Silestone®

What is Silestone?
Silestone® is a man made
product, combining resins and quartz particules to give a look and
feel more like that of Stone. Where stone slabs are never the same,
Silestone is a very colour consistent product and does not have the
veining or faultlines of Granite. Silestone, like Corian®
also gives their product a warranty. While it also has various
pricing levels, it should be considered to be as expensive as Granite
and sometimes even more.
Expect
about a 2 - 3 week waiting time from time of templating to time of installation.
Silestone has the sophisticated
elegance and timeless beauty of stone. The natural quartz in
Silestone delivers a distinctive depth, brilliant clarity, glimmering
radiance and cool, solid feel unique to natural stones.
Silestone can be used in virtually
any indoor surfacing application, including kitchen countertops,
bathroom vanities, tub and shower surrounds, backsplashes, floors,
walls, wet bars, tabletops, desktops, fireplace surrounds, and more.
Cosentino has built a reliable
network of dedicated distributors who deliver Silestone and service
customers throughout North America, including all metropolitan areas
in the United States, several regions in Canada, and now even is
expanding into Mexico and Puerto Rico.
In North America, Silestone is
available through approximately 3,500 retailers including a variety
of kitchen and bath retailers, cabinet shops, tile/flooring outlets,
designers showrooms, architectural firms, builders, and more.
Only three other natural minerals
diamond, sapphire and topaz are harder than quartz,
making Silestone naturally scratch-resistant. Quartz is a seven in
strength on Mohs Hardness Scale (diamond is a 10). So, while a
careless slip of the knife will scratch most other countertops such
as laminates and some granites, it wont leave a mark on
Silestone. Silestone is not scratch-proof, however, and can therefore
be damaged with excessive force or pressure.
Silestones polished surface
is non-porous and thus highly resistant to stains from coffee, wine,
lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, makeup, and many other common
household products. Unlike granite, Silestone does not need to be
sealed to keep its lustrous shine.
Unlike solid surfaces and
laminates, Silestone is heat- and scorch-resistant. It will withstand
limited exposure to heat without burning or scorching. The fire of a
lit match will not mar the Silestone countertop. However, as advised
by crockpot and electric skillet manufacturers, do not place these
items directly on any countertop. Always use of trivets when placing
hot items on a Silestone surface to avoid thermal shock.
Silestone has four times the
flexural strength of granite, making it less susceptible to chipping
and cracking than granite during transportation and installation.
Because it is non-porous,
Silestones polished surface doesnt need to be sealed.
Granite, marble and limestone, on the other hand, must be sealed on
installation and resealed regularly to prevent staining.
Courtesy of Silestone®