The itinerary is all set. You worked hard to create the perfect menu and set a stunning table, all in a effort to showcase the expensive new feature hanging in the living room. The wine is decanted and placed at strategic locations to lure guests in the right direction. The fireplace is lit, the lighting is aimed at your prized feature and the coffee table is loaded with Hors D'oeuvres. Everyone arrives, coasting straight through the living room and soon you find your 10 closest friends hanging out in…the kitchen. After your urging falls on deaf ears, you give up and transfer the wine and snacks to your island. The new feature remains sadly ignored.
Don't feel sad. Ask anyone who's ever hosted a dinner, cocktail gathering or a party; the kitchen is where all the action always is. Maybe the kitchen makes people feel comfortable; the warmth of an oven, the smell of something delicious filling the air. Maybe it's because the kitchen is where you spend a lot of your time. No matter the reason, don't plan a party unless you're prepared to accept the reality that the kitchen may end up as the hub.
Quartz worktops let you bring the best of both worlds - nature and science - to your kitchen, bathroom and throughout your home. Explore the drama and beauty of nature without sacrificing the performance of science. Quartz countertops are incredibly durable, are resistant to heat and scratches, look fabulous and are the new worry-free, elegant alternative to other high-maintenance options.
Quartz offers a sophisticated elegance and timeless beauty and delivers distinctive depth, brilliant clarity, glimmering radiance and a cool, solid unique feel to natural stone.
You've seen and felt it in homes across the country, in your local trendy coffee shops, in banks, high end restaurants, spas, salons and hotels. Quartz surfaces have been used in upmarket homes around the world for more than 15 years but have more recently entered the British market in grandiose fashion.
Thanks to increased manufacturer product development, quartz premium countertops are in high demand as a must-have in new and remodeled homes and businesses throughout the country.
Quartz worktops are experiencing incredible growth which is driven by the style, luxury and durability quartz delivers and are growing in popularity because they have the appearance of natural stone with none of the maintenance.
Quartz is the most durable manufactured stone worktop you can purchase for a worksurface. Granite is a very hard but because it is a natural product you have variations of hardness and porosity inherent within the material as you would with hardwoods for example; these are not issues that are consistent within quartz.
Quartz (Silicon Dioxide) is the most common mineral on the earth's surface. It is present in nearly every geological environment and is a component of almost every rock type and exists in an impressive range of varieties of patterns and colours. Quartz worktops are manufactured with up to 93 percent quartz and seven percent pigments and resins and with quartz being a man made material the colour of each piece is laboratory controlled so in areas requiring the use of multiple slabs of material, colour variation is not an issue. There are mottled as well as singular colours available along with other finishes such as antiqued, leather and honed. The colour options for quartz amount to an impressive 600+ if you take all manufacturers into consideration.
If you are considering matching floor tiles for your environment this is possible as some manufacturers like Compac offer worktop slabs and tiles as part of their standard product range. Cheaper tile options are available but you will have colour and quality variations between manufacturers so don’t let price be the deciding factor when choosing your tiles. When considering quartz as a floor tile you need to think about the amount of foot traffic that will be walking over them. If you choose cheaper quartz floor tiles you will in the main simply be choosing tiles that have less quartzite content. The reduction of quartzite content makes the material less durable rendering it to become dull and easy to scratch.
A quartz worktop doesn’t need to be polished or sealed like granite worktops. Quartz worktops are man made and are non-porous so staining, mould and bacteria are not an issue. Owing to being non-porous certain quartz worktops have kosher certification.
Quartz is naturally scratch-resistant. Only three other natural minerals - diamond, sapphire and topaz - are harder than quartz. Quartz is a seven on Mohs Hardness Scale (diamond is a 10). So, while a careless slip of the knife will scratch most other countertops such as laminates and solid surfaces, it won't leave a mark on Quartz worktops. Although durable, it is not scratch-proof; it could be damaged with excessive force or pressure. Quartz stone surfaces have four times the flexural strength and double the impact resistance of granite while impressively outperforming marble.