Remodeling your home kitchen is a great way to give this all-important room more practicality, style, durability, and even value. Making the right choice of flooring, cabinetry, wall paint, and other features can help ensure a successful kitchen remodel. But there’s another choice you’ll need to make when you hire a contractor for kitchen remodeling in Orange County. You’ll need to select countertops.
Shopping smart can increase your satisfaction with the money you invest in kitchen remodeling. Read on for advice on selecting the best kitchen countertops.
What to Look For
So, what makes a good countertop? It’s not just about looks. You want a material that’s also resistant to heat, moisture, and stain-causing foods like coffee and tomato sauce. Your countertops should be useful for everyday cooking and food serving, after all. Remember that, unlike your kitchen cabinets, your countertops are going to have direct food and heat contact.
Kitchen remodeling isn’t just about saving money either. Laminate countertops, usually one of the cheapest options out there, can chip, scratch, or stain very easily. They also look about as cheap as they are.
You also want a surface that’s easy to clean and stays clean. Great countertops should be low-maintenance, so find a surface that is flat and non-porous.
Quartz Countertops
Quartz is one of the best options for your kitchen. This perfect blend of natural crushed stone and enhancing resins offers everyday beauty, brilliant shine, a gorgeous texture, and one of the most durable kitchen surfaces out there. Quartz surfaces resist weight, heat, moisture, and stains. Even better, they’re crafted to be completely non-porous. No need to invest in re-sealing or re-finishing. They’ll provide a completely flat, pore-free surface that’s easy to keep sanitary every day.
The Trouble with Stone
Stone surfaces like granite and marble are certainly trendy and offer beautiful detail to your kitchen, but they’re also some of the priciest countertops out there. Also, they require frequent re-sealing. Unlike quartz, natural stone surfaces are porous, meaning that they have tiny holes into which moisture, stains, acids, and pathogens like salmonella germs can be trapped. Fail to re-seal your countertops on a regular basis and you could end up with a less sanitary kitchen. Also, visual faults like etching or stains could develop. However, if you’re willing to put up with their high-maintenance demands, stone surfaces like marble and granite will reward you with a beautiful, long-lasting surface.
Surfaces to Avoid
There are some surfaces that are definitely wrong for your kitchen. For example, stainless steel countertops are becoming trendy but a real kitchen designer is unlikely to recommend them. They have a very industrial look that could be wrong for your kitchen and they may actually trap pathogens. An easy-to-clean, non-porous material like quartz is far better at handling the everyday rigors of cooking without showing flaws.
Also, ceramic tile countertops can trap pathogens like E. coli in their porous, gritty grout. Ceramic tiles and grout are also uneven, meaning that there will be grooves and divots into which stain-causing foods can slip. Leave this outdated countertop option in the past where it belongs. Sadly, people who turn to butcher block countertops may find that its initial rustic, modern beauty doesn’t always last. Wood just isn’t meant to handle moisture or everyday cleaning. And while solid surface artificial countertops are affordable, they’re harder to clean than quartz.
If you want the best for your kitchen, including style and everyday practicality, call Preferred Kitchen & Bath today. We provide expert kitchen design in Orange County, as well as skilled installation services.