I can answer about Silestone I have Silestone in the kitchen and have not had any pitting (knock on wood). It's been installed about 6 months. We are very HARD on our countertop. I didn't put this in my kitchen to baby it, trust me, lol

I like movement, so I'm using granite.

If I disliked movement, I'd probably use silestone or equivalent.

That said, in most markets, silestone will cost more than most granite.

If you are going with a pale counter, silestone may resist stains better than some granites.

Some [not all] granite should be sealed: not a big deal, but still...

It's really an issue of personal taste rather than functionality. Both are fairly equal in functionality. (I'm among the group that doesn't like the Microban additive either, but I don't like having to seal granite either, good think I have lots of cutting boards!)

Go to a couple of yards and look at the slabs as whole pieces. For me, granite was the clear winner aesthetically. The beautiful natural movement of even a very regular granite like Tropic Brown will never be equalled by a manmade product. And, if you are blown away by the swirly swoops of the more exotic stones, then manmad stone will never again make it onto your radar.

On the other hand, if you like a very regular appearance and light colors, an engineered stone may be just what you're looking for. But, it's aesthetics, and that's going to be up to you to figure out.

Both are beautiful, shiny and practical. Silestone has a smaller, more even pattern. We considered it but DH felt the continuous pattern looked man-made, and if we were leaving the formica behind we should just go organic all the way. He compared it to the way laminate flooring looks compared to real wood (no insult to those with wood laminate, its beautiful.). Granite has more depth.

If however, you are looking for something white in color, then I agree with Oruboris, go with the Silestone. My neighbor wanted a white stone countertop and their Silestone looks great.

Thanks for the responses....sooooooooo much to think about.

Another question about color. We have oak medium stained cabinets and hard wood floors, neither which we are changing. I'm wondering about needing some "color" in my kichen. Do I need to pick a counter with some color, blue for instance, and play off that? Or could I use a counter with strickly neutral colors and bring in any color I like for window treatments, etc????? Most of the pictures I've looked at do not have curtains. We have a simple galley style kitchen with a breakfast area at one end with a LARGE bay window and I'd like curtains of some kind.

I need decorating tips please. Thanks

I also started out planning on using Silestone...one of the blacks or grays (Stellar Night or Ebony Pearl). But, after looking at the granites, I found myself drawn in...

Now, I like a regular appearance and, for the most part, I don't like veins; but, when I saw Diamond Black and Black Galaxy, I couldn't go back to the Silestone. Yes, Stellar Night is similar, but there seems to be a depth that pulls you in with the granites that isn't in the engineered stone. DH still wants quartz but I'm working on him! As to price, the Black Galaxy, Diamond Black, and Stellar Night are all around the same price so price isn't a determining factor between the granite & quartz.

BTW...the only veining I like is in soapstone...I like the look of deep black with white veins like in the Black Santa Rita Venatta. But DH likes it even less than the granite.

I was also dead set on Silestone until I went to a granite yard and looked at slabs. As others have said -- once I saw all the movement and depth in the natural stone, I couldn't go back to the consistant look of the silestone.

Convincing DH took a little doing though as he was concerned with the granite staining.

:-)
Liz

My gut is telling me granite because of the natural beauty. My head is yelling silestone because it seems to be a little less worrisome, staining issues, etc, etc. DH is more swayed toward silestone but is giving me the freedom to choose. UGHHHHHHHH!!

Silestone is fabulous and it is easy to deal with and clean. But I chose granite. I chose granite because silestone just seemed too fake to me. Too uniform and it felt just a little cheap (which it obviously is not). But, you can't go wrong with silestone...I just went with granite for the looks and the feel of it.

I"ve had Silestone for about 6 years. We in in Fla (can you tell from my screen name?) and there has been no fading or yellowing. Our stone is light, with blue and reflective silver flecks. Can't remember the exact name right now. Anyway, I've cut on it when lazy, taken hot things out of the oven and placed it right on the counter top when in a pinch, and struggle for find dirt on it. I'm a hands on love to cook for any and all... spur of the moment... informal girl. Love the colors of granite but Silestone works best for me and the way I live. Hope that helps you. I'm wondering, and placed a new thread but yet to receive answers... does anyone have pics of the Silestone leather? I'm going to redo in the summer, with new cabients and new SILESTONE counters; and was curious about the leather. I"m saving these counter tops to be refabricated when I redo my master bath.

As with most everyone else - I think it's personal choice. Once I started seeing the granites with "movement" and the depth of colors I was seriously hooked. There was no going back - I'm a granite junkie. When any friend is re-doing a kitchen, I immediately volunteer to accompany them to the granite yards! However - If I liked a more uniform look, I'd have no problem going with Silestone.

