The answer to What is quartz? Is it the same as quartzite and why is it so popular?
Whether you are building your dream home, renovating, or just binge-watching home makeover shows, the one countertop material you will hear about time and again is Quartz. If you have shopped for a new home or apartment in the last five years, Quartz countertops are presented as a selling point or bonus. In fact, I can confidently say that almost every new home or rental apartment you walk into will have a countertop made with quartz. Even designers like Joanna Gaines and Studio McGee swear by this countertop material and it is easy to see why.
The single biggest reason for designers to love this material is the consistency in color and design, slab after slab and lot after lot just like porcelain tiles. If you read my previous post on 'The secret to Designing with Natural Stone', you would know that designing with natural stone requires testing and viewing each slab to ensure that design selections align with this chosen slab and then some. With quartz, this issue of variability in color and pattern is not a factor at all making the design process a lot smoother and quicker.
What is Quartz?
Now that you know why Quartz is so popular among designers, it is important to know what that product actually is.
Quartz is composed of naturally occurring quartz minerals, resins, polymers, dyes, and recycled glass and/or mirror pieces sometimes. The making of quartz slabs is analogous to the process of baking a cake. Depending on the look of Quartz slabs, different sizes of natural quartz granules, resins, and dyes are chosen and mixed in large vats like how we mix batter for baking bread. This mixture is then poured into large metal trays and pressed to compact the grains followed by sintering which is akin to baking. The slab edges are then cut before polishing which produces the final product we see in slab yards.
Here is a beautiful video that shows the process of making a Calacatta Marble looking Quartz slab. P.s. Calacatta Marble looking Quartz are THE rage among designers and homeowners alike now.
Properties of Quartz
Owing to the fact that Quartz slabs are manufactured in factories using set formulas, they are incredibly consistent in look and color lot after lot. Just this fact makes it a winning material for designers as it makes the process of specifying products faster and the specifications more reliable.
Fabricators also love quartz for two reasons, one of them being the consistency and the other being the strength of the material. The bulk of a Quartz slab is made with naturally occurring quartz which is harder than any natural stone that is used for countertops today. This property of quartz is amplified when the slabs are compacted and sintered making it one of the hardest countertop materials on the market. This strength of quartz allows fabricators to cut and prep the countertops faster than any other product which is very beneficial to their businesses.
Due to the compact structure of Quartz slabs, they do not need to be sealed unlike most natural stones are also resistant to etching, chipping, and scratching making them a favorite among young families and rental companies.
Is it the same as Quartzite?
Quartz and Quartzite are often confused with one another by customers due to their similar names. Quartz is a manufactured product that is composed of naturally occurring quartz minerals along with dyes and polymers. Whereas Quartzite is a naturally occurring stone that is quarried and just like diamonds, they are cut and polished to bring out its brilliance.
One of the giveaways for quartzite is its price point. Most natural quartzites are more expensive when compared with quartz countertop products.
Is Quartz the Holy Grail of Countertops Materials?
As much as I wish it wasn't true, I have to admit that Quartz is one of the best countertop materials available in the market today and the easiest to maintain of all countertop materials. As printing and manufacturing technology gets better, these manufactured products are able to better replicate natural stones better while maintaining the benefits of quartz over their natural counterparts.
Not sure if quartz is the one for you? Need suggestions on the right countertop for you? Go ahead and hit the button below. I love discussing countertops. :)
Make sure to check out the other posts in the Countertop Series - part 2 talks about Granite, part 3 is all about Quartzite, part 4 demystifies Marble, part 5 covers everything you need to know about Travertine, part 6 shines a light on Onyx and part 7 is the story of Soapstone.
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