Ceramic vs quartz worktop?

[Linguaphile]

I’ve decided on essentially a white on white kitchen for our new place, and am now trying to decide what material to go with for our worktops. Have narrowed it down to either quartz or ceramic as those are the materials on offer for the kitchen we’ve signed for (no white granite or marble). I’m still waffling between whether I should go plain white or for more of a Carrara marble effect.

As far as I can tell, pros for ceramic are that it’s thinner (and thus looks sleeker), is antimicrobial, and stain/scratch/heat resistant, all of which are good. Cons: expensive, and I wonder if it would be strong enough to withstand daily life with lots of cooking and young children.

Quartz: pros are that it’s super strong and will definitely withstand family life. Cons: also expensive, and apparently scorched if the pans are hot enough...

What would you go for, and would you do plain white or Carrara?

This is more or less the look of the kitchen (specifically the island with an L-shaped overhang) we’re going for, tho in white and with wood floors. I love the thinness of their ceramic overhang, but will it be strong enough??

My kitcten designer talked me out of plain plain white as she pointed out that every single crumb would show up. We didn't want a marble look so went for one with a tiny fleck instead.

Cons: expensive, and I wonder if it would be strong enough to withstand daily life with lots of cooking and young children.

Considering that back in my eighties childhood, everyone had melamine or similar and everyone had three or four D.C. and I never saw a damaged one, I think you’ll be safe enough with ceramic. Unless of course your DC are into exploding stuff. The “withstand family life” spiel is marketing talk. We’ll all have concrete kitchens eventually, driven by the competitve sales talk.

Ah yes that’s a good point! Noted.

Shameless bump...

We have quartz. Light Grey with a fleck. Only see the crumbs and marks if the lights reflecting on it. However, the electrician managed to chip it by dropping his drill on it. So wouldn't recommend any meat tenderising. We also use a trivet for hot pans.

Neither is stain-PROOF sadly. They only say 'stain resistant'. My friend has pale grey ceramic that the kids have stained with paint & general life and I have granite which mopped-up strawberry juice! My granite had 6 coats of sealant but there are still micro-holes that will suck up spills.

I dropped a mug from the kitchen cupboard above it and it chipped my quartz worktop that was about a month old

Ack, so quartz apparently isn't as bulletproof as we've all been led to believe. Hmm....

Does anyone have ceramic who can vouch for its toughness?

Do you mean porcelain? My understanding is that porcelain is less likely to stain but more chance of chipping at the edges. So, are you more likely to stain yourworksurface or more likely to chip? We use a lot of cast iron for example so more worried about chipping or cracking if we drop something heavy on the edge. Porcelain is also fairly new as a worksurface so I'd say we all don't really know how it will wear long term...but I'm a cautious person!

We've just ordered a new kitchen with white starburst quartz, I was assured it was very hard wearing which I need with 4 children and a clumsy OH. Worrying now that it can chip so easily

I mean ceramic... like Ceralsio et al... we were told it's 100% stain proof as it's not porous and scorch proof. And tough as nails. They said it's the best way to get a thin worktop that is strong enough to be its own overhang... But who knows if the marketing lives up to reality!!

I do worry it's still so new that nobody really knows how it will wear long term, hence asking here!

Though maybe now that I'm looking maybe it's actually porcelain? Sorry, not fully caught up on what exactly the material is, just that it's apparently the thing all the kitchen designers keep pointing us towards! The actual material we're looking at is systemo I think... it's a German brand.

Have a look at Corian. It's a solid surface which is non porous, chemically inert, heat resistant and can be repaired if damaged. Made from 1/3 resin and 2/3 natural materials. Very versatile and available in multiple colours. Used to specify it regularly for high spec offices and health gyms.

My neighbour has plain white corian worktop and she hates it. She has to scrub it every day to keep it looking clean.

Yes, I've ruled out corian as I read that it scorches. I'm quite wary of scorching as our induction hob is flush with the worktop, so any movement of a super hot pan off to the side off the surface could discolour it for good...

OP, I have exactly the same dilema right now. Can you please tell me if you don't mind what option you went for and if you would recommend?