OT: Anyone have experience with Silestone or Cambria countertops?

[WDWMagicGirlie]

I know this is the budget board, and these countertops are quite expensive, but we are looking at making an investment and re-doing our kitchen. I was wondering if any of you have purchased either of these countertops? How do they wear? Is one better than the other?

Thank you for all your advice,

 

[marlynnp]

Well, I wouldn't know if one was better than the other as I only bought one counter top, lol. I have Silestone and I love it! Wear? What wear? I've only had it for about 3 years but it looks exactly the same as when it was installed.

 

[sunnyday123]

I dunno. I do know that I have granite and love love love it!!

 

[DebMcDonald]

I previously had corian and I think that is along the same line as silestone, but I could be wrong - but I loved loved my corian with built in sink.

 

[WDW4TheGirls]

We have Silestone and absolutely love it. I believe that Cambria is just another brand name, like Zodiac. We looked at laminate, Corian, and granite, and kept coming back to Silestone. There is no maintenance (as opposed to granite which you have to seal twice a year to prevent staining), which was perfect because we don't need another item on our to-do list!

 

[kbkids]

We've got Cambria, which yes, is the same thing as Silestone and Zodiaq. It is not the same thing as Corian, as someone else thought. We absolutely love ours!! I didn't want granite, as I didn't want to deal with remembering to seal it. I didn't want Corian, because I didn't want to worry about stains. We love the Cambria. I never intended to set hot pans on it, but I've done it a few times with no issues whatsoever. I've cut directly on it - though I'd be scared to go overboard. But the clincher, my cabinet guys cut the shelves too short on a set of cabinets, unfortunately, the one holding my glasses. I opened the door one day, and all three shelves collapsed, sending a jillion glasses crashing onto the countertop and shattering everywhere. I was so scared the counter would have tons of pits in it - but nothing!! Still as smooth as ever. I was definitely sold at that point.

 

[JennCa]

I have Caesarstone and they are all basically the same products. Ours is in perfect condition and that is the beauty of these quartz products. For price I would look at a few small countertop stores and get several quotes. We received 3-4 quotes when we remodeled our kitchen and price was more negotiable than I had thought. Of course, Lowe's and Home Depot won't budge on their pricing, but the little shops usually will.

Jenn

 

[Parkhopper_Vince]

We have Silestone and ADORE it! There is absolutely NO maintenance involved and I regularly clean mine with regular windex with no problems.

 

[2bearsmom]

When we put in a new kitchen in our previous house we installed the Silestone. I miss it so much! I loved it. I used it as my cutting board (but also received a small cutting board made from the countertop with attached scale that was awesome), nothing ever stained it, I put pots and pans from the oven right on it, used windex to clean it. I so wish I could have brought my kitchen from that house to my new one!

 

[WDWMagicGirlie]

Thank you ALL for answering my questions. I have officially decided to go with the Silestone! Looking forward to getting it all installed--going today to pick order everything!

Thanks again!

 

[Diogoj]

I know this is the budget board, and these countertops are quite expensive, but we are looking at making an investment and re-doing our kitchen. I was wondering if any of you have purchased either of these countertops? How do they wear? Is one better than the other?

Thank you for all your advice,

I like cambria because its an american stone! They also are very durable and cambria has more colors and all the same price! silestone changes price per color and also very expensive in some stones... Cambria countertops better colors, big selection of quartz

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I previously had corian and I think that is along the same line as silestone, but I could be wrong - but I loved loved my corian with built in sink.

Silestone is nothing like Corian. It looks a lot like granite.

We have silestone in our kitchen, which was there when we bought our house 5 years ago. I believe that it was installed about 7 years ago. It still looks like new with zero maintenance (no re-sealing required).

 

[mrsstats]

I have silestone and while I like it I am sorry that I did not get granite. I love the way granite shines and I dont get that same shine from silestone

 

[mpls_mm]

I like cambria because its an american stone! They also are very durable and cambria has more colors and all the same price! silestone changes price per color and also very expensive in some stones... Cambria countertops better colors, big selection of quartz

Nice first post...looks like someone figured out Google Alerts!
Yes they are an American stone, owned by an American company owned by Americans who some people think are weenies. Hard to work for, push their politics and right wing agendas on everyone. Some people buy for the product and some people DON'T buy because of the company that makes a product. But if you took a PR bath you might have to start resorting to random forums to bolster sentiment.
Cambria=good product, Buying Sun Country=good move, Owners=still weenies.
Silestone is nice also and probably my choice!

