Whether it is a kitchen or bathroom renovation, quartz is a popular material choice for homeowners across the UK. Quartz is a highly resilient, functional, and charismatic worktop material. Manufactured using high-grade pulverised quartz and resin binders, quartz worktops are suitably impervious to moisture, chemicals, microbial infestation, heat, and physical wear and tear. Furthermore, their ease of cleaning and zero maintenance requirements make them ideal for the time-starved, modern-day homeowner.
Installing Quartz Worktops: Taking Precise Measurements
To ensure your quartz kitchen worktop has the perfect fit and finish, the installation must be meticulous. Knowing how to measure the dimensions correctly is very important here. It is the basic step to attain seamless installation mastery, transforming your kitchen interiors per your taste and requirements. The following steps are noteworthy in this regard:-
- Always hire a worktop installer with certified experience in quartz worktops. It will minimise the risk of errors.
- Measuring dimensions for natural worktop materials like marble or granite is quite different from quartz. The latter is a manmade material with homogenous patterns. Hence book-matching or accounting for natural flaws is not required.
- Ensure that the installers conduct a site visit and are informed of the kitchen fixtures, appliances, and sinks to be accommodated before taking measurements.
- Taking the right measurement for quartz worktops has become all the more efficient with digital measuring tools and templates. Ensure you inform the installation team about the required worktop design (regular/cascading/kitchen island) and decorative edges (bevel/bullnose/waterfall).
Fabrication of Quartz Worktops
The fabrication process greatly depends on the kind of worktop materials chosen. It involves transforming a raw slab into an aesthetic and ergonomic worktop. For the fabrication of quartz worktops, the following steps are involved:-
- Pick the Right Quartz Variant– Different grades, categories, and brands of quartz worktops are available for UK-based homeowners. The best ones include Unistone Quartz, Silestone Quartz, Caesarstone, Cambria, and HanStone. The best-suited quartz colour and pattern should be chosen based on the worktop dimensions, kitchen fixtures, lighting, wall/floor colour, and overall kitchen theme.
- Cutting and Shaping Quartz Worktops- Only certified professionals should be entrusted with this task. The quartz slabs should be cut with accuracy and finesse based on the template or digital measurements.
- Customised Edges and Suitable Finish- Yet another crucial stage of quartz worktop installation, the edges of the freshly cut worktop need to be designed and smoothened. Some homeowners prefer simple edges like square, rounded, and bevelled. Others opt for fancier versions like Ogee, Waterfall, Cove, and Chiselled. As far as the finish of the quartz surface is concerned, the choices include polished, honed, leathered, satin, and flamed.
- No Sealing- During the manufacture of quartz worktops, intensive vacuum-based compression makes this material completely non-porous. Hence, quartz worktops don’t require sealing, unlike other natural worktop materials.
The Finishing of Quartz Worktops
After measuring and fabrication, finishing is the final stage of quartz worktop installation. It involves finessing the worktop right before installation:-
- Seaming is aligning and bonding separate slabs or tiles to yield a seamless appearance.
- Sink Cut-outs- Proper margin has to be given for installing an undermount sink if required.
- Fixture/Appliance Cut-outs- Any other permanent fixture installation or appliance on the worktop has to be planned.
Conclusion
Communicating design choices, installation preferences, and overall concerns with your quartz worktop supplier is essential. Discussing a timeline is also necessary because intricate details and high customisation can take time. Once installed properly, quartz worktops last a lifetime with hardly any maintenance. Yet, simple precautions like using cutting boards and tripod stands will ensure a longer lifespan and flawless beauty.
