Quartz Countertops

Elite Stone Countertop Design fabricates and installs quartz countertops in Dallas and across Dallas-Fort Worth: kitchens and islands, bathrooms and vanities, fireplaces, laundry rooms and office spaces. We come to your home for measurements, then handle the custom fabrication, the edges and the installation. Quartz suits most of a Dallas house, with one limit that matters more here than in most places: heat and direct sun. Call (469) 478-0220 for a free estimate.

What Quartz Countertops Are Made Of

A quartz countertop is engineered stone. Natural quartz is ground, mixed with a polymer resin and pigments, pressed into slabs and cured. The quartz is most of the slab, typically around nine-tenths by weight, and the resin binds the grains and fills the gaps between them. So yes, all quartz countertops are engineered: nobody quarries a slab of quartz the way granite comes out of the ground. That recipe explains how it behaves:

• No sealing. The resin leaves the surface nonporous, so coffee, wine and oil sit on top until you wipe them.
• Even color. The sample you choose from is close to the slab that arrives, and two slabs for a long kitchen match where they meet.
• Hard, but not heatproof. Quartz resists scratches and chips in daily use, but resin is a plastic, and plastic dislikes direct high heat and years of direct sun.

Quartz Countertops in Dallas, TX

NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for the Dallas-Fort Worth airport count 106.2 days a year with a high of 90°F or more, and 20.3 days at 100°F or more. Indoors, with the air conditioning on, the weather makes no difference to quartz. The trouble starts where heat or sun reaches the slab directly:

• Hot pans. A pan straight off the burner, or a slow cooker running for hours in one spot, can scorch or discolor the resin, and a sudden hot spot can crack a slab. Keep trivets handy.
• Sun through a window. Strong afternoon sun on the same stretch of counter every day can yellow or fade quartz over the years, light colors first. A west-facing breakfast bar is worth a blind.
• Outdoors. A Texas summer on an unshaded patio is too much for the resin. For an outdoor kitchen or BBQ area, granite or porcelain is the better match; our outdoor kitchen countertops page compares them.

So in Dallas, quartz is the indoor stone: kitchens, islands, laundry rooms, bathroom vanity tops, a fireplace surround set back from the firebox, office spaces and reception desks. We install it in Dallas and the suburbs around it, north to Plano and beyond.

Quartz Colors: Solid, Calacatta-Look and Carrara-Look

Because the pattern is made, quartz comes in more looks than any one quarry could give:

• Solid and fine-grain. White, gray, charcoal or black, plain or finely speckled. These hide crumbs and suit a busy kitchen or a commercial counter.
• Calacatta-look. A bright white ground with bolder, wider veins, often gold or gray.
• Carrara-look. Soft, feathery gray veining over white, quieter and closer together.

When we asked our followers which countertop style they would choose, two of the three options were “Gold Veins” and “Gray Veins”, the two veined looks people ask us about. Two of our recent jobs used white quartz with subtle veining in both the kitchen and the bathrooms of the same home. Another paired quartz with warm wood cabinets, where a light stone keeps the wood from feeling heavy. Clean, modern, and built to last.

Quartz vs Granite

Granite is natural igneous rock: every slab is one of a kind, it takes a hot pan and the outdoors better than quartz, and most of it is sealed now and then. Quartz needs no sealing and gives even whites and controlled veining. In remodels over the last several years quartz has become the more common choice for a bright, low-upkeep kitchen, while granite still makes sense for a natural slab or a counter that sees a lot of heat. Our granite countertops page covers that stone.

Quartz vs Quartzite

The names differ by three letters; the stones are nothing alike. Quartzite is natural sandstone that heat and pressure fused into a very hard rock, quarried and cut like granite. It has no resin, so it handles heat and sun, and it often has the soft, marble-like veining people want in a white kitchen. It is porous, so it is sealed. Some stone sold as quartzite is a softer, marble-like rock, and a drop of lemon juice tells them apart: true quartzite stays unmarked, marble-like stone dulls where the acid sat. Our quartzite countertops page explains more.

Edges, Seams and Undermount Sinks

• Thickness. Most quartz kitchen tops are 3 cm and sit directly on the cabinets. Thinner 2 cm quartz is common on vanities and usually wants a plywood subtop in a kitchen.
• Edges. An eased edge, square with the corners softened, is the modern default. A bevel, bullnose or ogee rounds it further and chips less at the corners, and a mitered edge makes a slab look thicker than it is.
• Seams. A long run or a big island may need a seam. A good one sits away from the sink and cooktop, carries the veins across, and is filled with color-matched epoxy so it reads as a fine line.
• Undermount sinks. The cut edge of the opening is polished and stays in view, and the sink is held to the underside of the stone with clips or carried on brackets. The cutout is made for your exact sink, so choose it before measuring.
• Overhangs. A typical edge overhang is about 1 to 1.5 inches. A seating overhang of 10 to 12 inches is common; deeper than that wants brackets or corbels.

From Measuring to Install

We come to your home for measurements once the cabinets are set and level, and settle the edge, the sink and the seam layout with you on site. Then comes custom fabrication: the slab is cut, the sink and cooktop openings are made and the edges are finished. On install day the tops are set, leveled, seamed and fastened, and the undermount sink goes in. A licensed plumber reconnects the sink and faucet, and a gas cooktop is the right trade's job. You work directly with the fabricator, no contractor in between, with over 14 years of experience behind the work.

What Decides the Cost of Quartz Countertops

• The slab. Solid colors and simple patterns usually cost less than bold veining.
• Square footage. How many slabs the layout needs.
• Edges and cutouts. An eased edge is the simplest, and each sink, cooktop and faucet hole is its own cut.
• Backsplash. A 4-inch quartz splash, a full-height slab behind the range, or none.
• The old top and access. Removing laminate, tile or old stone first, and how far the slabs travel from the truck.

We work with your budget, our prices are competitive, and small and large projects are welcome. There is a warranty on all work. Call (469) 478-0220 for a free estimate, no obligation.

Thinking About Quartz for Your Kitchen?

Call (469) 478-0220 for a free estimate.

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