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Quartz surfaces have been around for some time now, but those involved in the surfacing industry will have to agree that over the last few years it has seen a large increase in interest. There are a several reasons for this that are worth considering, but first it would be prudent to provide a little background information on this growing material category.Get more news about Quartz Stone Factory,you can vist our website!

Just about all products progress over time and quartz surfacing is no different. Before there was quartz surfacing, there was terrazzo which is basically chips of granite, marble, glass and other particulates mixed with a binder (many times cement) and poured into a shape. Terrazzo has been primarily used in the flooring industry.

The next step in the evolution was the invention of engineered stone, pioneered by the Italian company Breton. Developed and refined in the 1970s, the first engineered stone used polyester resin and limestone, but later experimentation lead to using granulated granite, marble and then silica sands. Eventually, ground quartz became the standard because of its formidable properties and the category of quartz surfacing was born.

I have heard a lot of confusion around what is the difference between engineered stone and quartz surfacing, and it is a question that is often asked. Basically, all quartz surfacing is engineered stone, but not all engineered stone is quartz surfacing. The difference is determined by the type of crushed natural stone used, obviously with quartz surfacing using primarily crushed quartz. The content of actual quartz minerals in quartz surfacing is typically 93 percent quartz to 7 percent resin binders, by weight.
So What’s So Good About Quartz Surfacing?

The properties of quartz surfacing have some real advantages over previous versions of engineered stone, but there are also some great comparisons to be made with other materials. The primary areas of the material that highlight its capabilities are hardness, flexural strength, lack of porosity and colorant factors.

First off is the hardness of the material. The use of quartz is a major improvement over previous iterations of engineered stone (and most other surfacing materials) because it is one of the hardest materials available.

Hardness is ranked using something called the Mohs scale. The higher the Mohs ranking, the harder the material is. And, the harder the material is, the more resistant it will be to scratching, abrasion, etc. Talk, one of the least hard minerals, for instance, is ranked as a 1 on the Mohs scale. Granite comes in significantly higher at a ranking of 5. Diamond, the hardest mineral, ranks at 10. And natural quartz comes in at a 7, between granite and diamond. So, it is very durable and scratch-resistant, which is one reason why consumers are drawn to it.

Another factor is its flexural strength. Most tests agree that quartz surfacing has a flexural strength in the range of 4,500 to 7,000 psi. Granite has a flexural strength of between 1,200 and 4,300 psi. Solid surface has a flexural strength of around 10,000 psi. So, quartz surfacing falls in between these two other popular surfaces.

This flexural strength also makes it popular among fabricators. At a recent visit to a stone shop I talked with the fabricators about their experiences with quartz. The general opinion was that it was easy to work with because they didn’t have to worry as much about breaking as some other materials.