I have it with white inset cabinets on the perimeter and a gray stained island. I don't find that it looks green. I have found though that the gray does have blue undertones. It does also have VERY subtle carmel tones running through it. Though if anyone was to glance at it they would definitely say it was just gray and white and not notice the carmel tones at all. I am in Michigan so not too close. It has held up pretty well thus far. Everything has pretty much wiped right up including marinara sauce that has dried on, red wine, etc. There was a very subtle mark from some butter that sat on it for awhile but that eventually disappeared and NO ONE would have ever noticed it but me.

I'm following, as this is my plan for the upcoming kitchen remodel. Just went to talk to the fabricator today, and will be going to look for a white quartzite next week. Icskaisgir, any chance you could post a photo? Your island sounds like a pretty combination.

Also, are yours polished or honed?

Yes, I found several slabs of macaubus in my city with a nice white base color with mostly grey-blue and a few rust-colored lines running through it.

During my search, I called stone yards and asked if they had white macaubus that day and some did, but some didn't - instead they had calcutta quartzite (more of a grey base) or sea pearl quartzite (more green) or taq mahal quartzite (more gold), and they were calling all those "white macaubus quartize." They were beautiful, just not what I was looking for.

You will have to hunt around, but if you know you want a white base/grey-blue veins/a bit of rust...you will find it eventually. Now, I did find that some slabs had too much of a drastic amount of color-change, if that makes sense. Meaning, the lines of demarcation between the white and the grey-blue were too stark or jaggedy. I hunted and found a slab that had more subtle differences in coloration. You will be able to tell within 1 second if you like the slab or not.

I found that a lot of times the people at the stone yard really don't know what the stones are. I had done maybe 2 hours of research and already could easily identify that a stone was marble instead of the quartzite they said it was.

There is a thread called something like "granite, marble, quartzite for the kitchen" on GW that is helpful to educate yourself, especially to be able to tell the difference between marble and quartzite.

Now, the ones I liked were mostly from Brazil., There were some, I think from Italy, that had some lavendar in them. The were nice, but again, not the colors I wanted.

Here is a picture of my counter top of white macaubus quartzite.

I think the counter top posted by lcskaisgir is called calcutta quartzite, well at least that is what the stoneyards here called it. It has beautiful coloration of grey and blue/grey lines that go in a swirly pattern like marble, with nice movement. The macaubus lines are more straight/wavy, not with the same flow or movement. My designer told me it was too modern, but I like it. The calcutta quartzite is beautiful and I had a slab of that on hold for a bit while I was deciding. If you go to the granite yards yourself, you really will be able to tell which slab you love most.

Calacatta quartzite and macaubus are the same thing, one is cross cut and the other is not.

So Icskaisgir-am I right in thinking yours is cross cut? We are thinking of using white macaubus for our MBR and DH likes the cross cut better, although we both like either. I wonder what our chances are in finding a remnant.

Beautiful countertops, strayer and Icskaisgir.

Good question! I can't remember which one is cross cut! I just know they're both the same stone, just cut differently. I was more trying to comment on the coloring. Forgot that you were enquiring about the other cut w/straight lines when I posted the pics!

This post was edited by lcskaisgir on Tue, Feb 18, 14 at 18:44

strayer, that IS a beautiful island counter!

Mine isn't too green. I do notice a hint of blue/green to mine. It's also a bit like other's describe - I've got gray veining (it's actually more blackish on mine if you look closely) and it also has some caramel veining. I know that different slabs do have different undertones though because I lugged around a piece I got as a sample when I was backsplash shopping and it turns out the base color of the sample isn't the same as mine and actually the veining is a bit different too.

Icskaisgir, thanks. I didn't know that about how one is cross cut vs the other, but it makes sense because the coloration is the same. ln the pictures on Houzz, and other places, both types are pretty. And yours is beautiful!

To address the OP, I haven't seen green in the calcutta or the macubus stones that I have looked at, and I looked for over 6 months. The green came in more when I saw sea pearl, which is very pretty, but does have the green hue.

I think if you look for those 2 types of cuts, you will discover which one you like the best for your kitchen.

I wlil say this - I am not a designer or anything like that, but the straighter lines works well because my macaubus is only on the island. I saw a set of pictures on Houzz that had macaubus all over the kitchen. While it was beautiful, I thought the straighter lines didn't look as beautiful on the perimeter counters. If I can find the link, I'll send it to you. I am not using quartzite on the perimeter, so that doesn't affect me, but I think if I were I might choose the cross cut. It might look prettier on the perimeter. But I wouldn't mix the 2 cuts in 1 kitchen.

LLee2 - where did you end up selecting your slab?

I know this is an old thread, but I was hoping to get some feedback on the durability of White Macaubas. Has anyone had issues with staining or etching? What kind of maintenance is required? TIA.

For some very good information about quartzite (White Macaubas) vs marble, etching, scratching, staining, etc., refer to this thread.

We had Calacatta quartzite (crosscut version of WM) installed last December. The slabs arrived from Brazil polished (as I hear most are, this stone), but DH really wanted a matte finish. We had the fabricator hone, but have had issues with grit, inconsistent finish, etc. for several months. Just recently, they leathered on-site and it's much better. On to the sealing a couple of weeks ago: one type sealed 'just okay' for water, and not very well for oil (left a lingering dark shadow). As we speak, I've got a sample piece in my kitchen (sealed w/ another version) with oil, ketchup, mustard and soy sauce on it. The sample was better sealed for water this time, but the initial oil test still left a shadow. I'm trying again before I report back to our fabricator -- and the current sample already has three coats of sealer on it, as recommended by the distributor. (I've read on pro forums that this stone is rather porous -- perhaps the honed/leathered versions? -- and a couple of had to apply 3-4 coats of sealer.)

