Countertops

[tjkubota93]

We are finally re-doing the kitchen with cabinets, floor, countertops, appliances, everything.

I wonder about these "quartz" countertops. Everyone says they are better, but they are ground up rocks glued together. Sounds like mineral version of mdf board to me.

Granite seems more likely to last. We are generally clean and don't mind occasionally sealing the tops.

I have a good friend that worked in a countertop fab shop for 8 years and he said nothing beats granite.

So are these quartz mdf countertops just a fad created by contractors and manufactures or are they better?

 

[mobilus]

Granite seems more likely to last. We are generally clean and don't mind occasionally sealing the tops.

I have a good friend that worked in a countertop fab shop for 8 years and he said nothing beats granite.

We redid our kitchen four years ago. Complete remodel with demolition down to stud walls. Island and countertops are granite, and we have no regrets. Do it once and do it right...it's a solid investment, both for resale and daily living. Good luck!

 

[polo1665]

I really don't have a preference. We have Granite countertops in the outdoor kitchen (that I added on) and Quartz inside. The couple that built the house said they decided on the Quartz for the kitchen, because it is supposedly less porous and as such is easier to keep germ free.

 

[RNeumann]

The quartz products are as good or better. The reality is both are fine. Take a scrap of both home and try to stain scratch break etc. You will be impressed.
I’ve put them in the last few houses I’ve done and my wife specs them all the time.

 

[oosik]

We have a center island in the kitchen. It is covered with 6" x 6" unglazed quarry tiles. Been here 36+ years and still as nice as the day I built it. Once a year I strip the surface and reseal with a good floor wax. Its the same unglazed quarry tile as used on the floor throughout the kitchen.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

We are old school formica. Not sure ive seen granite or quartz.

 

[RSKY]

We are finally re-doing the kitchen with cabinets, floor, countertops, appliances, everything.

I wonder about these "quartz" countertops. Everyone says they are better, but they are ground up rocks glued together. Sounds like mineral version of mdf board to me.

Granite seems more likely to last. We are generally clean and don't mind occasionally sealing the tops.

I have a good friend that worked in a countertop fab shop for 8 years and he said nothing beats granite.

So are these quartz mdf countertops just a fad created by contractors and manufactures or are they better?

When we had our kitchen remodeled we were wondering the same thing. After talking to as many people as we could we bought the quartz and have never regretted it. When the crew installed it there were tags glued to each piece with the manufacturers name, etc. on it. After it was installed the group leader took out a screwdriver and using the pointed edge started scraping it off. Of course my wife nearly stroked out but the guy laughed and said he was making a point. They are practically scratch proof, heat proof, and break proof. He said it would take a grinder to scratch it. And he said he could squirt lighter fluid on it and set it on fire and it would not damage it but my wife declined that experiment. They did have to come back one time and redo a glue joint but it has a lifetime warranty on that and the guy said to call any time and they would return.

Ours is made by LG and was purchased thru Lowes. The woman who sold it to us even came out and watched as it was installed as part of her job.

One of the reasons we went quartz instead of granite is that the granite is naturally porous. One lady we talked to had a child spill something on hers and not wipe it up and it stained the granite.

Anyway, just my opinion. Either would be better than the old stuff that was in our kitchen for twenty-five years.

As I said above we are very pleased with our purchase but we intend to stay in this house and never sell it. If we were intending on resale we would have used granite.

RSKY

 

[Deere Dude]

We had 10 YO Formica on a used house we bought and it worked but I hated it.
We put Granite it because it is indestructible, I thought. It is still fine after 2 years but the directions said not to sit or kneel on it because it could crack or break. I never had a problem with kneeling on Formica once in a while, but I still like granite.

 

[deanocraft]

We have Silestone counters in our kitchen. They have been there for probably 17 years and look just like new. They are not quartz, but a similar concoction of crushed stone and resin. We chose those because of the available colors, and the price was less than natural stone slabs. I think the wife would go with soapstone now, but not for any performance reasons. The Silestone has been great.

 

[MossRoad]

We are old school formica. Not sure ive seen granite or quartz.

This is what we had when I was a kid....