QUARTZ COUNTERTOP | Everything You Need To Know

if you're considering purchasing quartz countertop or even just interested in knowing more about it you've come to the right place this video is going to break down everything you need to know about quartz countertop at the end of this video you will know more about quartz countertop than the majority of the people who are trying to sell it to you i've made chapters in this video so if you wish you can skip to the section that interests you the most check the description down below what is quartz countertop quartz countertop is more accurately described as an engineered stone it is not a natural product it is a mixture of over 94 by weight quartz crystals mixed with a bonding agent and other materials and what you end up with in the end is a compound material not found in nature that is impenetrable this makes quartz countertop a complete hygienic non-porous surface it's resistant to scratches stains and moisture how is quartz made quartz is made using a patented process called okay here we go compaction by a vibral compression vacuum process say that 10 times fast this process is owned by a company in italy called bretton stone they developed this in the 1960s and 70s and they hold the patent to how quartz countertop is made around the world basically you take crushed up bits of quartz mineral you put in a resin and some dyes and some fillers and it goes into this mold the mold gets vacuum sealed it gets shaken and compressed and what you end up with is an engineered stone that is unparalleled in quality brett and stone have up to 60 of these slab plants around the world every major reputable court supplier around the globe uses the brettonstone plants to make their slabs this is why we can say with confidence that there is 94 by weight of quartz mineral in their product because the patent tells us that's what's there and it's uniform across all facilities what's the difference between cambria caesar stone silestone lapitec constantino and all the other major brands that are out there well the answer is in terms of quality there is no difference because they all use the bretton stone patent to make their slabs the quality is exactly the same through all of these brands what sets each company apart is the different color combinations that they use to give the variety of options that they have for their quartz slabs and it also helps to have a really good marketing department so that your stone can be looked at as superior to other stones however if someone tries to argue with you that a particular brand is better quality than another brand you can definitively say no they are not they are the same quality because they are all made with the same patent process are there good and bad quality quartz countertops the answer is yes now although i just said that all the major companies around the world use the brettonstone patent process for making quartz slabs that doesn't mean every company in the world uses that process there are companies that try to circumvent this and make up their own way and the result can sometimes be a low quality slab around the globe in this industry we've seen slabs that have melted scratched chipped broken you name it plus there's a question about food safety just because you don't use the brettonstone patent doesn't mean you can't make a quality product but i would question whether or not i would want to use that product because it has been proven over the years that this technology and this method of making quart slabs is the best in the world is quartz countertop food safe well yes it is if it is a slab made from a brettonstone slab plant then it is certified nsf51 which is a food safety certification from the national sanitary foundation this certification ensures that your countertop in your home meets public health recommendations for sanitation however like i said not everywhere in the world uses this patent so if that's the case it's very important to check whether or not they carry the nsf 51 certification because if not then that slab might not be food safe and to add to this there are two types of certification you can have food zone safety and you can have splash zone safety the slab zone safety requirements are much less rigorous than the food zone safety so just because it says nsf51 doesn't mean it's food zone safe so these are just things that you should question if you're buying your quartz countertop from a company you've never heard of with rock bottom prices rock bottom is quartz countertop environmentally friendly interestingly enough the material that they use for quartz countertop is all recycled material from quarries and rock beds there's no special quarry process for just getting all the minerals it's all leftover stuff it's all recycled therefore it's very eco-friendly plus the resins that they use as the bonding agents are completely inert meaning they don't react with anything which creates a hypoallergenic material so you don't have to worry about things like off gas or breathing in stuff from your countertop how much does quartz countertop cost this is a really good question if you see things like low-grade mid-grade and high-grade prices like those types of terms i would start to question what they're talking about the reason is there shouldn't be a different grade of quartz all the slabs are made the same and if that's the case there shouldn't be a pricing bracket for a low grade versus a high grade now that doesn't mean there's not going to be pricing brackets but they should never be priced based on their quality because the quality is uniform so if you see this somewhere you should seriously ask some questions but what you are paying for is slab thickness they make slabs anywhere from two mil three mil up to seven mil you're paying for the slab size you're obviously paying for the color combinations of the particular slab that you're picking for instance a solid color slab is going to cost less than a slab that has veins or pieces of metal and bits of glass or mirror those slabs are going to cost more because there's more put into making them whereas just a plain color gray or white or whatever is going to be less amount of material plus there's always the markup of the place that you're buying the quartz from so depending on the company you're buying it from they might have 25 to 30 to 35 markup maybe less maybe more it just