I am now on my second kitchen with Silestone and I love it. I love granite, but not in my kitchen; I am too ADD to have the swirls and lack of uniformity confronting me every day. *LOL* I prefer a more uniform pattern and for my counter to blend in, not stand out. So I chose Silestone.

I think it comes down to what look you are trying to achieve, because both surfaces are excellent choices.

We had Silestone at our last house, and I loved the no-maintenance aspect of it. I too cut on it, put hot plates on it, really did whatever I wanted and it performed like a champ... no pitting. Now we are reno'ing and I am undecided what I'm going to do. I think I'm doing granite on my island and something else on the perimeter counters. Maybe quartz, or maybe Durango (travertine). Would this be an option for you at all, to do 2 different surfaces?

nowwhat - why not take your husband to a couple of granite yards? hopefully he'll go through the same transformation all of us posting we changed plans from silestone to granite did. :)

I'm going with the silestone or quartz because I don't want to have to worry about any maintenance issues. I've lived with formica for 20 yrs. and it's served me well. I'm sure the silestone or quartz will do the same.

brutuses.....I know what you mean about the formica and silestone. I'm sure I'd be perfectely happy with the silestone, it's just that granite is so pretty. We got a rough price estimate on both products and there was not a significant difference. If there was this decision would be a lot easier:)

Just a voice here. We have Ivory Coast granite in our kitchen and Carmel Ceasarstone in our guest baths. Guess what- I sort of wish I had done a ceasarstone in my kitchen too. The ceasarstone looked better "en masse" than it did in a sample and it is so easy to take care of. My granite has fissures and pits that you can't feel but you can see when the sun hits it at a certain angle. And it is too busy for me. I would have done corian because it is so peaceful lookingbut everyone said no, no, no so I folded. I couldn't do a dark granite like black galaxy which I love and have in the powder room as my kitchen faces north and is pretty dark to begin with. I guess I wish I had done the ceasarstone that looks klike limestone.

Hi nowwhat,

I'll pass on to you the excellent advice someone else gave me: Go with your gut; but if you haven't seen something that makes your heart beat faster and your eyes light up, then you haven't found the right thing yet. There's just too much time and money involved to accept ANYTHING unless you totally LOVE it, or can afford to swap out.

I was absolutely obsessed with this same question for weeks, if not months. First I'd swing one way, then the other; and like you, the price difference is not enough to tilt me one way or the other. And DH (the DIY Guy) is even lobbying hard for concrete, so there's that to consider too. But the minute I laid eyes on the RIGHT material (Seaweed Green granite :-), I knew the search was over. I may have to settle for concrete for a few years if we can't manage the granite initially, but I know want I want and I have a game plan. :-)

Best of luck finding the thing that knocks you right off your feet!

------------------ Trilby

I went with Silestone for a few reasons..

I don't want to seal...I want to put hot stuff/stainy stuff on my counters..well I don't really want to, but that happens and I'd like to not worry about it...I've had silestone for 2 years and have done everything to it and it looks great! The newer styles to me look more like a stone product that in years past. The chemicals you seal granite with cause me more concern because I cut my chicken right on the counter...wouldn't want it being an issue with either the chicken seeping into my granite or the chemical coming off on it...

Here's my new counter in Antique Gold I think is the name...

Tara

I've seen a couple of people stating that they put hot pots directly on their silestone. Just a warning - please be careful doing this. I have seen a silestone surface that has marred from a hot pot. You could see the outline of where the pot had been and it could not be repaired. The top had to be replaced. This was 2-3 years ago before Cosentino changed their marketing to no longer say heat proof, so they agreed to replace it since they had advertised it as heat proof. I just looked up their warranty and it does not cover heat damage.

I'm not weighing in on granite vs silestone because it can be risky to put hot things directly on any countertop, I would just hate for someone's countertop to be ruined.

Pompeii, I agree about not putting anything hot on either of these countertops. I have put a not too cool cookie sheet and nothing happened, but I try not to go from oven to counter most of the time. That being said, my friend had an awful crack on her granite after putting a hot pot on it.

I have granite on our vanity and it already has pitting and a chunk broke off at the edge. This is the second time I'll be calling them in to make that edge look better, "sigh." Could happen with the Silestone or any other stone if something hits the edge.

I think you either want granite or you don't. After having my Silestone counters and granite vanity top, I can safely say that you will tend to move on and forget this nonsense about dreaming, falling in love, running your hand all over, and will GET A LIFE,LOL. It's ridiculous really. Life is full of a lot more than our kitchens.

Best of luck.

Mari

I love the look of natural stone so it was more about my trying to talk myself out of granite based on practicality.

What I learned in these forums is that I could find a granite that was beautiful and that didn't need to be sealed so that it wouldn't stain. I did that by testing samples and it's worked out great.

I'd like to add a few things about the Granite vs Silestone...

