If you’re in the market for a new kitchen countertop, you likely have one burning question: What is quartz made of? And then also these: Is quartz expensive? Is it durable? What are the pros and cons. Etc! So many questions! See, quartz has gotten incredibly popular over the last 10 years or so. Yet, people don’t really know much about it. Let’s take a look!
Artificial quartz stone countertops are man-made engineered stone countertops formed by combining around 90 percent ground quartz (a natural hard mineral) with eight to 10 percent resins, polymers, and pigments. This forms a very hard granite-like surface. The appearance depends on how the quartz is ground: coarsely ground quartz produces a flecked appearance, while finely ground quartz produces a smooth look.
The Italian company Breton owns the patent to manufacture solid surfaces from quartz and resins. All other companies use that patent for their own brand of quartz countertops, including Silestone, Corian, Cambria, CaesarStone, Avanza, and Technistone.
Light to moderate! Quartz is the second most abundant material in the earth’s crust (which is good), but the acrylic resins used in quartz countertops are petroleum by-products, and they often contain alumina trihydrate fillers made from bauxite ore, which is mined primarily under toxic conditions in developing countries. However, the countertops are still extremely durable and non-porous. Additionally, a few major brands including Formica, Wilsonart and Silestone have been certified by GreenGuard as low emitting. Other brands, like Cambria Quartz, are mined and made entirely in the USA.
Calacatta and Carrara quartz are among the most preferable options for countertops today. With their clean white shade and beautiful veining, they blend well with any kitchen design and amplify the look of the interior. Perfect addition for both commercial and residential spaces, these quartz can be installed as kitchen countertops, waterfall islands, or even as bath vanity tops and vanity sinks.
Both Calacatta quartz and Carrara quartz are inspired by the look of natural marble and hold a replicative resemblance. Some mutual characteristics of these quartz countertops are white, light grey, or beige background, with dark shade veining, fine or bold. They feature such a classic and always highly desirable look. However, there are some differences between the two quartz. Let’s see what those are.
Quartz calacatta: It consists of bolder, more dramatic, wider, and darker grey veining over a serene white base. It’s perfect for interior designers and homeowners who are looking for a powerful focal point in the kitchen. Due to its seamless design pattern, this quartz countertop is apt for installation as a waterfall island.
Carrara quartz: While Carrara Quartz features soft, subtle, very fine, and delicate veins and usually seems to be in blue-grey color. The veining is so fine that it almost disappears and merges in the background. When you place both these quartz sides by side, you will notice that Carrara quartz has a much granier pattern than that of Calacatta Quartz.
Imperial Vanities has a classic collection of prefabricated Carrara and Calacatta Quartz countertops that could embellish the space and fit well in any interior design project.
Among many cabinet countertop materials, quartz stone has become the preferred surface material. Quartz stone is an artificial stone surface material die-casted by a quartz stone manufacturer through equipment, and later made into a quartz stone countertop by a stone processor.
Nowadays, the quartz stone market is chaotic, the quality is uneven, and the price of quartz stone varies from high to low. How to choose a quality quartz stone countertop in this situation? We can start from the following points.
Before buying, we should do a good job of positioning, that is, we should clarify our real needs, and don't buy with the trend. Because the price of quartz stone is much higher than other surface materials, if it is more limited, it is better to give up buying quartz stone and choose other materials to prevent buying low-quality plates. Quartz stone is artificially pressed by 93% quartz sand and resin. Inferior plates may use other materials as fillers or use other binders. This type of plate has certain harm to the human body and should be purchased with care.
First of all, we should choose branded quartz stone, which has a certain guarantee for quality.
Furthermore, choose the color of the quartz stone according to the color of the cabinet panel. Most of the countertops are made of monochrome quartz. Simple patterns are better. If it is too fancy, it will easily dazzle the viewer and lose the distinction between primary and secondary.
The last is to check the quality of the board, such as hardness, odor, penetration and acid resistance and so on.
Although the process varies based on the source, the basic formula involves irradiating the stones at 60 megarads (mrd) with cobalt 60, X-rays, or electrons. The material will return from the lab an opaque black or brown. Then, heat the stones in a household toaster oven to 650° F. Household ovens list their maximum temperature as 550° F. However, if you leave the oven temperature at the maximum setting for long periods, the temperature will rise above the rated settings. If the economics justify it, a glass door laboratory furnace makes a better tool. Since each individual piece will change color at a different time, seeing the heating action is absolutely necessary.
You can modify the basic process to achieve different effects, depending on the quartz source. In some instances, you might only achieve a quartz color by first destroying the existing color center. This requires heating the crystal until it’s clear or white at temperatures up to 550° F. If you exceed this temperature, you risk creating an opaque, opalized stone. In other words, the quartz turns to a milky consistency resembling a common opal.
If heating to 550° F doesn’t achieve the quartz color you want, try increasing the radiation dosage or subject the work piece to a different type of irradiation. For example, a quartz that goes to a straw yellow color on cobalt 60 might turn canary when exposed to electrons. Again, the color you might achieve depends on the material’s origin.
Below, you’ll find some results and individual treatment processes.
All quartz can be irradiated to create the morion variety of smoky quartz. Additionally, all quartz will turn a blackish or brownish color on exposure to 0.5 to 1.5 mrd of cobalt 60, gamma, X-ray, or electron radiation. However, this won’t yield uniform color.
If that’s your goal, first irradiate then separate the lighter ones for re-irradiation at a higher dosage. Next,