Comment by woah
3 days ago
Engineered quartz looks like natural stone because it has depth and translucency, and each piece is somewhat unique because it is made by hand sprinkling various powders into a mass that gets pressed and cured. This is also why it sells for as much as natural stone. Porcelain may be physically superior but it does look like "printer paper".
> Engineered quartz looks like natural stone...also why it sells for as much as natural stone.
I mean, it doesn't actually look like natural stone, though. At least not the mid-to-high-end stones. (Or sell for as much as it.) The floor can be similar if you're looking at some of the cheaper natural stone options, but the ceiling is extremely different. And the really unique depth and transparency of natural stone pushes much more toward the ceiling. Engineered quartz looks like a composite with some tells. I did some extensive shopping for countertops last year, it very much has a specific look. It just looks *different enough& from entry-level countertop options people are most familiar with that it doesn't (yet) read "cost-cutting" to less-familiar renters or buyers. And it presents a lot of attractive durability aspects to people concerned with that re: natural stone. Eventually I have no doubt that it'll be prevalant enough—if not regulated away—that it'll be pattern-recognitioned as "2020s basic" kinda like a modern formica.
Porcelain is also not widely seen yet, which presents the same benefit (especially because many of the "basic"-grade/inoffensive options that flippers or apartment builders want have practically no depth to them even if they're true natural stone!).