway?!

The Inari granite worktop is slightly thinner but I don't see this as a problem, if anything it makes them easier to move and cut, which is exactly want you want if you are doing the job yourself. You can also get the worktop in a light wood beech effect or plain white, although I think the Inari granite looks much better and not so cheap.

B&Q will also deliver to your home for £20 no matter how many you want , which is a good price, although you may have to wait 2 to 3 weeks for delivery which is not so good. And you can't buy them through the website, you can phone your local B&Q to order or go into your local store which seems a strange way of doing things when you can view it on the website.