Testing Quartz vs. Solid Surface Countertops | Our Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover

Join us on the countertop exploration part of our budget-friendly kitchen makeover - testing quartz vs. solid surface countertops! We've already upgraded our appliances, and now are in the process of replacing kitchen countertops (from current not-my-taste brown granite countertops). I got samples from Home Depot and broke out the big guns, scratching them with stainless steel utensils to test which countertop is most scratch-resistant, letting smashed frozen blueberries sit for 24 hours to test which countertop is most stain-resistant, and finally smacking the Dekton with a pot to see if it would chip! HA! Watch all the way through for a closeup of each sample, and see how quartz vs. solid surface vs. ultra compact countertops performed - I tested 3 types of Dekton (Ultra Compact), several Solid Surface (from Corian & LG Hausys Hi-Macs), and several Quartz (from Silestone, Caesarstone, and LG Hausys Viatera).
I hope this helps you in your decision making if you're currently considering replacing your kitchen countertops and are wondering what the best material for kitchen countertops is!
If you have a comment about which style you think would look best in our kitchen, or a type you highly recommend or advise against, please comment here or click through to our blog post to comment there (KZbin likes to disable our comments, boooooo): www.usjapanfam....
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[@kikibibi369]

Quartz is not heat resistant. What they mean is that it won't spread a fire, but you should not put hot pots and pans on it's surface.

[@TheEbyFamily]

We were thinking of going with the white hi-mac and now I have no idea which one to get 😭

[@reesenga9535]

Thanks for doing this. Helps a ton for us to make a decision.

[@hereforJesus]

Very helpful! Thanks!

[@USJapanFam]

In the end we went with white quartz and I hated it!! Metal left horrible marks I couldn't even put takeout aluminum trays on the counters! 🤦🤦🤦🤦 And I thought I was doing such good testing 🤷‍♀️

[@hereforJesus]

Oh no. Which brand of white quartz did you go with? What do you have now? I don’t think we can afford quartz, but I am too sensitive to the formaldehyde in Formica laminate countertops I was planning to get. Now I don’t know what we should do.

[@USJapanFam]

What about bamboo or another butcher block type?

[@hereforJesus]

I considered it, but don’t feel like they could be cleaned of bacteria enough. And the ones at Lowe’s also had a strong smell. I heard the glues used with bamboo can be strong. But maybe there are good brands out there. I think we are leaning towards solid surface, even though, from your video it looks like they can be scratched and stained. Did you find that the scratches with your measuring spoon could be removed?

[@USJapanFam]

Yes just had to scrub or use special cleaner and scrubber, was pain in the ass 😭