Your kitchen is made up of so many important parts, the boards making up the carcasses and doors, the handles, the taps and what we're going to talk about today is… the kitchen counter tops.
Many a client, when we ask them what countertop they are looking for, they usually answer with "marble" or "granite." Only the curious would ask what the difference is. Not knowing that they have more options than just the four I'm going to mention below – Quartz, Porcelain, Marble, Granite.
The main difference between the 4 is that 2 of them are engineered – meaning man made and the other 2 are natural – meaning they come from rocks and quarries all over the world.
When talking about the pros and cons on engineered vs natural stone.
Pros of natural stone:
- Although ill-advised, you can put hot pots on the counter but only for seconds at a time, the heat will travel to the weakest point making your stone weaker and weaker over time,
- The colour variations are endless
Cons
- Marble will stain and soak up that stain making it difficult to impossible to return to it's original state
- Your knives will become dull over time
- Expensive
Pros for engineered stone:
- Better at resisting stains than natural stone because it's less porous
- Barely imperfections when look at an overall slab
- Can be made to custom size and shape
Cons
- More brittle
- Expensive
- Less heat tolerant
- Colours are frequently discontinued
