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We're about to place an order for a quartz worktop and got some samples. Two of them (from the same shop) look exactly the same, to the extent that I emailed them to ask if one had been labelled wrongly.
I got the following reply:
"Yes you are correct the two samples are the same stone. The difference is in the warranty. We are able to strip certain materials of Silestone's 25 year warranty and put a 2 year warranty on the same material.This is just a way of making certain materials more affordable.We have to give it a different name for legal reasons."
So what does that mean? There's about a £1k difference in price for our order requirements. Is the cheaper one more likely to crack, chip, stain or something?
Their website gives no indication regarding the brand, materials, composition etc...it doesn't even state Silestone for the expensive one. It simply provides the colour name and a sample picture.
Is it likely to be worth the extra £1k on the more expensive option; is the cheaper one going to be more fragile?
I guess you're risking recourse on defective materials.
Maybe it's manufactured quicker or with less QC.
Why don't you ask them?
I got a white quartz worktop last year and to start with it stained badly but now doesn't. Weird.
Could be they can get factory defective slabs, ones damaged at the corners during shipping/handling etc which Silverstone give them cheap rates on, they just orientate your template to machine out the damage.
My counter guy uses ceasarstone. He sometimes routes a channel and epoxies a metal bar under sink fronts where material depth is reduced at longer cabinet spans.
I've never looked at the warranty on these tops as short of mechanical damage (standing on it in a foolish place or dropping a sledge hammer) you'd have an issue.
Every counter he's installed for me has been faultless, he'd pickup on material defects at the point of machining but these would already have been QC'd out at the factory. So if your buying one of these, are you buying a slab with a visual defect bang in the middle of your slab?
Personally I'd go for the cheaper option. It reads like it is exactly the same material just with a shorter warranty so you are effectively paying £1000 for an insurance policy. I'd stick that grand into rainy day money and expect to come out ahead. Material defects should show up during cutting and install. I bet they have a big list of ways they can get out of the warranty anyway.
Hi,
The quartz content will be the same. Pure quartz is a combination of silicon and oxygen, certain impurities add colour. If the swatch is the same colour, the quartz content is most likely from exactly the same provenance. However the quartz in a worktop will be ground to power or granulated and then set in resin. The price difference I suspect will be the quality of resin, preparation of work top, warranty etc. This is where my knowledge stops, and hopefully a member knows about this side of things can chip! in We have just had a new kitchen and when asking around many people were not that complimentary of stone type tops and the kitchen people told us they require more care than say laminate.
Cheers, I have gone back with further questions I'm just waiting to hear back.
I recently had some fitted by a local company. They had a few samples that were exactly the same. Not close, exactly the same. They explained that companies buy them from the same supplier and label them up as unique to themselves. I did some research and there are only a few manufacturers worldwide so so it makes sense.
I also visited one of the largest distributors in the country and they said the warranty isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. If it stains it’s your fault. If it breaks it’s probably your fault. There isn’t much to go wrong that would be covered by any sort of warranty.
Thanks bigwatts. Their latest answer is pretty cryptic again when i asked whether it's more likely to crack, chip, etc:
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto">There is no difference in the material itself the stone is exactly the same its more the way the material is distributed which allows companies to to offer two materials but with different warranties so a cheaper alternative but without the large 25 year warranty.</div>
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto">Swaying towards the cheaper option.</div>
We went with a non branded one.
A week in we thought we had made a bad choice, tea stains on white quartz..
Spoke to the chap, CIF and a drop of thinners and it disappears.
We also did a coat of sealer, which will reduce the effort.
With worktops, no product is perfect. Composite is not good with hot things and costs loads, granite breaks, takes on tastes and stains, quartz can stain but is strong and can have overhanging parts larger than you can with natural stone..
Its all a compromise..
the stone is exactly the same its more the way the material is distributed
Maybe a lower stone content. You could email the manufacturer, they might be able to tell you lots.
https://sebringdesignbuild.com/pros-and-cons-of-quartz-vs-granite-countertops-the-complete-rundown/
We are really pleased with our wood effect laminate tops. Not much help if you want the stone look though!
We went for the cheaper brand white carera quartz, without the guarantee.
It looks stunning and doesn’t stain, although I’ve tried hard with red wine tomato and tea.