Quartz or laminate worktop

[GotMyLife]

What would people say. Invest in quartz or go laminate. And for quartz any suggestions for suppliers?

I had a new kitchen 14 months ago thru Wren and picked a quartz worktop - charcoal grey with a fine white pattern running through it. As this is a once in a lifetime job (never be able to afford again) and wanted something that wouldn’t damage easy.
I have to polish it several times a week. Every (and I mean EVERY ) single mark shows up - water, the lot. So if you go for quartz, test it and pick a colour/finish accordingly.

Our family all replaced their worktops to laminate. My granny's kitchen is about 15 years old and they still look great. I like the flexibility of different finishes and it is easier on your wallet.
My personal preference is butcher block worktops but they to require a lot of maintenance.

I worked with a lady who really wanted quartz, but decided to get a quote for a) kitchen with quartz worktops and also b) kitchen with laminate worktops. When she realised that for price of option a) she could get option b) plus a cruise around the Caribbean, her mind was made up!

Joking aside, we’re going to need to replace our kitchen in a couple of years and I’m leaning towards laminate for the ease of maintenance mainly. I love quartz but suspect I’d find looking after it a real pain, and I’m the sort who’d feel the need for constant wipe downs.

I'm just about to have my kitchen updated and we've gone for a laminate. I need low maintenance as a priority.

Can't be doing with constant polishing and it has to be stain resistant as I'm a messy cook who uses a lot of tomato sauce

We have some kind of quartz like thing that was much cheaper (possibly it is that engineered silicon that is making installers ill so can't really recommend it that is the case) which I like in that you can put hot pans directly on it with no issues and has been easy to clean.

I went with a good quality laminate. As per PP's I have very little interest in anything requiring maintenance, and I wanted something that would take wear and tear in its stride.

I have a Silestone quartz worktop and I love it! I picked a light sandy colour that does, in fact, look like sand. I don't polish it and I don't think it ever looks as if it needs polishing. It gets cleaned frequently, of course, but it doesn't really show any marks and the only thing we have to be careful of is beetroot juice or curry, both of which need wiping up pdq or they are more difficult to clean off.

My DH gets annoyed because he can't see if there are crumbs on it. That's exactly why I chose it! There aren't usually any crumbs on it, but it's nice to know that if there were, and I had an unexpected 'tidy' visitor, they wouldn't be able to notice them 😁.

It was the major expense when we had our kitchen done 4 years ago. We have a long kitchen and I wanted one side to be all worktop (plus hob and sink). I think it is 6m long (ish) and it was about £3.5k, which is probably what a cheap new complete small kitchen would cost, but this is our forever kitchen in our forever home and this is the one thing I did not want to compromise on.

We went for wood a bit of effort to get it well oiled but then pretty stain proof and you can always sand it down and re-oil if it does get marked.

We got Quartz - it's white with a fleck. It's easy to clean. Bit of barkeeper's friend every now and then if I've been too heavy on the turmeric. I really like it.

I think if I was doing it again I'd go for laminate - you can replace it more easily, it's hardwearing, you can get different shapes cut....and soooo much cheaper.

I have quartz (Corian), in white with a subtle grey vein and love it. Looks fresh and clean 3 years later, very easy to keep clean. A kitchen's a big investment, personally I'd always go for the best possible, even if that means having to save for an extra 6 months or whatever, as I expect my kitchen to last at least 20 years (Harvey Jones).

We wanted quartz but it was 3k just for the quartz on a kitchen that cost 4k. We just couldn't justify it and we would have had to save for a long time to get it. We went for square edge laminate and I love it. So easy to clean, so much cheaper (£600 for worktop and fitting) and if I get bored I can change it in years to come (rest of kitchen is plain white).

I have quartz. It is definitely a premium option.

There is a lot of BS around about it. It is hard wearing and looks great. It is not as heat resistant as granite though - but I never test it. It will scratch if you try hard. It is not as hard as some people make out it is - I tried it on an off cut.

I had laminate before and it tends to fade horribly with time and get a lot more scratched. If you put a pan on it you are stuffed.

So get what you pay for. Quartz looks better and lasts longer with time. Personally I like being in a kitchen with nice looking surfaces.

I have a light coloured quartz counter top and there are some chips and stains. I would probably go for a different material next time but I'm not sure what's out there that's better than quartz.

I think this is what my parents-in-law have. It was cast to fit the kitchen. Really like using it for the heat-resistant properties, and it's generally nice and cold for rolling out pastry.

It might be something different, some sort of concrete/resin mix. I'd have to ask.

Looked it up, and I'm fairly certain it's Sintered Stone.

I have quartz. It's pale coloured, with a tiny, tiny bit of sparkle.

It's been in for almost 6 years, and it looks fantastic - no marks, no chips. It is super easy to wipe down, and needs absolutely no maintenance at all.

I wonder if people are getting confused between quartz (an engineered stone made from stone chips in resin) and granite (a natural stone)? Quartz needs no special maintenance, whereas granite does.

My quartz certainly doesn't need any special treatment. We were just told to wipe it down with a mild cleaner (like washing up liquid) and that is all it seems to need.