PS I understand about not wanting to baby a piece of stone. You can do tests on a piece to determine whether you have marble or not and also tests to see how much staining you are likely to get- most people report very little staining with their marble, so I would not expect much with the much heartier quartzite. But test away and see what you think. Do not the anyone's word - test your sample.

The company where I'm buying it from they told me shadow storm was quartize. I'm confused

juanbecerra205, if you had spent a bit of time researching this issue, you would understand that the sellers really don't care what they stone is. They just want to sell it to you. And labeling it as quartzite vs a marble, will make it much easier to sell.

It's marble.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/shadow-storm-marble-or-dsvw-vd~3923991

https://forum.stonefabricatorsalliance.com/viewtopic.php?t=24869

http://www.stonecontact.com/shadow-storm-marble-slabs

Sadly, Shadow Storm is yet another example of a marble mis-labeled as a quartzite. Sorry to hear that, norahardymiller!

As an update to my question in June 2017 on whether to buy Shadow Storm (a hard marble is what I've been told) vs quartz - I went with the marble. I have sealed my marble once. Staining has NOT been an issue. We have had parties and red wine was spilled and then sat, soy sauce, etc. No issues there. What I have found is you have to be careful with citrus because it will etch. I have the honed surface so you can't really tell. Also, there are a few small, minor chips around the sink. I cook at lot and we are constantly in the kitchen - have had caterers in here and hosted my cousin's rehearsal dinner this past summer. So, all in all, I really love it and I'm still glad I bought it for anyone on the fence. It is really beautiful and I love looking at it everyday. I also did a Fairy White (I think) marble for my bathroom counter and love that as well. No issues there and have colored my hair once or twice (using dark brown hair color). I have had no chipping in their either. Hope this helps!

cyc 2001. yes here it is

cyc 2001. yes here it is

This is our Marble in Shadow Storm.

I've had my SS installed since the end of last summer. We live normally & do not over-baby it. Still perfect! Would never go back to another.

Chisos, that is so good to hear! I just can't walk away from Shadow Storm. It's so luminous. The quartz samples I tried felt static in my particular kitchen, but I'm nervous about how SS will hold up to real-life wear and tear.

I have no regrets. I had it installed in laundry/mud room and throughout kitchen. There is only one tiny chip on edge around sink where my husband chipped it with a cast iron skillet. But he only has one eye bc he lost the other in an accident years ago - therefore he has no depth perception. Not a biggie. It is very tiny chip and I took sandpaper and smoothed it. We have no stains or etching, but if we did, I don't really mind at all. The thousands of tiny sparkles make me smile every time the sunlight hits the counters.

Just curious if your countertop is honed or not? And how often do you seal it? Thank you!

Mine is not honed. I asked about honing but my stone yard and fabricator told me it would affect the appearance of the sparkly crystals - which I love! To me it looks like new fallen snow crystals and I would have cried big first-grader tears if they were not front and center.

Mine were sealed with Tenex Ager by the fabricator when he installed them over a year ago. I have an unopened can of it for when I feel I need to reseal.

But after over a year, I still do not need to.

I do not have any etching or stains so far.

We do not baby it but we are also not careless with it. We treat it like we treat any other item in our home (ie leather furniture, wood furniture, etc) - meaning we don't abuse our things.

Mine is honed and I was told to hone so that etching and water stains would not stand out. I'm not sure how true that is. After two full years, staining is not an issue at all. You can still see the metallic sparkle pop through, albeit probably not quite as much as if it were polished. I do not think the quartz is as nice and doesn't pop the same way. The only issue I have had is chipping here and there - like I was putting a wine bottle in the recycle bin (inside the cabinet) and I accidentally hit the side of the counter with the bottle and a little piece chipped off...it was random but that is what will happen. I still love it! And have the same marble backsplash in herringbone.

Very helpful! Thank you, ladies.

Jessica, are yours a leathered honed or a smooth honed?

So pretty, gosh I love the smooth and leathered equally, but our builder is actually not letting us get marble! Says its a liabilit, like let me choose what I want ughhhhh

Our builder tried that too. Here’s the deal - it’s your house and your money. You do what you want...not the other way around. Our builder pissed me off so much I brought in my own subs for much of the house. So don’t let them bully you. They don’t have to live there....so do what you want!!

girlslovejeeps - it's warranty issue I imagine. I would bet that they have had enough experiences where previous homebuyers claimed defective materials because their marble etched or stained....so the best way for them was to no longer offer it. People are just stupid enough to not understand the issues you have to accept if you choose marble.

We are getting ready to purchase shadow storm. anyone have any updates? Still happy you chose shadow storm? or big regrets??

Me too! I love shadow storm And would love to have an update. The countertop place I went to today said that it is quartzite it’s just a softer quartzite because of how much white is in it. I guess the more white the softer the stone. They said it’s not as soft or porous as marble. 🤷‍♀️

I, too, have fallen in love with SS but am so worried about etching/staining:/ Can anyone who has lived with it comment?

