I have decided to have Cambria quartz countertops installed in my kitchen. I selected the darker Nottingham color. Does anyone have this product in their kitchen and can you tell me about your experience cleaning/maintaining it?
There is an inherent dull top layer that is visible in certain lighting. I have heard that quartz products like Silestone become duller in areas that are cleaned frequently (around cooktop and sink). Just wonder if this also occurs with the Cambria product. Also, since it is the darker color it is going to show water spots and fingerprints easier than a lighter colors, any further problems?
kitchenquandry,
Engineered Quartz brands include:
1. Cosentino from Spain and the US known for their Silestone
2. Quarella from Verona known for their tiles worldwide
3. Sdot Yam (Israel) known for their Caesarstone and good colors
4. Santa Margherita near Verona is the oldest company in the business
5. Stone Italiana also from Verona
6. Technistone is a Czech company
7. DuPont USA is known for their Zodiaq
8. Cambria made in the USA
Quartz countertops are the new worry-free alternative to high-maintenance granite. They are stronger than granite, require no resealing, are highly resistant to scratches and stains, and come in a huge variety of colors. There are no restrictions to the different types of sink installations.
Engineered stone is an extremely durable product that takes the heat and resists stains. Engineered stone is one-and-a-quarter inches thick, and is installed using epoxy. At $50 to $100 per square foot, engineered stone is as costly as granite but weighs more than granite.
When it comes to Engineered Quartz, companies like Cambria, DuPont, and Cosentino can all offer warranties for up to ten years on their products. Silestone®, just one brand, is a natural quartz product. Quartz is the hardest non-gem mineral in the world. Silestone® is 3 times harder than granite and has four times the flexural strength. It is made by combining quartz crystals, dyes and resins to achieve a material that exhibits pure brilliance. The material has the highest degree of stain, heat and scratch resistance available in any countertop in the world. Silestone® is the only countertop in the world available with Microban® anti-microbial product protection. The surface is never sealed so it never needs re-sealing.
Issues of dulling have never been expressed by my past clients. I used to recommend Granite but not any longer. However I stress that the Granite look cannot be reproduced by any pre-manufactured product.
The main issue to avoid problems is to follow the care and maintenance tips any manufacturer recommends. Simply do not to use abrasives for cleaning countertops, regardless of the type. I have heard some issues of dulling but it seems that this is a consumer issue rather than product failure. Thankfully, my clients are well informed of what they should and should not do when cleaning them.
Hope this helps!
I have silestone in kitchen and baths. Baths were installed over 3 years ago, in a dark brown and a black, and both look good as new. At certain angles and in certain light, they have a blocky/patchy type shine/gloss--but under normal observation they look fine. Regularly cleaned with w/soft scrub, with no ill effects. I highly recommend the quartz, hands down over the marble and granite tops I had installed around the same time.
We seriously considered an engineered quartz product when redoing our kitchen. There is no doubt that it has some qualities superior to granite. However, after looking at several brands in numerous colors we concluded that you just can't beat mother nature. We went with granite because of the appearance.
Doug - I don't understand your high maintenance comment regarding granite. I clean my granite countertops daily just as I did my Corian and formica countertops. I seal my granite countertops quarterly although I have been assured that semi- annually is often enough. I have about 70 s/f of granite and it probably takes all of 20 minutes to seal. I have done no other maintenace in the 18 months I have had the granite. Am I missing something?
On edit - I almost forgot why I responded to the OP. We also noticed some dullness and blotching on granite. I changed cleaners and it disappeared. I suspect it may have been oily residue from cooking. Probably the same effect in EQ.
Wayne,
I guess when I say high maintenance, I mean that it is not a maintenance free product as that of a solid surface product. I stress the word maintenance versus the cleaning of it.
What you are doing with your granite to some is considered high maintenance, regardless on the length of time to do it. Most folks are not that disciplined to routinely take care of something as well as you do. For that, I compliment you on knowing what to do and enjoying the great natural look of Granite.
One main note here is that KNOWING what you are buying and UNDERSTANDING what you are required to do for care and maintenance is the key to maintaining its appearance. This applies to anything you buy.
I agree that natural stone can beat the look of a man-made product but there are other advantages of a man-made product even though they lack that special one of a kind look.
What is usually the deciding factor in choosing material for a countertop is the Cost (when a budget is of a concern), then the look and finally, what it takes to take care of it. The latter is rarely a concern once it is installed UNTIL there is a problem with the look due to negligence or installation of the product. Most times it becomes an issue of consumer failure, not product failure.
All slab quartz products are made with the same macinery, except for color and bonding agents there basically all the same. The most important aspect to consider is the talent of the fabricator. Consumers are increasingly asking is quartz (SileStone, Techni Stone, Legacy or Caesar Stone) better than granite? The simple answer is no, it's different. When I was a sales person and a client was interested in new counter tops the first question I asked was, do you prefer this, a solid color material with various fleck through out or do you prefer this material with all sorts of swirls and irregular patterns? Almost with out exception the client felt very strong one way or the other. If the client preferred the swirls and irregular patterns then we only considered natural stone (with the exception of one Caesar Stone product). If the client preferred a solid or consistent material, I would asked if they where familiar with quartz? I would either get a we want the real thing or I've heard of it what's the difference. Usually we would be standing next to a quartz counter top and I would tell them this is quartz and the main difference is this is virtually indestructible, made from 93% ground quartz and 7% polymers or acrylics and dies, non porous, extremely stain resistant and nearly impossible to scratch, but for most people and typical every day use granite will perform wonderfully, after all granite can only be scratch with diamonds or granite, I also point out the unique colors and mirror chip products offered in quartz. If at this point the client is still interested in quartz I ask a few more life style questions and look at their cabinet lay out. Quartz slabs usually are available in 52 X 120 or 54 X 118, sometimes the seams need to be added or material waste can drive the price way up. Most quartz product cost the fabricator 50 to 100% more per square foot than lower end priced granite. This is where waste plays an important role. If the kitchen is 72 square feet and the lay out requires only two quartz slabs then the quartz could usually be done cheaper than using two 60sq. ft. Uba Tuba (granite) slabs. Sometimes clients wanted granite because it was less expensive, I never had a client go with quartz because it was less expensive. The quartz clients where usually engineers (who loved to use a graphs to show the benefits of quartz, over 100% natural stone), or clients that wanted a color that didn't naturally occur in nature. I installed quartz in my kitchen, five years ago. I have deliberately abused it every way I can. It has met all my expectations. If I wanted a change and replaced it, I would probably use granite, just to have something different. Except for very harsh environments the only question is which one looks better to you.
This posting was edited - Please abide by our Forum Policies. No e-mail addresses, advertising or soliciting allowed.
Doug Aleshire
Super Moderator 2
Tags: cambria, quartz, problems, known their, than granite, high maintenance, natural stone, quartz product, because less, because less expensive, Caesar Stone
