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J. Clarke

wrote:
On Oct 24, 9:46 pm, Robatoy wrote:

I like quartz countertops because they are so predictable in
colour.

As nice as granite?
...sometimes nicer.

I am real fan of uniformity. Uniformity is good; I don't like
having
the conversation begining with "I dont' think this is the piece I
picked out".

I love the look of some of the granites, but I don't think they are
very practical for a hard used kitchen. The feeback I get is that
they scratch fairly easily, etch a little sometimes, and the edges
can
be easy to chip. For me personally, if I have the large skillet
full
of chicken cacciatore, another large pot of linguine, another of
marinara sauce, and the last burner taken with a skillet of fresh
chopped garlic in olive oil, I don't want to be watching out for a
bump into the edges of the counter, and errant spill that I miss and
don't clean up for several hours, etc.

Since most people just admire their pans these days, hard use is not
usually a problem. However, for those that do I am hearing a real
mixed bag on the feedback for granite. Not near so much so for the
quartz products.

I ran into a guy that absolutely LOVES granite tops. He bought a
franchise that repairs them (as well as quartz). But says he,
granite
is 90% of his business. Quartz is soft; a metal or glass mixing
bowl
can scratch it if slid or moved without picking it up. He fixes a
lot
of chipped outside corners where something whacked off the edge. He
fills and seals a lot as the imperfections in the top gather tiny
amounts of gunk that you can see in the lighter colors. He polishes
a
lot as all the tiny scratches gather and keep new tops from having
that mirror finish everyone wants.

He said he is so busy he is running two trucks now, and his company
is
about a year old. I stopped to talk to him as the repair part of
the
granite countertop business was something that always intrigued me -
ever since I found out what was charged to a lady that set a hot pan
down on the top (uh oh...) when she was distracted with something
else.

???? What does a hot pan do to granite?

Still looking into it - I like the idea of polishing out and sealing
the tops. It looks like that could be a good holiday business for
the
right employee. Extremely low risk, low material cost, low
equipment
cost - sounds good to me!

r - if you are still following this thread - what do you think of
the
new arcylic epoxy based quartz toppings they are putting on formica
and her sisters? I saw at a recent show that they sand the old
counters down, prep them some way, then apply this goop with the
stones in it at about 1/2" thick. It looks like Silestone when it
is
finsihed, and it looked pretty good. They told me an average
kitchen
only takes 3 - 4 days and I seem to remember it having a long
warranty, too.

Any thoughts?

Robert

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--John
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