depends on what they determine they need to get from that product plus you're paying for installation costs and fabrication costs and the different edge that you pick and the different finish that you get so there's there's a lot that goes into the cost of it now quartz normally cost anywhere from sixty dollars to a hundred and sixty dollars a square foot installed and i say installed because normally that's how you would buy quartz but i've found that in most places you can get quartz from anywhere from that 60 dollar to a hundred dollar range and it's pretty reasonable but if you're seeing advertisements for rock bottom prices on quartz countertop really start to think of what you're purchasing and ask some questions ask the salesperson is this slab or is this company using bretton stone technology for their slabs most big box stores and most places that are using a reputable brand you can be assured that they're using something that's coming from a brettonstone plant but if not if you're somewhere and it's a name you've never heard of definitely ask the question i've listed a bunch of brands below in the description that all use the same technology for making their quartz slabs so you can check that out if you wish all right as i'm editing this video i get a comment from a viewer george who brought up the fact that he ran into trouble ordering smaller amounts of stone what do you do if the place you're ordering your counter up from says no it's not a big enough job we can't sell it to you now the issue is is that some places where you purchase your stone from have a minimum per square foot order threshold and if you're under that they won't sell it to you the reason for this is it costs money to fabricate install transport that material and if your job is too small it's not enough to cover the expenses so this is something you can run into and if that is the case you should look in other places other companies that have programs specially designed for this scenario what i mean by that is some places not only sell big big parts of slabs but they have leftovers and those leftovers they will sell to you at sometimes a discounted price so that you can have a small application this comes in really handy for smaller kitchens vanities islands even so look for a fabricator that will sell you smaller pieces now sometimes big box stores won't do this but there are some that actually do carry this same program thank you george that was a great point and i'm glad i could add it into this video what's the best way to clean and care for your quartz countertop the best thing to do to clean your quartz countertop is just to use mild soap detergent and water will quartz countertop stain quartz countertop actually can stain under certain conditions if you use a sharpie marker on it or sodium hydroxide or maybe some types of solvents could definitely stain your countertop however a permanent marker if you do happen to get that on the kids are out and they're just drawn all over that thing you might need to go with something like a magic eraser now a magic eraser is not soap it is a malamine foam and it actually sands the surface a little bit so you have to be very careful because you can damage the sheen or the glossiness of your countertop but a mr clean magic eraser really works wonders is quartz countertop heat resistant yes absolutely it is heat resistant up to around 700 degrees celsius so i don't know what conditions your home is in but normally mine i don't have anything that's 700 degrees that i'm putting on a countertop that being said however it is always under advisement that you use a trivet or some kind of heat dispensing tray just so that you are extra careful although these are very very strong surfaces and they are heat resistant it's always good practice to use something like this in the case that you do damage it can you chip a quartz countertop yes you can chip just about anything if you really want to but under normal circumstances the chances of you chipping a quartz countertop is very slim if that is the case it's probably not going to be covered under warranty because it's something you probably did however in the event that something happens and a quartz countertop does get chipped it is repairable and normally not something that you should really worry about is there a warranty on courts yes there is most companies offer either a 15-year 25-year or even lifetime transferable warranties you'd have to check the particular company that you're buying it from but the warranties are normally really good and of course they cover everything that a normal warranty would on any product so if you are doing something that would damage it yourself it's not going to be covered but for manufacturing defects for the life of that countertop normally you're good to go now what about a seamless quartz countertop it is possible depending on the size of the slab that you choose and the size of your job so if the job allows for it and your layout allows for it you can probably cut your whole countertop out of one slab but if you can't then you need to have a seam however quartz countertops seem really really well and sometimes it's almost invisible my quartz countertop is cold is there a way i can heat it actually there is you can get a wire mesh that installs underneath your quartz countertop and it's just basically an electric mesh that sends a current through and generates heat and that heat will dissipate through your quartz countertop and actually warm it up it's something that they use in flooring all the time in ceramics and in different things like that and they can also use it in your countertop it's pretty cool it's not often done but it can be done so if having a warm countertop is important to you just know that you can actually have that do i ever have to seal my quartz countertop no i'm mark tobin check out these two videos for more countertop related content thank you for watching we'll see you soon compaction through vibro compression vacuum process compaction through vibral compression vacuum process

Channel: Mark Tobin Kitchen Design

Views: 169,904

Keywords: quortz counter top, engineered stone, engineered countertop, quartz stone countertop, what is quortz countertop, is quartz countertop good, how much is quartz countertop

Id: QRVQC3nsADg

Length: 12min 10sec (730 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 08 2021