karin_mt, you are awesome! I've been sifting through your threads for the past few days and can confidently say this is the most I've ever understood about science related topics... I did the testing you suggested (thank you!!) and here were my results: Our sample is a super white "quartzite"... We put red wine, ketch-up, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and a slice of lemon on sealed material (although our sales person couldn't specify how recently it was sealed and I know, from your education, that this won't help with etching just staining). We left everything for about 5 minutes and wiped it off and saw very very very faint etching, you could only see it on one extreme angle from the lemon juice and red wine and really only on the white parts. We left everything overnight and there were no stains at all, just etching. The worst etching was from the actual slice of lemon and you could see a faint out line and the white area seemed whiter to me. We did the glass test and it easily scratched a glass bottle. Only thing left for me to try is heat... My questions are: 1. If this material is closer to marble than granite, why didn't the red wine or red wine vinegar stain? I've not considered marble at all because of the staining factor and was really sad to hear that this super white would be along the same lines. 2. Why does the white in the super white etch more than the gray? In fact, I could hardly tell with the gray that it was etched at all. 3. If a true quartzite will not etch, then this isn't a quartzite... BUT if it's not staining, then is it not a marble either? Thank you!

Threeapples I haven't done anything yet. Just in the early stages of planning a remodel and only know I want white cabs and a whitish stone that isn't marble.Love it, but too afraid of the etching and staining. The Macabus is looking promising, but not sure I want something that linear. Will check out the crosscut. Never seen Danbury in person; yours looks beautiful. Gigi, what is your stone? Also love that and Shanghai's.

kim k: So, so sorry I didn't reply to your post. The grit/counter issues were resolved, sort of, in that I settled for a crappy job and had to move on with my life. The ugly details here, if you care to see/read. Scroll down to 6/10/2017, 1:08 p.m. post for the small claims update. The entire process has paralyzed me to a point where we are still without a backsplash. I'm so gun shy about hiring anyone at this point, DH and I have been contemplating DIY. I just need to get up the energy to find someone local (a master/certified tiler) who will take the job. (If anyone in the Houston area can recommend someone, I'm all ears. No disrespect to handyman-types who might do a great job, but I don't want to take any chances.) Over the past 18 months, I've turned my attention to something more gratifying and soul fulfilling than being angry about my kitchen: butterfly gardening! Butterflies will not fail you, people. :) --------- It you have specific questions, kim k, perhaps I can at least provide my experiences (i.e., are you considering having macaubus/calacatta quartzite honed?). I took these pics just now -- in many parts of the stone, these bright white veins (some of which I pointed out above) are still quite visible. (Click to enlarge.) Pic #2: The white arrow points to a pit I noticed this morning. So, I grabbed a safety pin and lightly scratched at the bright white spot in Pic #1: it very easily powdered up and resulted in another little hole. I'm so apathetic about my tops, I don't care any more about creating another hole -- at least it's in a relatively unused part of the counter run (but not less visible, as the area sits right beneath a window). So, perhaps stone that arrives polished should not be honed/leathered by the fabricator on this end. Dunno. But that would be something my fabricator should have realized and perhaps warned against -- i.e., that veins might be opened up, exposing, what, resin? I'm assuming that's what the white powder is. If Karin is reading this, perhaps she can advise: a quartzite vein shouldn't be powdering like this, correct? Or is it possible this powder does naturally occur? I just wouldn't have thought ANYTHING in a slab of quartzite would be affected by the head of a safety pin. And for anyone wondering, Tenax Proseal sealant did the job: our tops are very resistant to both water- and oil-based liquids.

I personally don't have a Quartzite vendor at my business but I do know a few fabricators that have worked with it and they tell me that its relatively similar to granite and marble as far as hardness and durability. However, like granite and marble it will need to be sealed on a regular basis because it is a natural stone it has porous surface so it is more prone to staining with things like coffee, wine, citrus and dyes. The other "downfall" to it being a natural rock is if you have a large area seams might be more noticeable. For example if you have a L shaped kitchen the corner might have a vein in one side but not on the other where as Quartz has the option to "book end" the corners so the vein flows from one piece to the other. There are hundreds of Quartz manufactures so if you dont like the ones you have seen check another brand. The ones I have found to look less "faux" have been Cambria and LG Vitera. But I only have a very small display floor so I have 6 different manufactures, so my opinion is based off of those 6.