Thx!

It will definitely etch, because it's marble. I'm not sure about the porosity of Shadow Storm, but users above all have pretty good reports as long as it's sealed well.

We've had ours since 2016. We haven't had it etch yet. We are pretty clean and wipe things up as we go while cooking. I do know someone that did have theirs etch because they left lime juice on it overnight. It was still hard to see. You had to look at a certain angle to see it. We have chipped ours a little on one of the edges. I will say that I love it it and don't ever regret choosing it.

I have what looks to be shadow storm marble. I was told by the stone yard it was a marble. We had it installed on every countertop in the house. I fell in love immediately and haven’t regretted that decision one day since installation 6 months ago. We have no staying and 3 droplet etches from a runaway lime. Hardly noticeable on the polished surface.

Damn you, runaway lime. <shakes fist>

Thanks for the updates from both of you!

Can someone tell me exactly what etching is? Thanks.

That's when the acid in citrus or even water eats away at the calcium carbonate in the stone, creating a dull spot. More.

I wanted to add that we are currently doing a

remodel. I chose honed Danby marble that is out of Vermont. It is beautiful.

Nice choice! I'm a fan that one and it's from the USA, which is always nice. :)

Reading through this thread I noticed that some have already mentioned this, but since the thread is so long it might be good to keep the distinction clear. Marble and Quartzite look very much alike. However, they have very different properties and need different care and maintenance. For years though, marble has been mislabeled as being quartzite and then when the homeowner uses it, finds themselves contending with issues that they would not have had with quartzite. We wrote a brief post about this in our Stone Care blog: https://careforstone.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/making-the-term-quartzite-crystal-clear/ 

Our post references an article written by geologist Karin Kirk, in which she delves into the nitty gritty of the differences. If you prefer longer reads, her article is here: http://usenaturalstone.org/definitive-guide-quartzite/

We posted the information because we feel it is important that consumers know what they have so they can care for it properly. Hope the information helps readers.

I have had my Azurocare Shadow Storm for about 4 weeks. Its beautiful. Has not etched or stained even though I do not immediately wipe it when cooking. Liquids bead up. IDK if its the Azurocare or the marble itself. Probably a combination. It replaces Carrera.

@Lustro Italiano, Karin is a regular (and valued) contributor here. See the post above yours, that's her!!

We consider it more like marble but hold on........

Being a stone refinisher that deals with this question on Shadow Storm regularly, here's my take. As previously mentioned, stone labeling is not always accurate. Kind of whatever it is labeled somewhere between the quarry/importer/distributor/fabricator tend to stick UNLESS someone properly tests and accurately labels the stone.

When we are called to service a counter, we are told that the stone Shadow Storm was sold as quartzite but the problem is the stone etched. We don't want to get in the middle of whether someone mislead someone as we never feel that is appropriate or accurate. But we, as stone refinishers, do need to understand what we are dealing with to correct the finish on a dulled area of the stone.

Well, as discussed previously, true quartzite does not have the mineral makeup to etch, such as the absence of calcium carbonate. So what then is this mystery stone. Why do some say this stone is super hard like quartzite but in some isolated cases does show etching? Well I'm not a geologist but I will say, it is different in some ways to work with then marble but it does not polish quite the same. If I were to label it, I would say it favors being a dolomite stone which contains calcium-magnesium carbonate minerals in the stone. Not a normal classification of stone most understand so most label as a quartzite because it is harder than marble however, the homeowner needs to understand it does have the possibility to etching. Since it has calcium some refer to it as marble.

Now that I have you confused, stones come from the ground and end up in our homes. We find Shadow Storm a beautiful stone that should not be ruled out because of etching. Really depending on the mineral makeup of the slab will determine how much of the calcium-magnesium carbonate is in that slab. I highly suggest the slab testing as previously discussed and you be the judge of you can live with it. Seal it well, keep spills cleaned up, use cutting boards and protection as if it is a special piece of stone (which it is). And enjoy!!!

IF somewhere down the line, you feel it needs to be touched up, there are those like us that can help you with that. Natural stone is elegant and to be enjoyed!!!

References: Travertine, Limestone, and Dolomitic Limestone

Quartzite

@Jessica Tiller, Hi Jessica! I came across your pictures, and we are going with a honed shadow stone marble for our kitchen -- we love your backsplash. Can you tell me the name of it and where you ordered it? And a year later, would you still go with the shadow stone honed marble? Thank you!

Beyond Clean Tile - You made some good points!

I agree that stone restorers have to bear the brunt of the mislabeling problem since you need to work on 'mystery' stones all the time.

I've worked with MB Stone to help make their stone ID kit, made just for restoration pros and fabricators.

In the case you described, the simple answer is the stone is marble. That's why it's acting like marble, because it is!

