How to pick Your Right Material (Quartz/ Solid Surface/ Laminate) For Countertop?

1.Quartz
If you like the appearance of polycarbonate, but worry about its shortcomings, quartz (engineered stone) may be the answer. Engineering stone is uniform in color, pattern, and grain size, making it easier to provide almost invisible seam matching. It has almost all the advantages of natural stone without maintenanceThe crystal structure of quartz makes it a reflective semiprecious stone. Quartz, which is second only to diamonds, is considered to be one of the hardest minerals and is solid 7 on the Mohs scale. (Polycarbonate ranks sixth).In order to make quartz stone plates, the raw material quartz stone crystals are coarse-grained to the size of rock salt, ground, combined with resin and color, and then heated and vibrated to form an impenetrable surface. The result is 93% quartz and 7% resin and coloring.Unless the quartz table is made of 93% quartz, it cannot cure a real quartz surface that is hard, continuous, or impermeable. Engineering stone products are nonporous, so no maintenance is required. Its stain resistance and bacteria resistance make it the perfect countertop choice for commercial establishments such as daycare centers, hospitals and catering service providers.

Because gravel can be mixed with pigments, you will find that the color of quartz countertops may not be found in nature. Use this fact to choose a color that perfectly matches your idea, while still looking like a slate. One thing you might also like about quartz countertops is that you can integrate your sink into the countertop, just like you can use solid countertops.

2. Solid surface
The solid surface is a mixture of 100% solid, non-porous natural minerals and high-performance acrylic. Colors and patterns throughout, will not wear. Solid countertops are the most hygienic of all countertop materials. The solid surface can be installed without visible seams, regardless of the size of the work surface. No seams on the countertop are more hygienic because there is no place for bacteria to hide and grow. The sink can become part of the actual work surface. The sink is seamlessly integrated with the work surface, there are no gaps to maintain, and there are no gaps where bacteria grow, and the sink will not sink over time.

3. Laminate

Laminate is one of the cheapest materials since 1958, it is the most popular material at the cheaper end. But you can use any color or pattern you can think of to make a laminate. The laminate can even be made to look like other materials. Now you can get the color range and pattern of the laminate, which looks like granite.

So, if you can get the popular look of granite countertops with much cheaper materials, why doesn’t everyone choose laminates instead of granite? This may be due to the simple fact that laminates, durability sacrifices affordability . Laminate countertops are easily damaged and cannot be repaired, they are not very resistant to heat and scratches.

The laminate countertop is like four sheets of kraft paper pressed together and then coated with a permanent seal. Once the seal is scratched or damaged, you can enter the material below. Laminates cannot be repaired or resealed, so you will eventually have to replace the work surface.