When trying out a new look for your vanity, choosing the most ideal countertop can be both a time consuming and difficult task.
The large arrays of countertop materials available in the market today are sure to make it a challenge to pick the right one for your space and lifestyle.
The ideal vanity countertop should have low maintenance, durability and have a unique style.
When deciding on what material to use for your vanity countertop, you cannot go wrong with picking quartz.
Quartz vanity tops will not only bring liveness to your bathroom but also offer various other benefits such as maintenance advantage while also maintaining overall look and style.
How It’s Made
Also known as an engineered stone countertop, quartz vanity tops are fabricated in a factory setting as opposed to being mined from natural stone materials as happens with other materials like granite, limestone and marble.
The quartz vanity top is obtained by combining about 93% ground quartz crystals with 7% being binders, polymers resins and pigments.
Some designs have small amounts of ground glass and metallic flecks added to give a unique look. With finely ground quartz you get a smooth look while with coarsely ground quartz you are sure to get a flecked appearance.
Advantages of Quartz Vanity Tops
- Due to the fact that quartz countertop is man-made, various pigments are added to give it a wider range of luxuriant looks and colors than you would find in other materials such as marble or granite. Quartz vanity tops also come in a large array of textures, random patterns and looks; you can easily get one with embossed, honed or sandblasted treatment.
- Being made out of one other hardest natural occurring substance on the earth, the quartz vanity top is sure to guarantee you much more durability than granite, marble or concrete. It is therefore not susceptible to easy cracking or chipping.
- Due to the use of the adhesive to bind the quartz material together, quartz countertop is usually non-porous. It can therefore resist stain from bathroom chemicals. A non-porous surface also means that it does not support the growth of harmful bacteria or viruses that can harm you or your family making it a very clean choice. Indeed this is the reason why quartz vanity tops don’t need to be sealed or resealed unlike wood, granite or marble ones.
- Quartz vanity bathroom tops have nearly zero maintenance. Just wiping surface stains with soapy water and a gentle cleansing scrub will be adequate for daily upkeep.
- Quartz material used as countertops is also flexible and design friendly. Due to the adhesive used to bind the material, fabricators can easily shape and bend it to custom designs as well as into sinks and sides.
Disadvantages of Quartz Vanity Tops
- Quartz vanity tops are relatively expensive to install as compared to DIY options such as laminate, concrete and wood. Like other premium materials like granite and marble it could cost you anywhere around 90$ per square feet for installation.
- Quartz vanity bathroom tops cannot take extreme heat and will easily crack if subjected to a sudden change in temperature or sustained heat.
Installation
Unlike other DIY options such as wood and concrete, installation of quartz countertops requires a professional skilled fabricator in that kind of operation. This is because it is heavy and is delicate hence susceptible to cracking if not handled with care.
When it comes to actual installation, the fabricator directly lays the quartz slab on top of the vanity cabinet without the need to place a plywood underlay. using silicon based adhesive to bind it to the surface while any spaces between the slabs are filled using epoxy resin of a matching color.