This article might be helpful, or more likely you already know all of this, but there's a link to the ID kit at the bottom.

https://usenaturalstone.org/how-to-be-your-own-stone-sleuth/

This is a catch-all article which gives a summary of all the rock types, but more importantly it links to the more detailed articles for each stone type: https://usenaturalstone.org/geology-natural-stone/

I've written a whole lot about quartzite (some articles are linked from the article above) because it's so mislabeled and misunderstood. But it doesn't have to be so confusing. It's easier to approach it like a geologist, rather than worrying about the labels and who misled who. Fully agree with you on that! (Though it's terrible how much bad information is circulating within the industry, whether intentional or not.)

Anyway, thanks for your work and I hope these resources help with future mysteries. :)

Karin_mt - Thank you for the links. All stuff I've read before but this time I intend to bookmark them fro quicker reference. Thanks!

I have a polished quartzite (not sure of the name), but I’ve had it for 5 years and I’m not the most conscientious cook. I have a couple of dull spots, but I’m not bothered by them. I hear you can polish them out. I like the look and the wear.

We had Shadow Storm in our old kitchen and it was beautiful! The natural beauty of the embedded crystals is to die for! We had no issues with staining or etching, but it did chip in a couple of places when the edge was nicked by a cast iron pan.

Ours had a lot of white in it.

I know where in fort worth,

brittanyjade1 - sorry I just saw your note to me....Just to answer/update. Now 4.5 years into living here and I'm STILL glad I chose my Shadow Storm. I have not had any problems with staining but you do have to be careful with citrus/etching. Having the honed helps with that and it doesn't actually bother me. It will chip if you are not careful, as I mentioned a few years ago. But, at some point I'll have a professional come in and polish. Re my backsplash, it is a herringbone carrera marble that I bought at a local tile store in the Annapolis, MD area. It has also been great and no issues.

Technically Shadow Storm is a Dolometic Marble. It is often referred to as a "hard marble". Another very popular stone that falls under this category is Fantasy Brown. Some refer to these stones as "soft quartzite", which is somewhat misleading, although it actually is the product of elements of marble and quartzite being fused together.

This article should definitively answer your question: https://columbusgranite.com/fantasy-brown-granite/

@Beyond Clean Tile

We found three slabs of polished Shadow Storm that we really love, but we were hoping for honed to help camoflage the inevitable etching. We’ve been all over looking for honed slabs that we like as much. We’ve been told by the fabricator that the slabs can be honed after we buy them essentially. Our contractor is concerned about us going that route and us not liking the slabs after they are honed and being stuck with something we don’t like. I would love to hear your professional opinion as to how difficult it is to hone already polished slabs and your thoughts on this as an option. Thank you to all the professionals helping to educate us…I really value the insight.

A stone restoration professional will have the tools to hone the slabs. It would be best to coordinate with the fabricator and the stone restoration professional before fabrication however it could be honed later. What you could expect is softer color and you would see the beauty of the stone but not the reflections through the stone. It would add costs and usually best to continue seeking for the honed slabs initially. If you want to see how it would look before committing to having all three slabs honed, you can locate a remnant piece and have it honed for comparison. We have been seeing honed leather finishes lately. If the leathered look is what you desire then I would definitely find the honed leather slab as producing a leathered finish from a flat polish is far more difficult.

Shadow Storm Quartzite Marble is a unique and rare natural stone that has been used for centuries in the construction of monuments and buildings. This type of marble is highly sought after due to its distinctive dark gray and white veining, which adds elegance to any space it is placed in. Homeowners and builders alike are on the hunt for Shadow Storm Quartzite Marble, but finding it can be difficult.

The marble's popularity has grown significantly over the years as more people discover its beauty, so locating a quarry that stocks this particular material can be challenging. Additionally, it may take time to find either slabs or tiles large enough for larger projects. As such, many have turned to online forums where they might be able to find someone who does have Shadow Storm Quartzite Marble available - allowing them access to this sought-after stone at a more reasonable cost.

Reference: https://thestyledare.com/fantasy-brown-stone/

Any statement that contains a reference to a material that is " **** Quartzite Marble" is just pure marketing nonsense.

To the pros who keep telling us that quartzite and marble “look alike”, they absolutely DO NOT. That is why many of us are considering marble. It is luminescent, 3-dimensional and generally more curvy and intricate/interesting in the veining. Quartzite is dull, lifeless, and generally more jagged and uninteresting in veining. While quartzite may be easier to care for, it is NOT even close in beauty. I am in the process of trying to convince our designer that not all marbles are the same. Some, such as Vermont Danby, Shadow Storm, and others, are harder (twice as hard) as Italian marble. If you choose honed and seal it properly there are quite a few who seem to agree that it is maintainable.

David E Parrish - Who is saying that? Is that in this thread?? I have not read that. And to be honest, there is nothing "dull and lifeless" about quartzite - honestly many of them are quite gorgeous. I just would never choose one due to the many staining problems.