I'm redoing my kitchen and we picked out a quartz countertop we like. My contractor likes to make concrete counters with an epoxy layer on top and install them. I love the look, but worry about the durability. Likely, it would be fine. The concrete is about $5k cheaper than the quartz. Any advice, thoughts, ideas? What do y'all prefer? Curious to hear opinions here...
Get quartz - it doesn't stain. There's a reason why it costs more. I would not get that concrete crap
There's a large chunk of, I wouldn't even call it meat, but I did try to chew it a bit. Promptly spit it back out. So I don't know what "you" call steak or something, but it shouldn't be this. Carry on.
I’m “in the business”. I’m over a couple of divisions of my company. A big part of what we do is sell stone. We import from all over the world. I wouldn’t do concrete. Just my opinion. I would go quartz or granite. Quartz doesn’t have to be sealed. It is more expensive but it’s nice if you get the right stuff. It is not all created equally, though. What color and type of Quartz did you like? Personally I like granite, but that’s just me. Marble is a big no if you will get a lot of use out if it. 5K cheaper? How many slabs do you need? Or is that the installed price as well?
I'd get quartz. It has less maintenance, less chance to stain or crack down the road, etc. I've seen (intentionally) stained concrete floors that look great at first, but then after a while start developing cracks and the stain starts wearing out and looking uneven in places, etc. I'm not saying the same will happen on a countertop, but I just don't want to deal with countertops down the road and have to replace them unless I get bored with them or something. I'd pretty much always go quartz, granite, or something similar.
I'm in real estate, from an investment point of view just like everyone has suggested get quartz or granite. Quartz is in right now, its going to raise the value of the property in the event that you were to sell it in the future. You may be paying more now but you will also get more when you sell your house. Concrete on the other hand could potentially discourage a buyer and especially if it isn't maintained properly.
If the quartz (or granite) countertops are being put in by a vendor/subcontractor, then the main contractor for the remodel isn't getting to use the labor of his crew for concrete countertops and thus there could be less profit in the project for him. If he bid the job with the understanding that he would be putting in concrete countertops and then you later switched to wanting quartz/granite, then I could understand him being miffed because he might have bid differently if he knew that he wouldn't be getting a chance to make money out of the countertops. If there was never anything firm about the countertops, then the contractor might be suggesting concrete as an additional way to profit from the remodel. Do what is best for yourself rather than what is best for the contractor.
First, I'm not super worried about price, but that is a lot of savings. It's about 70 SQ feet by my estimates. We aren't really committed to something firmly, yet, and never were, we just know the color and style we're going for. It's something akin to Hanstone's Eden. And that was the install price. I'm leaning quartz for sure, just trying to convince myself that the concrete would hold up because I like the look of it. But I think this is the reassurance I needed. And yes, the checkout brought up concrete. I told him I'd think about it. He makes them himself, so more profit. But that also means less certainty for me. Appreciate the responses from everyone. Any more advice is certainly welcome!
I’m getting ready to do my house as well. I’m pretty knowledgeable on the tools, adhesives etc. needed as well. The fabricator is crazy important. I know some good ones. You’d be shocked at the people that don’t know what they’re doing in this business. Taking advantage of people all while doing terrible work. Also sell sinks from porcelain vanities, bar sinks, laundry sinks, and of course kitchen. Anything from builder grade to some very nice high end sinks. I’d say always go high end on the kitchen. We don’t sell to the general public, but I’d sell to anyone here and give as much of a hook up as I can.
Good to know, I been wanting to do granite for a while now.... I pretty much have all the tools since I'm both an agent and do real estate investment... I know how to tile so I have essentially everything to cut granite and stone. I've watched the process so many times and always felt like I could do it and save some money while also doing things right on the remodels. I'm just not sure I want to invest in the grinder kit for polishing the granite/stone and add more work for myself when I can hire someone to come knock it out in a day.
The polishing is probably the easiest of things to accomplish these days. Tools have come a long way over the last few years. Cutting to spec, I would not want any part of. Plus, you may need a router on the edges. I wouldn’t trust myself. Not to mention moving the stone into place. Need help for sure. I like doing work on my house in general, but I’m having someone do my countertops. Totally understand wanting to save money. It can get expensive.
Oh yeah its a process, which is why I haven't made the jump to doing it plus the insane amount of dust cutting and grinding it down produces. Its just not worth the money saved or time.
I know quartz is all the rage these days, and some of it like what you've mentioned is really beautiful, but it can't handle heat--which is something kitchens tend to have a little bit of. And it can apparently fade in sunlight. Plus it can discolor with chemicals. Granite would be my first choice. But If you're like me, you'll probably be tired of whatever you select in about ten years. So if you like the look of concrete it might not be a bad option. Of course... in ten years everything's likely going to be much more money. - my opinion
I have granite, but it's the same granite I put in the house back in 2004. If I were building a new house, I'd probably go with granite again, although a lot of the manmade quartz stuff looks really nice. My problem is a lot of it just looks generic and repetitive. If I go to house A and then go to house B, it looks like the same quartz patterns half the time, whereas there are variations and imperfections in the same type of granites that cause them to be somewhat distinct. As for the heat issue with quartz, I think as long as you use things like trivets for your hot pots before putting them on the counters, you should be ok. As far as I know, it's the resin used for binding the quartz that's the issue with the temps.
Care to elaborate on specific brands I should look for? Also, do your hookups extend outside of Texas? Thanks for the answers!
I agree and would go with granite myself, if I could find the look I was after. Don't get wrong though, all the quartz I've seen has been beautiful. I should add that I use trivets even on the granite, TBH. I should also add that I have a whitish granite and I have some recent rust stains on it. Hopefully they come out.
Did you seal it? I have ancient ubatuba granite which I've heard isn't a "real" granite but is considered granite. I never sealed it and it still looks fine. I also never used trivets on my granite until the last year or so even though they say you shouldn't put hot things on it. I've put boiling pots, hot frying pans, etc. on it, and it hasn't cracked, stained, or anything. I once heard some granites like ubatuba are so dense, they can get away with not being sealed. I don't know if that's true or not, though. I doubt I'll get ubatuba in my next home. Too used to it now and looks dated to me. lol. Even my fireplace surround is ubatuba tile.
