We use the horizontal surfaces in our kitchens and bathrooms in so many ways. Prepping and cleaning up meals, dropping groceries, eating meals, doing homework, and...of course...showing off to visitors.
Choosing a counter top that suits your specific needs can be a daunting task, but with a little bit of understanding you'll be able to choose your perfect material with ease.
The current darling of the industry is engineered quartz. The material is made combining a high percentage of quartz crystals with a bonding resin to create a very durable, often very uniform surface. If you're looking for a cool-to-the-touch, high gloss surface this is a great choice.
For something with a more natural look, stone is a great choice. Every piece is different and will be unique to your project, but are much more porous than a quartz surface. Granite and marble tops are sealed with a penetrating sealer to help mitigate spill issues, but over time you'll usually see some spots that will be darker than others. Marble is especially susceptible to acidic/bleaching damage (think orange juice or toothpaste) so is often not recommended for counters. Soapstone and quartzite fall into this category as well and have their own unique properties.
A long-time staple surface in the industry is plastic laminate. Manufactured by gluing together multiple layers of paper, with a coloured layer on top, then surfaced with a clear plastic coating, they're the least expensive and usually the most varied in styles. Seams are more prone to water damage, so keep the joints away from the kitchen sink if possible.
Reclaimed wood, concrete, recycled glass, Paperstone, and many other surfaces are used for countertops these days and they all have their own unique properties to take into consideration. If you're interested in understanding more about countertops, have a look at our Palette section of the website, or make an appointment to visit our showroom to have a look at one of the largest collections of countertop samples in the lower mainland.