Quartz Countertops
With low maintenance, high durability and endless color choices, engineered quartz offers a tempting alternative to natural stone countertops. Ever since the invention of Formica in the 1920s, kitchen countertops in America have been simply covered in laminates. During the past decade, though, natural stone surfaces have landed in ever more kitchens: granite, marble, soapstone and even concrete. But now there’s a new countertop contender on the design scene: engineered quartz.
Boasting the best qualities of laminate and stone (along with its own special features), quartz began appearing in U.S. homes just a few years ago after gaining popularity in Europe for the past decade. Today, quartz countertops are exploding in popularity, with U.S. sales increasing 60 percent in 2004.
Although some quartz countertops are actually made of quarried slabs of the natural stone, the new engineered material is actually created through a manufacturing process that mixes approximately 95 percent ground natural quartz with 5 percent polymer resins. The result is a super-hard, low-maintenance, natural stone-look countertop available in a dazzling array of colors.
