Quartz surfacing is the most widely engineered stone, but engineered marble has also been
developed for surfacing use. However, engineered marble is more suitable to bathroom
work surfaces than it is for kitchens, because it is a softer porous material, more prone to marking
and staining, much like its natural cousin.
The process of manufacturing engineered stone was developed by the Italian company Breton
in the 1960s and the Breton process is used by most every manufacturer of quartz worktops
today, including Silestone, Caeserstone, Cimstone and DuPont
Zodiaq, among others.
Natural quartz, which is a very common stone, is quarried in mines worldwide. This type of stone is
very hard, with only a few gemstones surpassing it in terms of hardness. The process to turn that
quartz into quartz surfacing begins in the plant by crushing the quartz into more uniform particles
ranging in size from small grains to pellets and mixing it with a resin bonding agent and colour
pigments. Additional aesthetic materials may also be added such as shell, glass, metallic
or semi-precious stones.
Once the aggregate is uniformly mixed, it is poured into a mould. Engineered marble is often made
in blocks and cut into slabs, but most engineered quartz is manufactured by the slab. In the mould,
the compound is leveled and is then typically sent into a “vibrocompression vacuum” chamber
where it is compressed into a solid slab while all air is removed and sent on to a pressurised high tempreture
oven for final setting and hardening.
The slabs are commonly around 3 meters by 1.4 meters in size. They are finished by grinding the slab to the required thickness, with 2 or 3 cm being the
average. The engineered quartz is then honed, trimmed and polished before it is shipped off to
various distribution centers or work surface fabricators like Cargo Granite.
Quartz surfacing is as heavy as granite and as such, fitting should be left to
professionals. Many, if not most, manufacturers will not even sell this material directly to a
consumer, requiring that the material be properly used and constructed by a certified fabricator.
The installation process itself is similar to that of natural stone. An installer will first come out and
take exacting measurements of the kitchen and furniture that the material will sit on. This can be
done either using manual methods, such as a tape measurer or using newer advanced templating
systems. As with granite, overmount or undermount sink designs must be specified at this time and
usually backsplash requirements must be known as well.
The slabs are then cut to specification using expensive specialized equipment made specifically
for fabricating the material. Edge styles and sink cut-outs will be made in the workshop
rather than on in the consumer’s home.
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