We have had ours for 10 years now and they are holding up well. They will scratch if someone is too rough with them. I seal mine (very easy to do) every 6 months, polish every 3 years and use the quartz specific cleaner. I have read where citrus type cleaners can cause problems.
Posts: 2223 | Location: United States | Registered: February 13, 2006
Not as natural and unique as Granite but actually a better surface material and with a plethora of finishes/colors available there is bound to be something for everyone.
Installed mine about 5 years ago. Only issue I've had is recently I had a coffee cup fall from the top shelf of my upper cabinet. I bobbled it on it's way down and it landed on my counter. Coffee cup was fine, but it did leave a small dent in my countertop which I was surprised happened.
I still would recommend them.
Posts: 11218 | Location: The Magnolia State | Registered: November 20, 2004
Originally posted by Censored: We have had ours for 10 years now and they are holding up well. They will scratch if someone is too rough with them. I seal mine (very easy to do) every 6 months, polish every 3 years and use the quartz specific cleaner. I have read where citrus type cleaners can cause problems.
I used to run the front end of a kitchen and bath shop, and have sold a lot of both, plus solid surface (LG/Corian) and laminate. I sold mostly DuPont Zodiaq, Cambria, and Silestone.
Quartz is more difficult to scratch than granite, but can indeed be scratched, especially since there's a resin binder in the material. It also can scorch if you put a hot pan on it, again, due to the binder; granite generally won't show any heat marks. Quartz is VERY difficult to stain when compared to granite (but CAN stain), and doesn't need periodically sealed as granite does. That said, the porosity and staining of granite, in my opinion, is generally overstated. If you are someone who will understand and follow an infrequent maintenance routine, you'll likely never stain your granite.
The upside to quartz is obvious from a performance aspect, it's a technically superior material, all things considered. The upside to granite is its natural beauty, vs the manufactured look of quartz. Because of this, the general sentiment for many is that granite is a more classic, timeless material. Only you can decide if that applies to you.
Originally posted by MikeGLI: I work for a company who produces quartz and we sell to hotels/timeshares/apartment buildings.
Keep hot hot shit off of it, wipe up things like red wine and yellow mustard, hot sauce quickly, don't let it sit.
Basically, clean up your mess and don't put a boiling pan on it and you'll be good.
My brother and his wife have quartz countertops in their kitchen. They were making cashew brittle for Christmas gifts one year and he placed the hot pan directly from the oven on to the countertop. It caused a nice crack from the front of the countertop to the back of it.
Have a wooden cutting board on the counter to place hot pans on if you need to set them on the counter space.
Posts: 3221 | Location: Texas | Registered: June 29, 2003
I think my wife is the only person who does not like Granite (thinks it looks like mold) so we have had Quartz in our last two houses. It’s not any cheaper than Granite but it holds up great. We’ve never had a problem but then again neither of us would put a boiling pot of any type on any countertop.
Quartz countertops for 10 years here. No issues at all. I keep small wooden cutting boards around for trivets. Wipe up spills when they happen. Mine look the same today as they did on the first day.
"Prepared in mind and resources"
Posts: 1365 | Location: SC | Registered: October 28, 2011
I have quartz in my master bathroom that I use daily and it looks perfect and have never resealed it and it was here when I bought the house in 2013. It does chip easy, as a palm tree candle holder that's 12" tall fell over and took a small chip out of it.
I have granite in my kitchen and have never resealed it either, although it's about due now to be resealed. I have dropped all kinds of heavy stuff out of the top cabinets on it (can's etc.) with no ill will.
Originally posted by Censored: We have had ours for 10 years now and they are holding up well. They will scratch if someone is too rough with them. I seal mine (very easy to do) every 6 months, polish every 3 years and use the quartz specific cleaner. I have read where citrus type cleaners can cause problems.
What do you seal them with?
Vince
Sorry, just saw that we have granite countertops. The stuff I use to seal them is called Hydrex. I noticed on their website that they also make quartz products https://www.tenax4you.com/Tena...ler-p/1mma00bg50.htm
Posts: 2223 | Location: United States | Registered: February 13, 2006
I’m getting quartz for all of the counters in the house we are about to start building. It definitely seems superior to granite.
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-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
Posts: 17881 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005
Have the white marble looking quartz in the kitchen. No stains in 4 years or so. No issues at all. Put the remnants in my Big Green Egg table. Those have discolored. But I haven't tried anything but pressure washer clean it.
Posts: 2143 | Location: Just outside of Zion and Bryce Canyon NP's | Registered: March 18, 2012
We put solid white quartz counter tops in our remodeled kitchen last summer. So far we love them. Our kitchen is our dining room but it's just the wife and I. We have a breakfast bar that we sit at for our meals. We have to use place mats otherwise our china and glassware gets noisy on the quartz and doesn't always sit flat.
The wife just uses a warm damp dish cloth to wipe them clean so she loves the low maintenance. I think she uses Windex on them once a week or so.
"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
Posts: 8756 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: June 17, 2007
Originally posted by doublesharp: I'd like to have quartz but my nearly 25 year old Corian still looks new.
We're happy with Corian.
Maybe it's just growing up in homes where laminates were standard, but I just don't like the look of granite. Plus, I think it's too much work and too much worry to keep it nice.
Just wipe the Corian and be done with it.
Good enough for handgun grips. Good enough of countertops.
Posts: 6747 | Location: Virginia | Registered: January 22, 2001