It appears, though, that most folks who have posted glowing reviews of MW quartzite had left theirs polished.

Highly recommended is to do lots of research, make sure the stone you're looking at is true MW quartzite, and ask lots of questions of your supplier and fabricator. Good luck!

Javiwa, I've been wondering about the outcome of your countertop issues. Glad to hear that your fabricator is still working to resolve this for you.

I LOVE the look of polished wm. I had planned on getting it for my house last yr, but when the slabs came in they were cracked, and looked pitted as if they had been left in the sun and weather for yrs. The place the granite yard got them from said they had 9 slabs, all from the same lot that all looked like that. I was discouraged, and knew that if I paid the kind of money it would have cost me, I would have been regretting a counterparts in that shape.

Since I was on a tight time line with remodel, and move into house, I got viscount white granite for kitchen and river white granite for baths. But I still drool over the pics like ssdarb posted.

romy: thanks for keeping my kitchen in mind; it's helpful not to feel alone. It's been months since we've had our cooktop back into the island and working...which means it's been months of running back and forth to our outdoor bbq grill side burner for our boiling/sauteeing needs. However, heat, humidity and mosquitoes are all upon us, so this back-and-forth is becoming difficult: I want my kitchen back. DH and I certainly could've continued to pop the cooktop in and out, but I'm afraid probability will catch up with us and the new cooktop will end up on the floor.

Having scoured GW and read the horror stories posted about countertop installations, I fully realize and appreciate my fabricator is on the 'good guy' end of the spectrum. However, the frustration is ever a part of our 24/7 day. We just have a very difficult time getting a return email, phone call or text back from this company (they're busy with other projects, "being pulled in all directions", etc.). It's always me/us initiating the contact as it is. Almost two weeks passed since the last time one type of sealant was applied and a new plan for testing another sealant was agreed upon. We've gone multiple spells of 4-5 days without water hooked up in the kitchen -- DH finally gets so frustrated, he re-hooks up all the plumbing (again and again and again). It's not a simple step as a faucet re-attach as we've got a reverse osmosis system set up -- so, dealing with tank, filters, etc. All doable, and we're fortunate we can DIY this stuff, but just fatiguing.

We continue to be nice, respectful, patient...trying not to be "those" customers. But I can't help but think lately if the nice guys aren't finishing last here. And as we've pretty much concluded that using the same qzite for backsplash is the best way to go (aesthetically), THAT project looms. I checked my notes: these tops were installed in early December...sigh....

elpaso: happy to hear you were able to move on, and hope you love your tops. I've learned there will always be beautiful pics/kitchens to drool over -- I think you made the right decision to pass on that batch.

N: someone posted recently about the edges of their MW showing signs of a creeping oil-like stain/shadow, so you might want to check those. I'll reference if I can find it. Again, it's just good to be informed. (ETA: I just found the posts about the edge staining on the MW -- just scroll through the same Countertop Geology thread I referenced above.)

Thanks for all your help Javiwa. Sorry it sounds like your kitchen has been a nightmare. I hope it gets resolved soon!

Hope you have resolved your issues with your countertop. Just a note about my experience with my white macaubus quartzite. I had it sealed on installation with StoneTech Bulletproof sealer. The first weekend, my husband sat a buttery spatula on the countertop. I estimate it sat on the countertop an hour and it left a large grease stain. I was quite surprised (LOL flipped out) that my $10K countertops were marred in the first few days. The stone company came out and applied a poultice made by StoneTech and it took about 4 days to pull the grease out of the stone. We then had it re-sealed. My husband is enthusiastic about cooking, but has made numerous oil stains in the past few months, so I purchased the product line and have used the poultice several times with good results. I maintain it with their cleaning product which also applies a small amount of sealer regularly. My research shows that most of the sealers won't protect against oil. The stone does darken with water left on the surface, but that dries out.

Chroma Natrix -- In the past couple of weeks, we did finally hit upon a sealer that protects against both water- and oil-based stains: Tenax ProSeal. Water and oil stains left overnight (or longer) wipe up with no darkening whatsoever. If you've found that the poultice works, I wouldn't go through the bother of moving to a different sealer as it'll require stripping with acetone -- really noxious stuff. And the Proseal isn't any better (gotta have windows wide open with a fan blowing, definitely). But it does the trick.

Thanks for the info. Worth knowing if we decide to change.

Lcskaisgir - do you have a picture of your countertop in slab form? I am currently looking into white macaubas. Love all the movement on your island.

Hi lcskaisgir,

Could you tell me where in Michigan you picked out your White Macaubus? I am interested in this stone and live in the metro Detroit area.

Thank you

Thank you! I live in Washington, MI, so not too far.

This product is beyond beautiful and an ease to clean. The look is clean but still interesting. I'm sure there are variations but here in Minnesota it is a lovely white with about three different shades of gray and a surprising tiny amount of chartreuse...which is so refreshing and its a very small amount hardly noteable. As for the green cast NOT at all. We are using it with a light gray cabinetry and an island of reclaimed gray handscraped barnwood. The product lends itself to many different types of styles like our farmhouse. The gray that is being used needs to be well chosen and many grays are very blue....a true gray is hard to find. Benjamin Moore (gray) is a good one.