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It can be cheaper or more expensive. That depends on the quality of the specific granite vs specific quartz product you are comparing. I personally like quartz more than granite and it is considered just as "high-end"
You will often find quartz selling under brand names such as Silestone. I wanted quartz when we did our kitchen remodel, but found granite to be cheaper. The quartz is a lower maintenance product.
Quartz countertops are a superior product for a kitchen- anti-bacterial, low maintenance and very strong and stable, I've designed dozens of kitchens and spec it almost exclusively-sometimes mixed with other surfaces. Try this for a Carrera look:
If you are looking for a marble look - manufactured quartz is not the answer....the beauty of real marble is the randomness of the veining....manufactured quartz is uniform in pattern. I like manufactured quartz but it does not mimim real marble.
Really?
You're kidding, right?
Have you ever looked at a REAL Carrera slab? It looks nothing like that- I don't think that that even qualifies as a "Carrera look".
When it is not grossly overpriced I don't mind the quartz countertops. The manufactures take ground up stone and then in a "secret formula" use materials like epoxy and other many made binders along with heat and pressure to bake the thing into a "slab". The problem is that all that work plus the branding and advertising often make the stuff more expensive than top quality natural stone. It never looks as random as natural granite or marble, the range of sheens is far more limited and the overall trade offs just don't make sense when there are numerous penetrating sealants or nano-coatings that eliminate any maintenance issues with natural stone.
Granite is a geologic classification given to stone that contains a high percentage of quartz and the marketers that try to say that somehow combining dust from granite with man made binders / epoxies creates some "some material" is silly. It is does work to say this is "green" either as the adhesives themselves are created in labs and the energy required to bake these concoctions under high pressure is not earth friendly nor is the process of mining low grade stone for "dust"...
Siltstone, Ceasarstone, Zodiac, Cambria and similar products are all brand names that advertise heavily. It is fine for folks that either want the uniformity for a specific look or just don't appreciate natural products but it is not a good substitute for someone looking for a granite with the classic dark veined / pearly white contrast of traditional Carrara marble.
I agree with your analysis. What I will say is that I like the uniformity for our application. We went with a very natural and non-uniform looking Birch floor, so in our kitchen I am going with a much more streamlined look with a whiteish quartz. I appreciate/LOVE natural products, but that doesn't mean that I wanted every surface in our house have to have that look. I wanted a bit more of a contemporary vibe and thus I liked the uniformity of the quartz contrasting with the non-uniformity of the floors versus going with very naturally inconsistent products throughout.
Last edited by Sunbather; 04-24-2013 at 09:58 AM..
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