8 Reasons to Choose Quartz for Your Kitchen
Upgrading your kitchen can simultaneously be a thrilling and exhausting experience. Even if your kitchen is small, designing it can be a challenge. Sure, it’s exciting — you get to make the heart of your home look more modern and elegant. However, updating your kitchen also means you have to make certain decisions.
The choices can be so overwhelming that even kitchen designers will tell you that making a decision will be challenging at best. And that’s especially true when it comes to worktop materials.
Do you go for the elegant but pricey marble stone worktops? Or perhaps stick with the traditionally popular granite and pick a finish that suits you best?
Well, why not pull out a wild card from your interior design deck and check out how your kitchen would look like with new, shiny quartz slabs in it?
It’s (Surprisingly) Strong and Durable
Generally speaking, worktops are highly durable. However, quartz stands head and shoulders above other materials. Even though granite and marble are famously known for their durability, quartz is harder to break.
Quartz manufacturing has been brought to utter perfection over the years. Around 90% of your quartz worktop is actually crushed quartz granite, marble, and other natural stone, while the other 10% are binders (polymeric or cement-based ones).
Although that can sound like a bad thing, it’s what gives quartz a leg up on the competition (yes, even granite worktops). The manufacturing process removes all weaknesses that other materials have. Natural stones (even natural quartz), although hard and long-lasting, can be sensitive. Scratches and permanent stains aren’t uncommon with them.
With quartz, on the other hand, you don’t really have to worry about damages. The material is strong, durable, and practically impervious to damage.
It Makes a Great Marble Alternative
If your heart is set on marble, but your wallet can’t keep up with your dreams, quartz is an ideal solution for you. Not that long ago, quartz was pretty easy to spot. You could walk in the kitchen and see that the designers (or owners) opted for the more affordable (and, then, less stylish) option of quartz.
Today, however, quartz can look almost identical to marble. And, as a bonus, it is more durable and safer. Marble might be what your heart desires, but it also has a porous nature.
That means that marble worktops aren’t exactly the safest choice (at least not for kitchens). Food particles can easily slip into the microscopic pores of marble and create the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
With quartz, that can’t happen. This material isn’t indestructible, but it has better compressive strength and abrasion resistance than marble, and it even has acid resistance to a certain amount. That all makes it more resilient and durable than marble.
It’s Eco Friendly
Without a doubt, a square foot of engineered quartz puts less strain on the environment than a square foot of any natural stone. Now, some people may be doubtful about that. All stone comes from mines and mines are notoriously bad for the environment, right?
Yes, absolutely. What’s more, 90% of your (future) quartz worktop is actually natural stone. So, how can it be better for the environment?
Although the natural stone that makes up most of the quartz slab comes from a mine, there doesn’t have to be any mining specifically for the production of quartz worktops.
In simple terms, quartz manufacturers use crushed natural stone to produce quartz. However, that stone is already mined. It’s already out there. So, that lessens the environmental impact.
It’s Stylish, Modern, and Offers Amazing Design Options
Of course, it’s practically impossible to talk about quartz worktops without mentioning how stylish they are. That’s mainly due to the fact that customers have a lot of colours and patterns to choose from.
The variety itself, although vast, isn’t quartz’s best feature. Since this material is manufactured, it’s logical that it offers more variety when it comes to colour, pattern, and overall appearance.
However, it’s the ability to become a part of any interior design vision that sets quartz apart. It comes in practically all the colours of the rainbow, which means you won’t have any trouble fitting it into your colour scheme. What’s more, it’s an excellent fit for both extra modern and rustic kitchens.
The Cleaning and Maintenance Are a Piece of Cake
We mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Because quartz isn’t a porous material, maintenance is a real piece of cake. All you have to do is wipe it with a cloth and call it a day.
Of course, for your peace of mind, you should use soap and water to clean your worktops. Not to mention, although quartz is quite durable, it is somewhat sensitive to heat. So, there are some things that you have to keep in mind when opting for quartz worktops.
This material isn’t indestructible and can sometimes get stained or damaged. Luckily, you can sort that out easily.
And That Makes It Safer!
Because quartz worktops are so easy to clean and maintain, they are safer than other natural stones. Since quartz isn’t porous, a light clean with a cloth will get rid of practically all food particles that might be on it. That means there will be no residual food left to hide from you and feed bacteria.
It’s Also Affordable
We might have saved the best for (second to) last. Quartz can look and feel exactly like marble — we already established that. However, it completely differs from marble when it comes to the price.
Of course, that doesn’t mean quartz is cheap. After all, it’s mostly actual natural stone, and its price reflects that. But, compared to granite (and, of course, marble), it has a reasonable or even affordable price.
Kitchen remodels rarely happen without a budget. In fact, when redoing your kitchen, the first thing you should do is make a budget (and then, later on, stick to it). Making and not breaking a budget oftentimes means making some hard decisions. Yes, the brass handles are gorgeous, but they cost an arm and a leg, so it’s best if they stay on the store shelf.
You won’t have to use that reasoning with quartz. It hits that exact sweet spot when it comes to value for money, and it certainly won’t break your budget.
And Offers Great ROI
Although we all like to think about our houses as our forever homes, the chances of you selling your house are probably reasonably large. So, everything you do in your house, including a kitchen remodel, will increase its final price.
If you have boring, old worktops, you might want to consider changing them for shiny, new quartz ones before you sell your home. It will make your kitchen look better and attract potential buyers. Not to mention, if you make even such a minor kitchen remodel, you can expect a 72,2% of return on investment (ROI).
Get Your Outstanding Quartz Kitchens at Stone Marble Specialist
Aside from offering a great variety of colours and patterns, quartz is:
- durable
- safe around food
- environmentally-friendly
- easy to maintain
- affordable
It’s also an excellent choice of material for practically everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re on your first or fifteenth kitchen remodel; quartz will always fit into your vision perfectly.
And if you’re wondering where to even start with your kitchen remodel, Stone Marble Specialist has got your back! We offer a wide variety of natural stones (including quartz). Not to mention, we have perfected the ideal kitchen remodel process that we guide all our clients through. So give us a call today!