Congratulations on starting your journey in search of the ideal countertops! Many people get stuck in the mud when trying to select their countertops, due to the vast array of materials and colors to choose from. Here at Countertop Headquarters, are mission is to enlighten you with the knowledge you need to make the correct countertop purchase for you![the_ad id=”597″]
Not Just About the Appearance
Yes, that countertop may look mint now, but how will it fare against father time? This is an important question to ask yourself when choosing your counters. If your looking for longevity you may want to steer clear of the cheap laminate tops, and go with pricier but much stronger material such as granite. Another note-worthy thing to take into consideration is your surfaces maintenance. Different materials will require varying levels of attention to keep them in pristine condition.
Your Lifestyle Matters
When choosing countertops for your home it is vital that you take your lifestyle into account. If your sharing your home with a bunch of raucous toddlers helping themselves to fruit punch and popsicles daily, choosing a light granite countertop will most likely lead to regret.
Countertop Material Options
Granite has long been the consumers countertop of choice, and for good reason. Smooth, durable, and elegant are just a few of the reasons that granite has been, and continues to be an industry best seller. One of the interesting characteristics of granite countertops is that no two slabs are identical, each slab has its own unique appearance. The overall durability and low maintenance of granite is very appealing to most people as it provides protection against typical wear and tear your counters battle in their life time. Granite provides exceptional resistance against heat damage, scratches, liquids, and is just an extremely durable option. One more highlight that goes along with making the choice to install granite countertops in your home, is the corresponding increase in your homes value. Click here for more granite countertops pros and cons.
If you still are having a tough time pulling-the-trigger on granite as your surface of choice, you can view our buying guide here. The buying guide should be able to answer the majority of the questions you have. Questions like, “what is the cost of granite per square foot?” and “What are the different granite edge options and styles?.
Laminate Countertops
While granite continues to be the prevailing choice for many not everyone has the budget, there is no shortage of additional options to choose from. If your on a tight budget and just don’t have the capital to invest in the mid-to-high end options you can always go with laminate. Affordable and low maintenance sum up the major positives with laminate countertops. Unfortunately the downside of laminate is it’s susceptibility to stains, burn marks from high heat, scratches from every-day use, and peeling when exposed to moisture.
Solid Surfacing Countertops
These countertops were formerly known by most as Corian. However, Corian is not the actual name of these counters, merely the brand name of the first manufacturer Dupont, who began producing solid surfacing way back in 1964. Composed of predominately acrylic and polyester solid surface countertops have been a staple in the industry for 50 years now. What has kept it there? It requires almost no maintenance due to it’s non-porous structure. Spills are a breeze to clean up, there is no sealing or special cleaning needed, and it’s available in a plethora of colors. Solid surfaces do have their limitations, they don’t agree with sharp cutlery, and have poor resistance against hot pots and pans. However, often times you can sand out blemishes like burns, and scratches with a little bit of elbow grease. Overall, solid surfacing is definitely an option to keep in mind, but with prices sometimes rivaling granite it can be tough to pull the trigger on incorporating them.
A popular choice for counters, quartz possesses quite a few positive characteristics from both natural stone and solid surfacing materials. An intriguing combination of low maintenance associated with solid surfacing, the elegance of a natural stone, and tons of color options make quartz an in demand countertop material option. The downsides are a short list but include, sometimes you can tell it is an engineered material, and the price which is in the ballpark of granite. The offsetting factor is durability which means you can get a long life out of your quartz countertops and a lot of value for your money.