Engineered Stone

In the world of kitchen countertops, granite has long been the king of the proverbial mountain. Its tried and true durability, sleek design expression and relative affordability has won it many admirers and happy clients for the better part of two decades now. But for the homeowner seeking something a little different, engineered stone in the form of quartzite is making significant in-roads in the market place.

The nearly famous website ApartmentTherapy.com  helps the homeowner understand quartzite by describing it as being “made of little bits of quartz mixed with a binder and then molded into countertop shapes. The result is something that looks like stone and is super-durable”. Then adding that these “countertops are also a good choice if you’re going for a very minimal look, as there are options that are pure white or pure black, with no veining”. As you can clearly see in the image below, the minimalist style is achieved.

A good way to understand just how low-maintenance this product can be is to understand quartz a little better. Wikipedia says that “quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth’s continental crust” and that “there are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Especially in Europe and the Middle East, varieties of quartz have been since antiquity the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hard stone carvings”. Quart is also a mineral that is so hard and resistant to typical damage that it has a rating of 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. This scale is used to measure the scratch resistance and relative hardness of minerals. Without going too overboard on the technical front, diamonds are the hardest mineral in the scale at 10. So quartz is very hard indeed.

Marble Systems is happy to offer the Color Quartz Collection as seen above. Described by its producer as being “made with quartz – one of nature’s hardest minerals – and through revolutionary technology, we have created this modern, natural, and green surface material.”What can be more relevant for today’s kitchen countertops than this type of engineered stone? As always, thanks for reading.  Marble Systems has points of sale all over the United States and also in Puerto Rico. Please find that contact information here.