Help please - Quartz or laminate?!

[waitingforinspiration]

Hi, as above really - my kids are 6 and 4 and I’m about to get a new kitchen as part of an extension. I was going to get quartz worktop (from diy kitchens) but someone pointed out that as kids are still young I might want to change the worktop in a few years as it might get wrecked (or at least a bit damaged) by kids. So, my question is this: is quartz worth the investment or would I be better with laminate and then upgrade once kids are a bit older (though I have a clumsy gene which I’m not sure I’ll ever grow out of...)
Thanks!

We have just got a quartz worktop installed and have young children, including a 6 year old. Can’t see how she would damage the worktop to be honest. If anything laminate is more likely to get damaged. I’d go for quartz.

I agree: quartz is literally indestructible so I defy any child to damage it. I love mine, which is 14 years old, but as a fellow clumsy person, the only downside is that it is much harder than laminate, so you will break more mugs/glasses etc when you drop them.

Quartz looks amazing. It’s so hard to damage it. Go for it.

We put quartz in earlier this year with a 4 & 6 yo. Quartz is pretty difficult to damage. And looks sooooo beautiful

We've just had a compact laminate worktop fitted. I love it and it's meant to be pretty indestructible.

Quartz, without a question. The fact that you can put a hot saucepan directly into quartz shows how durable it is.

Definitely Quartz

Thanks everyone for your comments. I know it’d be cheaper to get laminate but I’m wondering if it’s false econony to be preparing to replace it within a few years (because I reaaaally want the quartz). Then again, if I get laminate I could probably spend the money I’d save by buying a new sofa/shower. Aware I’m brain dumping here, but single parent and could do with bouncing ideas around with another adult! Plus I’ve lurked on here for a long time and Mumsnet is full of people who know a lot about this stuff!

Why would kids wreck a kitchen worksurface? How much time do your kids spend in the kitchen wielding hot pans or sharp knives?!

We priced up both and went for compact, square reinforced-edged laminate. It's about triple the price of normal 40mm rolled edge laminate but I've still got enough change from the price of quartz to get a new dining table, chairs and a new suite of bedroom furniture. I also decided I didn't want a worktop so expensive I was terrified of standing on it or marking it.

Quartz is so much nicer, but an extra £2-3k goes a long way elsewhere in the house. But if you're going to splash out on quartz, I wouldn't put it off until the children are older.

Quartz if you can afford it. We've had good laminate in a flat with careful tenants and it never lasts more than 5 years max.

The only reason I’d chooses laminate over quartz is to keep costs down. I can’t imagine what dameage your children could do to quartz. Whereas they could wreck the laminate one easily, you don’t want it looking crap even if it wasn’t expensive. I adore my quartz countertop and think it was worth every penny.

Fab, thanks all!

Agree with the others. It's pretty indestructible. I absolutely love our quartz

We had to make this choice recently and really glad we went with quartz. As others have said, it's virtually indestructible. We had a small sample piece from the supplier and I did my best to scratch/mark it - everything, including permanent marker, came straight off either with elbow grease or some cream cleaner. Ours is white so we were advised to be careful when using turmeric and to not leave tea bags sat on it (but even then it would probably take 24hrs or more to leave a stain.