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Home / Quartz Countertops Strong Enough to Clamp a Baby Chair to

Quartz Countertops Strong Enough to Clamp a Baby Chair to

Quartz countertops are a popular option among many commercial projects like offices suites and breakrooms designs and among industrial designers and builders, since these part-natural, office-artificial countertops tin can be made to mimic virtually any natural rock, are highly durable, and are easier to cut, shape, and handle than natural materials like granite.

Quartz countertops are comprised of a combination of natural quartz pulverization/particulate, resin, pigments, and other fillers, though the primary ingredient is the quartz. Once formed and set using a process of heating, quartz is sturdy, durable against moisture, naturally resistant to the aggregating of bacteria, and easy to clean much like stainless steel countertops.

Different natural rock, quartz is non prone to dandy or splintering under bear on and is relatively like shooting fish in a barrel to cut to size/shape to fit the verbal specifications of an office, kitchen, lab, classroom, etc. If yous are up to the claiming of installing your own quartz countertops, it tin can be washed, but you'll need to be aware of a few key factors that will impact the success of your DIY installation.

First and foremost, be aware that quartz is heavy, typically weighing betwixt 18-25 lbs per foursquare foot of material. Most quartz slabs are produced at around 50 square feet, meaning that a single slab could counterbalance up to 1,200 pounds.

In addition to the weight factor, at that place are several other technical and safety considerations to exist made before you decide to install your own quartz countertops, which is what you'll learn hither in this article. At OnePointe Solutions, we are defended to helping our customers blueprint, build, and install the best and most practical furniture solutions for their commercial and industrial facilities past providing professional services and communication to clients wanting to exist more hands-on with their installations.

Here, we've created a basic breakup of how to install quartz countertops with tools and materials you tin detect at your local hardware store.

Tools for Installing Quartz Countertops

The first step to successfully installing any countertop or piece of furniture is to assemble all of your tools. While all the tools and equipment you'll demand to install your own quartz countertops can exist purchased from big hardware stores, many of these tools are difficult to use and recommended only for experienced professionals.

In particular, the cutting and rotary tools needed to achieve beautiful, precise, shine countertops can be extremely ambitious, and should only be used with circumspection and past individuals with a good understanding of the techniques required. Hither'due south everything you lot'll need:

Cutting Tools

Quartz is an extremely hard mineral, coming in at a 7 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, which rates diamond the highest at 10, and talc (the ingredient used in many pulverisation makeup products) the lowest at 1. Because quartz possesses immense strength, the tools needed to brand smooth, accurate cuts are considered relatively 'heavy duty' and ofttimes include diamond blades.

Some bones cutting tools used to cut quartz countertops include:

  • Stock-still circular saw
  • Plunge circular saw/wet saw
  • Diamond round blades
  • Grinder wheel/rotary rock cutter
  • Grinder diamond drum attachment

Smoothing Tools

Unlike some other materials that require more intensive sanding to achieve smoothen cuts, when cut properly using the right tools, quartz typically requires but modest smoothing/polishing. To smooth the edges of quartz countertops and to remove jagged edges that occur during cut, you will need:

  • Grinder bike/rotary stone cutter
  • Grinder polishing attachment
  • Polishing oil/Polish

Other Materials

In addition to the specialty tools used to cut and polish quartz, y'all will need some basic tools and materials that may already be sitting around your workshop. Here are the other materials you'll demand:

  • Cutting guide rail
  • Eye protection
  • Level
  • Marker tool
  • Masks/respirators
  • Measuring tape
  • Painter'south tape
  • Ruler
  • Sawhorses
  • Silicone adhesive/caulk
  • Speed square
  • Templates (cutouts)
  • Forest shims

Safe When Cutting Quartz

Working with power tools tin can be dangerous in any scenario, simply when working with hard materials like quartz, taking conscientious precautions to preclude injury is especially important. In add-on to the general hazards of cut difficult materials, the process of installing quartz countertops has its hazards related to the nature of the cloth.

