Buying new countertops for your home is not something you should rush into for two reasons. Should you opt for a higher quality solution, such as quartz countertops, granite countertops or marble countertops, it’s a purchase that is likely to require a significant financial commitment. Secondly, your new countertops could be with you for the rest of your life (the materials just mentioned could easily outlast you if properly cared for), so you want to be sure that you genuinely like the countertops you buy, as you’ll most likely be looking at them for a long, long time. If you do decide that the advantages offered by quartz countertops make them the best investment, there’s a number of factors you must consider before contacting a manufacturer and placing your order.
Factors to Consider If You’re Interested in Quartz Countertops
Advances in technology and refinements to the manufacturing processes used to create quartz countertops mean that today you can have your countertops manufactured in virtually any shape, size or colour that you desire. A few of the main factors to consider when buying quartz countertops include:
- How Big Do Your Countertops Need to Be – Manufacturers of countertops invariably price the products they offer per square foot, so it’s important that you know the size of the countertops that you require before getting in contact with them. Working this out is simple. All you need to do is measure the length and the width of the area where they will be installed and then multiply these two figures. This calculation is sufficient in the majority of cases, but if your countertops are an irregular shape, it’s usually wise to allow the manufacturer to come to your home and take the measurements themselves, as they must be accurate.
- What Colour & Pattern Would Work Best? – One of the major advantages of quartz countertops is that their colour can be manipulated to produce exactly the right colour for your home. However, that doesn’t help much if you don’t know what colour you want. We would strongly advise you to visit showrooms and see the colours in person before making a decision, as they often look very different to what they do online. In rooms that don’t receive a lot of natural light, it’s often a good idea to select lighter coloured quartz countertops, while a contrast between the colour of your new countertops and the surrounding design elements can sometimes work very well. The choice of colour is largely down to personal preferences, but if you’re struggling to make a decision a member of our design team could help you pick out the perfect colour to accentuate your home’s features.
Are Quartz Countertops the Right Choice or Would Another Material Be More Suitable?
Once you have the specific dimensions and have an idea of the colour you would like your new countertops to be, you are ready to start talking to a manufacturer. But before you do that, take some time to consider whether quartz countertops are the most suitable choice or whether another material could work just as well, if not better.
- Where? – When determining whether quartz countertops are the most appropriate choice, it’s important to consider where they will be installed, what types of conditions they will encounter and the function they will be expected to perform. In bathrooms, countertops are likely to be frequently exposed to damp conditions and therefore need to be non-porous (which quartz countertops are), while in kitchen areas countertops will likely need to stand up to much more wear and tear, with plates and pans being frequently placed on top of them. Incidentally, quartz countertopsare also highly resistant to scratching and can tolerate exposure to high temperatures too.
- Goals? – This might sound like a strange factor to consider, but goals when installing new countertops genuinely can differ. For example, if you own a property that you intend to rent out, your primary concern will likely be to purchase countertops that are capable of withstanding heavy use and won’t crack, scratch or chip easily. However, if you’re planning to sell your property in the near future, there will likely be more of an emphasis on purchasing aesthetically pleasing countertops on a budget.
Selecting the perfect countertops for your home doesn’t happen by chance; skills and experience are the keys to achieving this goal. If you live in Toronto, Thornhill, Vaughan or Newmarket and you would like to utilise the industry expertise of the team members at Miracle Marble, contact us today to arrange a free consultation.