First, you can put hot pots directly from the oven/cooktop on granite. Granite comes from the hot layer of magma deep inside the earth where it has been subject to temperature degrees in the thousands with high pressure. Your casserole cooked at 375 degrees is nothing to Granite. But even if your uncomfortable, the fabricator can create a cutting board for you from your slab to keep on your counter. Not to cut on, but to place things on.

Second, the dark dense colors, such as the deep dark greens, blacks and browns do not need to be sealed-ever! They are too dense to even absorb the sealer and they do not absorb liquids or stain.

Go with what you like. Neither material will be damaged with typical kitchen use. There is not a big price difference. As Trilby said, when you see something that makes your heart beat faster, you've found it. Neither surface is wrong!

susan, pompeii is right that you don't want to put hot stuff on engineered quartz because the polyester resin can be marred from the heat. Likewise, the cautions about putting hot stuff on granite are also correct. You're right that granite has been tempered at pretty high heat in the earth's core. However, the problem is not the material but really the lack of it - ie. at the fissures which are endemic to natural stone. IF your granite has a fissure - which you may or may not know about - and water gets into it (which, being a kitchen, it can), then putting a fire or oven hot dish ontop of that fissure will cause the water to rapidly boil into steam. Not a problem to the stone part at all, but it is to the water within the fissure. Even that part wouldn't be a problem if that steam can escape. But, with your hot pot over it, it can't. This steam which wants to expand beyond the volume of the liquid in that fissure can quickly become high pressure stuff and that can cause a crack in the granite. It won't shatter and shard into smithereens, but it can certainly expand that crack as the steam attempts to escape. THAT is the caution about hot stuff on granite. Beyond that, not so much.

I like very uniform, movement-less designs too. However, I too, got sated from the uniform silestones and caesarstones when I found some very sedate natural stones that I loved. I went with a black granite and I love it. Makes it wonderful when I have to clean it which I do every day and I truly love cleaning it then. And I've had the stone for 2.5 years now and I really love it. No regrets either on form or on function.

BTW, in a pinch, I too have put hot stuff on it. I don't plan to make a habit of it, but in a couple of instances, when I wasn't ready or properly balanced, I have put hot stuff right on the granites.

Mindstorm, Thanks for the explanation on putting hot stuff on granite-very informative. I will certainly use the "cutting board" my fabricator gave me to put hot stuff down.

Also, I have dark granite. I thought I was looking for peacock green, but ended up with something unusual. Its some kind of cross between Peacock Green, butterfly and Uba Tuba. It doesn't show crumbs, but sure does show fingerprints. Funny though, like Mindstorm, I actually like cleaning it!

What about the issue of "shock" that can cause a crack in granite if you put something hot on it? I don't know when this supposedly happens. but in the past I saw disclaimers from sellers of granite for cracks that result from this, supposedly caused by putting something hot on cold granite.

Sue

I have granite in a bathroom and my kitchen. The light granite in the bathroom shows watermarks (which dry and fade away but annoy me none the less). The darker granite in my kitchen is very pitted (and very resined). The busy pattern hides fingerprints, stains, etc. But I find the pattern to be a bit much to live with on an every day basis.

If I did it again, I would use quartz in both rooms.

Trapped steam is not likely to be an issue in granite. The problem is uneven heating. a hot pot will heat and expand the area that it is on. the surrounding granite is cool and doesn't expand. This creates a lot of stress and can easily crack the granite. If there are fissures and other discontinuities in the granite, that just means it will take less stress to crack it.

If you can slowly and evenly heat your whole counter top to 3000 deg. F, It probably will not crack.

qwerty, granite is a very good thermal conductor. Put something hot on it and it will dissipate the heat throughout itself quite rapidly. Unless, of course, the presence of said discontinuities. Your explanation would explain thermal fatigue in brittle substrates that are poor (thermal) conductors - such as glass. :-) That can crack when exposed to thermal shock for reasons just as you describe.

It sounds to me like you have natural products in your kitchen, oak cupboards, wood floors. I just see granite working much better there. Do a google search and see what the granite named "Purple sand dunes" looks like. No, don't worry, it is not purple, but it has some sort of garnet color in it and when that is used in conjunction with a medium colored oak, it really adds to the richness of the wood, brings out more of a red or rust tone, not purple. It has quite a bit of movement too.

Do not do your fabrics until the end. Pick your granite and backsplash and then have a designer out. Tell them about your likes and have them help you pick out a color for your walls, for accents and for fabrics. You can always find a color of paint or fabric that will tie your countertop, floors and accents together. That can not always be said about finding a countertop to match the other stuff. You will really limit yourself if you get all the other stuff first and choose your countertops last. As long as you get a designer that tries to find what you want and does not try to sell you what they like or what is the "in" color of the week, then they are worth their weight in gold.