 

[JennSaint]

We have Cambria and love it! We built our house 6 1/2 years ago and our counters still look the same! I opted out of granite because of the maintenance and I'm so happy with the Cambria.

 

[njsweetP]

We had Silestone installed when we redid our kitchen about 7 years ago. LOVE it!!! For the pp who says hers doesn't shine try using Pledge Specialty Surfaces polish (silver can with yellow top)- it's safe for stainless, granite, natural stone and more.. I also use it to clean the cabinets and my leather sofa. This stuff is great for shining up and cleaning the countertop. I also use it to clean my Viking range. For those of you who have the Silestone what color do you have? Mine is Brazilian Brown.

 

[jrmasm]

We have Silestone and absolutely love it. I believe that Cambria is just another brand name, like Zodiac. We looked at laminate, Corian, and granite, and kept coming back to Silestone. There is no maintenance (as opposed to granite which you have to seal twice a year to prevent staining), which was perfect because we don't need another item on our to-do list!

We've got Cambria, which yes, is the same thing as Silestone and Zodiaq. It is not the same thing as Corian, as someone else thought. We absolutely love ours!! I didn't want granite, as I didn't want to deal with remembering to seal it. I didn't want Corian, because I didn't want to worry about stains. We love the Cambria. I never intended to set hot pans on it, but I've done it a few times with no issues whatsoever. I've cut directly on it - though I'd be scared to go overboard. But the clincher, my cabinet guys cut the shelves too short on a set of cabinets, unfortunately, the one holding my glasses. I opened the door one day, and all three shelves collapsed, sending a jillion glasses crashing onto the countertop and shattering everywhere. I was so scared the counter would have tons of pits in it - but nothing!! Still as smooth as ever. I was definitely sold at that point.

We have Silestone and ADORE it! There is absolutely NO maintenance involved and I regularly clean mine with regular windex with no problems.

Silestone is nothing like Corian. It looks a lot like granite.

We have silestone in our kitchen, which was there when we bought our house 5 years ago. I believe that it was installed about 7 years ago. It still looks like new with zero maintenance (no re-sealing required).

We have Cambria and love it! We built our house 6 1/2 years ago and our counters still look the same! I opted out of granite because of the maintenance and I'm so happy with the Cambria.

I cannot believe I am responding to a zombie thread.

There are many, many, many granites that do not require any maintenance.

 

[Debbie7452]

I think silestone is beautiful and a good choice, but the whole granite maintainance angst is overrated. I use a cleaner/sealer product once in a while. Of course, I do have a dark color of granite so stains are not a concern of mine. Maybe the light colors are more trouble. Anyway, granite was about half of the silestone price (2007).

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I cannot believe I am responding to a zombie thread.

There are many, many, many granites that do not require any maintenance.

I don't understand your problem. The OP asked for opinions, which many of us have provided. Feel free to skip posts which you feel are repetitive.

For those of you who have the Silestone what color do you have? Mine is Brazilian Brown.

I don't know the technical name for the color we have, but it is black with flecks of other colors.

 

[jrmasm]

I don't understand your problem. The OP asked for opinions, which many of us have provided. Feel free to skip posts which you feel are repetitive.



I don't know the technical name for the color we have, but it is black with flecks of other colors.

My problem is that the posts that I quoted seem to have at least partially based their decisions on false information. I do not think that anyone is trying to mislead any one here, I think they are passing on false information that they were given by a salesman, contractor, designer etc.

I really don't care what kind of counters people put in their homes. And I sincerely hope that whatever someone choses that they love it. It's a big investment and potentially a lot of money. It just frosts my pumpkin when people make decisions based b.s.


Add as a prior posted stated, IF you need to seal your granite it's wipe on/wipe off. NBD.