Designed to not crack or split under the pressure level of cutting, flying pieces when cutting quartz are rare, simply it is nevertheless of import to exist aware of dust and flight particulate. Here are some basic safety precautions to take when cutting quartz countertops:

  1. Cut in a well-ventilated open area to forestall quartz dust from getting into other machinery, blanket walls, or beingness breathed by other personnel not wearing protective gear. Unless you are working in a workshop with industrial ventilation designed to handle quartz dust, it is all-time to cut quartz countertops outside to maximize airflow
  2. Use a wet saw to minimize the spread of grit and to create smoother cuts. Wet saws comprise a constant menstruum of water to suppress plumes of dust, simultaneously protecting both the blade of your saw and the cloth. Remember, using a wet saw won't eliminate all the grit, so be sure to clothing proper protective equipment fifty-fifty when wet cutting
  3. Clothing protective eyewear to keep dust and small pieces of quartz from damaging your eyes. Wearing protective glasses or goggles will as well assist you to have good visibility while cutting
  4. Wear a mask or other respiratory protection to keep dust from entering your lungs and respiratory system. Super-fine quartz dust can hands be breathed in without protection and could do serious harm
  5. Utilize heavy-duty supports to secure your quartz slabs before attempting to make whatever cuts. Quartz is heavy relative to materials like solid surface and could cause serious injury if a slab were to fall onto a foot or arm. Additionally, while quartz is durable, it may not be able to withstand existence dropped onto its full weight. Heavy-duty supports designed to hold heavy materials should always exist used
  6. Work with a spotter when cut quartz to ensure no falling pieces put y'all at risk of injury. A lookout man and/or other members of staff can help yous to secure your quartz slab, bank check all corners for placement, concur pieces to preclude slipping, and provide an extra set of eyes
  7. Clean up quartz grit as soon as possible. Fine particles of quartz dust have sharp, jagged edges that can tear upwards the lungs, so cleaning up immediately after cut is essential to protect anyone from accidental inhalation.

How To Cut Quartz

Similar in hardness to granite or marble, cutting quartz isn't like cutting wood or plastic, requiring more than patience, heavier-duty tools, and more advanced techniques. When done properly, quartz cuts smooth and evenly with little adventure of cracking or chipping, and you can create beautifully smooth directly and curved edges.

Here are some basic tips for making unlike types of cuts  to install your solid surface countertops:

Directly Cuts

Most standard countertops are rectangular with straight edges, so for almost applications, y'all volition simply need to brand straight cuts. Depending on the size of your quartz slab, you may demand to use either a stationary round saw or a manual plunge saw to maneuver more easily.

If non using a mounted/stationary saw, consider using a cutting guide runway to avert making mistakes. Here is the bones process of making a straight cut through quartz:

  1. Using a straight edge ruler and a marking tool, carefully mark where you intend to cutting. Remember: mensurate once, cut twice
  2. Stabilize your slab and identify a guide track using clamps if using a plunge saw. Double-check your placement with a speed foursquare and level
  3. Attach a diamond saw bract to your saw of choice. If possible, use a continuous blade since gaps can create uneven cuts in quartz. Set your saw to cutting the appropriate depth
  4. Starting a few inches from the edge, plunge your circular saw into the quartz on the cut-line, so push firmly frontwards one time you cutting through to the other side. If using a wet saw, start your water now
  5. Cutting through to the terminate and permit the saw to plow off and stop entirely before lifting the blade
  6. Smoothen the rough cutting edge using a grinder outfitted with a polishing zipper and oil

Curved Cuts

Curved cuts are the most technically difficult type of cut, especially since tools like jig-saws cannot be used on quartz. To make curved cuts in quartz countertops, you starting time will demand to brand a series of straight cuts before refining the edge with a grinding router.

Curved cuts may exist needed to create more elegant, sophisticated countertop edges or cutouts to adjust round sinks/appliances. Here are the basics of making a curved cut in quartz:

  1. Using a template and a marking tool, advisedly mark where y'all intend to cut
  2. Stabilize your slab. Double-cheque placement with a level
  3. Using painter's tape, record along the line of the bend
  4. Attach a diamond saw blade to a moisture-saw and ready to cut the advisable depth
  5. Kickoff on the border of the slab, make a direct cut ½ an inch from the edge of the bend until y'all accept removed a piece. Proceed making small direct cuts ½ an inch from the tape until y'all have removed all excess cloth
  6. Attach a diamond grinder drum to your grinder and choose where yous desire to begin. Using careful pressure, grind off the corners and sharp edges created by the straight cuts, and grind the border down every bit close to the record as possible
  7. Shine the crude curved edge using the grinder outfitted with a polishing attachment and oil

Cutouts

Standard cuts are fabricated from ane edge to the other, splitting a slab of quartz into multiple pieces. Cutouts are made by removing a small piece within the surface of the quartz table to adapt a drop-in sink or other appliances.

