lazybum9 1 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 Not sure how to start this. Have benefited much from this forum and thus decided to share my experience gain from this whole reno project. My wife, little princess and myself have been living at this place for the past 8 years. We were not so well of when we married. Therefore, could not afford any reno to our new flat we got from HDB. I remebered queuing for 3 days for this flat. Great that HDB has drop this method of first come first select. Now that I recalled, I was kinda agressive and did not think too much of potential risks and consequences. I was jobless and still decide to marry my wife and get myself a executive flat. I don't think few woman would do that these days. Thank you wifey for buying my "selling tactics"! Our humble home is a 1400 sqf executive flat at Punggol. It is a design and build flat. Floor tiles, toilet done up, kitchen wall tiles, etc are already included when we moved in. We just buy simple furniture just to stay in there. We spent about $5000 to do up the kitchen cabinet. That is the biggest sum we paid when we moved in. This is our proposed layout. We have visited many IDs over a period of 3 months. During this period, we are also material research (for instance, tiles, blum, lightings, etc). admire ur boldness... u got a good wife... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lazybum9 1 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 We noticed our friends and relatives kitchen's solid top tends to discoloured and have fine line scratch after about 3-5 years usage. The deteriorating effect is more obvious for colour like while or black. Since my wifey wants a light tone kitchen (meaning white base), so our requirement for the solid top have to be durable and the colour should be lasting. We started looking at various options and happened to come across this material called quartz. Quartz clamied that they have benefits that include less chipping, cracking or discoloring and a less porous surface. In theory, you basically can do your cutting on it. However, if you have choosen this material, I would reckon you would buy a chopping board then take the risk There are about a handful of quartz manufacturer, I wouldn't rate which one is better. Maybe those who has used this material could share with us their rating. Here are some info about them which I have cut out from the websites. Silestone® (Made in Spain) Made in Spain by Cosentino, it claims that this it's technology is over 15 years old, making it the old player in the field of quartz stone surfaces. Silestone is scratch resistant, stain resistant, amd heat resistant. A unique feature is Silestone is the Microban technology that is intergraded on the product. Microban claims to continuously fights the growth of microbes that can cause stains and odors and Microban protection makes your Silestone countertops easier to clean and keeps them cleaner between cleanings. The promotion of Microban antimicrobial protection is that it is effective against most common bacteria, yeasts, molds and fungi that cause stains and odors. Microban technology is not designed to protect users from disease-causing microorganisms. Zodiaq® (Made in Canada) From the maker of Corian, comes Zodiaq®. DuPontTM Zodiaq® claims to have produced an advanced composite material made of 93% quartz with a DuPont proprietary binding polymer and pigments. If anyone has the money for R&D, DuPont does. Their stated goal was to create a new material with its own depth and character and a unique aesthetic, suggesting a sense of enlightened luxury and an attitude of bold sophistication. When you think of Zodiaq®, most people do not know that it is made by one of the largest and most sophisticated countertop maker in the world. Cambria® (Made in USA) Perhaps the smallest player in the market is Cambria quartz stone surfaces which is American owned and operated by the Davis Family. As with all the other brand names, Cambria quartz stone surfaces are also comprised of approximately 93% quartz and claim the same low maintenance advantages. CaesarStone® (Made in Israel) Quartz is one of the hardest minerals and is calculated at a hardness level of 7 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness. The company proclaims to be the originator of quartz kitchen and bath countertops, and claims to have advantages over other surfaces. Many installation professionals dispute Caesarstone's claims that it does not allow bacteria growth and cleans with just a moist cloth. It is promoted to resist damage from heat and acids such as caustic wine spills and knife scratches. These claims are also questionable. We have choosen CaesarStone (http://www.caesarstone.com/). There are too many claims by these manufacturers. To us, the properties for quartz is about the same. Our requirement is a hard surface that is non-porous. We have also choosen the colour code 2141 (snow) that will finished with square edge and come with a backsplash. The sink will be under-mount as well. Here are some pictures how the quartz surface will look like for 2141 (snow). so u are getting the solid top separately??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twinpisces 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) admire ur boldness... u got a good wife... Thank you! I am a lucky man. so u are getting the solid top separately??? No, we select quartz as the material for our kitchen top. I was explaining the properties of quartz and why we select this material. Edited January 20, 2011 by twinpisces Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
