If it came from China, I would not do it. Remember the Chinese drywall?

Not a direct response to your question, however the quality of natural stone including quartz varies across regions - even a few hundred km apart. China is a huge country so it is difficult to generalise. If you know someone who is a GC, ask if they will give a small sample to you and ask the GC to test it for "hardness".

Never mind, I am not good at reading early in the morning...

This post was edited by schicksal on Sat, Nov 29, 14 at 15:06

At those prices, who cares? If it lasts a week and a half it'll be a deal.

I wish I could give you some sort of helpful response.

Lots of things are made in China, including iPads and iPhones, not generally considered inferior products.

You are talking about engineered quartz right? Not a mined stone.

You mention installation cost so I assume you aren't planning to diy this. Does the installation cost you mention include fabrication (ie sink cut-outs, etc)? Are you able to get references and/or see some of their installations? Do you have a GC and will your GC be hiring them? If you are hiring them, do they have insurance and what's their payment policy?

I admit that the very cheap price would make me skeptical. But price isn't a reliable indicator of quality, obviously. There are expensive things that are total junk and cheap things that are surprisingly good. I have had Target sweaters last twice as long as designer sweaters that cost five times as much.

I believe I have read here that the big three companies, Silestone, Cambria and Zodia, all use the same machines to create their engineered quartz slabs. Which essentially means the quality is the same. But I don't know that the Chinese producers use the same machines. Or maybe they don't start with the same raw materials. It might be helpful to know about those factors. I don't know that your suppliers will answer those questions?

You mention quartz from IKEA. Any idea who their supplier is? If that's your comparison I guess I'd want to know the same kinds of things about their quartz.

I'd be very interested in how it goes if you decide to go this route. We are in the the SF Bay Area and if stainless steel counters don't pan out, quartz is a contender.

I would love to see close-ups of the seams!

>You mention quartz from IKEA. Any idea who their supplier is?

Ikea just contracts out, like the other big box stores. In our area in the past they used Hanstone, now they use Caesarstone. There's no particular ikea brand of quartz. Displays in the stores are from whoever their local sub-contractor is.

Gigi, I sent you a PM.

crl - I've done some research on the manufacturers of quartz. Turns out that companies like Silestone, Caesarstone, and other big names license process technology from an Italian company called Breton, and use at least 92% quartz as the base. My understanding is that most, if not all Chinese quartz manufacturers use technology from a company called Keda, and the % of quartz in the base can be less than 92%.

In the Bay Area, Ikea told me that their supplier is Caesarstone. I will definitely be getting a small sample home of the Chinese quartz and subjecting it to a kitchen torture test before making a decision. Even then, there is always some risk with the unknown.

If it's made and china, and NOT a US company engineering it and over seeing like Apple, I still stand by what I said....NO way.

If it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't good. You get what you pay for

Andyscott, thank you for sharing your research findings!

Gigi- that looks great. I'm also in the area. Could you share info for your fabricator with me?

I would stay clear of chinese quartz...who knows what kinds of toxic chemicals they used to manufacture the quartz counters. Comparing counter made by some random company and iPads/iphones (whose production process and QC is very closely monitored) is not exactly valid.

What did you use after testing it? I found a wholesaler in my area and I am wondering if it is the same quality as big names...

I know this post is old, but I have chinese quartz in two bathrooms and it is good. I am very happy with it. I am in Bay Area too and got it in South San Francisco with my contractor who fabricated it and cut the sink out etc...

Monica, that is beautiful!

Well, maybe this will help bring the overall cost of quartz and other counters down.

any suggestions for bay area quartz fabricators? We have a pretty straight design and want a dark grey color. Thanks in advance

I have experience with Chinese "quartz". I would not recommend. After 3 years it began to stain badly. A glass left unattended, a glance from afar...it all stained! And it can not be repaired nor is there a warranty. We replaced after 4 years, using Cesarstone and a warranty...

@MonicaR - hello, reading this post a couple years later. Can you give an update to the Quartz from China on how its holding up?

I'm considering Chinese/South Korean quartz due to the price. Please can any owners who've had Chinese quartz, for a number of years, let me know whether it's still looking as good as new. Has it stained, marked, chipped etc? Thank you

We’ve had a couple of small knicks on the edges, not sure if that would happen on non chinese ones. For the money, it’s been great,

Edge nicks are due to fabrication and customer use/abuse, not material.

Cambria believes in a fair and free trade market where the quartz industry has a level playing field. To enforce existing US trade laws, tariffs were imposed by the US government as an enforcement tool against illegally dumped and subsidized product from the communist party dictatorship of China. China is a command economy wherein the Chinese treasury funds their manufacturing economics at nearly every level. The illegally traded materials are being state subsidized by the government of China. Cambria welcomes all competition born of free and fair markets, both domestically and abroad. For more information please watch this video: https://www.cambriausa.com/about-us/press-room/ 

I have silestone in my house and have nicked edge. I think it was during fabrication. I did the Chinese quartz in my rental condo and it looks great. Chinese quartz also varies in quality and price. If you are buying under $50.00 per sq foot, it may not be that grt. Although, I used cheaper and it seems to be okay so far.

Chipping is nearly unrelated to brand and origin, and is completely related to edge profiling and use.

Where to buy Chinese quartz in Bay Area? What are good brands?

H P:

Despite what the big players want you to believe, it's all the same stuff.

How come only chinese stores carry pre-fab quartz showel wall panels?

I am interested in these quartz countertops but have not seen such stores in Boston area where live. How do you find such stores selling inexpensive Chinese counterops?

How did the Chinese quart hold up now? Please let us know. Thank you

Looks great, we have two small chips in the edge, however.

@linnertime - Can you share the color and manufacturer? Hard to tell from the picture, but it definitely resembles the Arlington Grey (Best Cheer Stone) that we are getting...

Thanks.

Thanks @linnertime.

@monicar @lmoore7156 how do you quartz hold up? Is there any stain or problem? Thanks

@cambria do you have any 4x9ft prefab island?