Cutouts create a negative infinite and do not involve cutting across the entire piece of quartz. Here's the nuts of creating a cutout:

  1. Using a template of your sink (or other appliance) and a marker tool, marker where y'all intend to cut
  2. Stabilize and level your slab
  3. Using painter's tape, tape forth the outside of the lines of the template, leaving the inside blank
  4. Adhere a diamond blade to your moisture saw and choose a place to brainstorm – not at the edge of the cut
  5. Start the saw and carefully plunge the blade downward into the material, lining upward the back of your blade with the dorsum edge of the template
  6. Carefully push forwards as you would with a standard directly cut, so stop when you reach the reverse taped edge. Look for the saw to stop completely before removing it, then echo steps 5 & 6 with the other sides of the cutout
  7. Shine and refine the inner edge using a grinder outfitted with a polishing zipper and oil

Installing Quartz: Step-by-Step

If you are feeling confident about cutting your ain quartz countertops, and have gathered all the tools you volition need, you lot are ready to outset the process of installation. Depending on the layout and needs of your facility, the exact details of your install will be a niggling different than our instructions here, just we encourage you to utilise this as a guide to get you started.

Follow these basic steps to install your quartz countertops:

one. Prepare the Area

Quartz countertops are installed using a silicone agglutinative, which can stick to and impairment the surface of other materials. Before you begin to install your countertops, protect the edges of your counter-bases with painter'south record. Whatever silicone overflow will stick to the tape instead of your counters/drawers, making cleanup super easy.

Additionally, now is the time to double-bank check that your counters are level, re-measure everything, and be sure that you have all structural elements under command. Once yous attach your quartz countertops to the base, yous'll notice information technology very difficult to make adjustments.

2. Cut the Quartz

Once yous know that your area is prepared, y'all can turn your attention to the quartz. In a well-ventilated expanse (ideally outside) make all cuts needed to become the slab to size and to suit accessories like sinks and plumbing.

three. Dry-Fit Countertops

Before you utilize agglutinative, dry-fit your countertops to make sure you have cutting them correctly and that everything fits. Check all edges, including any that should be fitted to a wall to ensure they are flush and level. After this step, remove the slab and set information technology bated.

4. Use Silicone Agglutinative

Moving carefully and swiftly, apply a silicone adhesive to the base of operations of your counters. Utilise plenty to ensure proper surface area and adhesion, merely not so much that you will take a major overflow. If the silicone does overflow, remove it from areas that have not previously been covered with record immediately.

v. Secure Counter

In one case your countertop is placed and glued, information technology is time to secure it with paw-clamps to prevent movement while drying. Be sure not to shift your countertops in the procedure of securing them, and but use enough pressure to keep them in place, not and so much that all the adhesive squeezes out.

vi. Finishing

Apply silicone caulk to any gaps or seams as necessary, assuasive all silicone to dry out for at least 24 hours earlier washing or applying pressure level. To remove dust and crud created during the installation procedure, launder the surface of your quartz countertops with warm soapy water and buff dry out with a microfiber material or soft towel.

Buy Custom Quartz Countertops with No Hassle

If the thought of installing your own quartz countertops sounds daunting, or you merely don't take the fourth dimension or tools to reach the task, hiring a professional to practice the work instead tin give yous even better results. Our install squad specializes in installing custom countertops along with building and designing furniture for clients in a wide range of industries.

Amidst the many services and products nosotros offer, customers can as well cull from numerous countertop options for your industrial, commerical, laboratory needs. Choose size, shape, configuration, special features and colors, and everything else to create a fully custom pick that will perfectly fit your needs. So if redesigning an part space or wanting to add a touch elegance to an industrial project, quartz countertops may merely exist thursday selection for y'all.

Need Quartz Countertops?

Give us phone call today at (866) 222-7494 or fill out a contact course today!

Quartz Countertops Strong Enough to Clamp a Baby Chair to

Source: https://www.onepointesolutions.com/blog/how-to-install-quartz-countertops/