Calypsochick, I am with you! I continue to war in my mind about what countertop material . . . I would love, love, love to be using carrara marble, but not sure it would work with my lifestyle. But every other option is also a compromise, and none seem quite right. Argh!

What are you going to do?! Or what are you leaning towards?

Hi calypsochick - there was a similar thread a few months ago. Someone posted that they had all kinds of problems with their quartzite sample. A number of us with white quartzites chimed in that ours have held up very well. I think the consensus was that there is real quartzite and what some people call quartzite but really isn't.

The experts will chime in I expect, but quartzite is harder than granite. My fabricator had trouble with it because it took so long to cut and went through so many blades. When he first heard I had ordered quartzite he told me that he thought "oh, that soft stone." He was shocked when he started working on my quartzite, because soft it ain't.

We've only been using our counters for 6 or 7 months, I babied them for a few weeks, but now not at all. No issues. Nothing seems to stain them, I have seen no scratches, etc. I'm sure if I tried really, really hard I could damage them. But ordinary wear and tear is no issue, not yet anyway.

I would keep looking, try other quartzite's from different yards perhaps?

Hi Calypsochick, I hope that the quartzite does end up being more durable than your stone yard suggests -- I'm also considering it and have the same concerns you have.

I recently ordered a sample of Misty Carrera Caesarstone and I wasn't that attracted originally to the color -- sort of dull and blah, not at all luminous like marble. Then, I saw a complete installation of it in my neighbor's kitchen and really liked it. She had it on the main counters with granite on the island. Misty Carrera provided a very nice, subtle, matt backdrop to her slightly arts and craft vibe kitchen (white wall cabinets with cherry for the base) and seemed to help all the other elements come together and blend in a really nice way.

I don't know if it is the right countertop for your kitchen. But I did want to let you know that a large expanse in context looks much better than the small sample.

By the way -- your cabinets are pure perfection!

Were the people who end up going through with the white quartzite also originally having problems with the sample but went through with it anyway?

I'm going to have to stick with the same yard because we've already put down a chunk of money. But we can basically choose whichever stone. They had a few different quartzite samples. I took three, two white ones and one gray one. The gray one definitely holds up much better in comparison to the white ones. But of course I covet the white ones! After this whole debacle, our designer was strongly urging us to use Caesarstone.

And I don't understand the whole thing about quartzite being stronger than granite. Why would these three salesmen say the complete opposite?? So frustrating.

Franocise47--(Thanks about the cabinets!!) I feel the same way about the Caesarstone. Misty Carrera seemed a little...dull and underwhelming from the sample. But people say when they see an install, it looks nice.

I received a lot of mixed messages when I was looking at quartzite (some places even called it granite.) I can only guess that some of the yards have not been carrying it for very long so don't have years of experience, or that the properties of quartzite, like any stone, depend on where is is quarried and what it is actually made up of.

We have had our honed supreme white (also called super by the same place :) for a couple of weeks. We are still babying it a bit (quickly wiping acid like tomato or citrus) but honestly it seems pretty durable. The honed surface has variation in the finish - the small quartz pieces being shiny - and our piece has lots of contrast so I think it would be hard to find anything on it (I have to rub my hands along to see if it is dirty, I can't see it :)

I would suggest you have sealer put on your sample to see how it would be when installed (assuming you are going to seal it.) FYI - I didn't do testing on my sample because I wanted & seriously considered marble and knew that the quartzite could only be better than that. There was also some write ups about positive results on quartzite samples - I am sure it was the only ones I would read (not the negative :)

I hope one of the stone experts will chime in.

Didn't somebody post that there are stones out there being called quartzite, but there were 2 names in particular that are the hard bullet proof quartzite. All the others are a softer marble-like stone.

I have grey quartzite tiles in my entryway that I layed (and cut) myself. I can tell you these are strong as steel and dulled my diamond tile blade faster than anything I've ever seen.

But, taking a scissors to anything is "going to leave a mark", as they say. ;)

There are a lot stones that are NOT quartzites that are being marketed as such. Quartzite is harder and denser than granite.

First time I showed up to a stone yard looking for quartzite i was told it scratches and stains and cuts like sugar. So I was discouraged and stopped looking but I did some more reading and realized that couldn't have been a quartzite. My luce di luna i was told eats up the bits used to cut it because it is so dense and hard.

The installer told me my 90 x 40 island piece was the heaviest piece of stone he's ever lifted because of the density. Look up the properties of natural quartz to know how quartzite should behave.

Totally agree with what everyone is saying, I think there is a lot of confusion and mis-identification going on with quartzite since it is rather new. Our madre perola has been bullet proof. My fabricator said "crap, this is seriously dense stone, which was bad for me but will be good for you." :-)

I talked to one more person at the same granite place, and she said the Classic White quartzite I like is in between a granite and a marble. She said it is better and not as soft as marble, but not as strong as granite. I guess we can all agree on that part definitely, right? So maybe if that's the case, I'll just go for it! Eeek!

The samples I have are obviously not sealed, right? I did stain tests, and one of the white quartzites I had did not stain, the other one did, and the stain seemed to sink in below the surface. Is this because it's not sealed?

She then told me to check out Mountain White Danby. My designer had also recommended this to me, saying it was better in terms of resistance, etc. than regular marble. I've read a few things here and there which seem to verify that. The woman at the granite yard told me it will be the same in terms of durability as the white quartzites I like.

Can't believe I'm scrambling at the last minute!

There was another quartzite thread a few months ago, see below.

Also a thread on Danby marble tests -- I don't know if this is one of the things you read (cut and paste),
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0708412930186.html

Becky

Here is a link that might be useful: Previous thread/Stone experts: What's up with quartzite?

I found 3 slabs TODAY of "super white" quartz and am considering it for my island. I wanted marble, but it wouldn't hold up to DH and son. I am spending the weekend obsessing over the decision, and hoping to put a deposit down on Tuesday. Now the question is, to hone or not to hone???

Ourbigdig--love your slab! Honed is the bomb :)

After all this, and changing my mind and telling the granite people to not cut the stone, we ended up going with a granite called Moon Night. It sort of looks like the photo above from ourbigdig. We looked at two white quartzites, and although they were beautiful, I went gray!

Ourbigdig - Honed! Are you in Boston? Your slab looks quite like mine that was from Marble and Granite down south.

Check out the posting which includes my story about how I ended up with honed supreme (super...whatever) white quartzite and I am thrilled/so glad that we did not get the polished (though I suspect I would be biased the other way if we ended up with polished.) There was some other discussion that talked about honed quartzite that you can search for.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to my story about honed quartzite

Jessica Jones - Had your supreme white not been sealed at all; or did you add additional coats of seal?

We have quartzite in out kitchen and bathrooms. I forget the name of it but it is white and grey. We were also told that it was hardy and held up better than granite. Four years later, we have several scratch marks and dull spots from cleaners. I have no idea what the sealing process involves, but maybe there is a problem with that product???