Don't get soap under your mat or spill battery acid on your estone. That'll etch granite too.

Or set a coffee maker on it.

I have had black pearl for only two months, but I love it! I do have to be careful about being sure to dry it well so it doesn't look streaky, but I do not regret it one bit.

Quartz is completely engineered stone so comparatively it is more durable than Natural stones like Granite and Marble.

I have the LG Viatera Rococo which is a light marble-like quartz. I have also had polished absolute black granite a previous kitchen. I think that very few people tend to select the black quartz over the absolute black granite due to cost.

There is a serious upcharge for quartz over this particular type of granite. They both are going to show dust. You can save yourself a lot of money by selecting absolute black granite. If you selected the absolute black, you can get it in a number of finishes, polished, leathered, honed. One of which will suit your taste.

There are two issues with absolute black that can be easily overcome by education. First, there are counterfeit versions of absolute black that have been dyed. These won't wear well in a few years. The color will discolor. Be sure your source is sure of their source. A little acetone rubbed on a spot will remove the dye. Just be aware. Second problem is many fabricators will try to put a sealer on absolute black. It creates a milky, streaky look. They do this out of ignorance. It doesn't need to be sealed. It's so dense, it won't let the penetrating sealer penetrate. The sealer can be removed with acetone and the stone is not permanently damaged.

If you know these two things about absolute black granite, you can save yourself a lot of money and get the dark look you like with the matte finish you prefer. I like the granite over the quartz because I don't have to baby hot pots and pans like you do with the quartz.

In our current kitchen, our island is topped with Silver Galaxy and the perimeter counters are Black Galaxy. (www.akitchenremodel.com) My better half constantly notices every water stain and smudge with the Black Galaxy but never seems to notice anything with the (busy) Silvery Galaxy. The smudges don't bother me as I totally love the Black Galaxy.

But, in our new home, she's not permitting anything close to black counters in the kitchen. (Alpine White granite and London Grey quartz).

-Rob
www.ahomefromscratch.com

I've had black Silestone counters for 13 years and still love them. They clean up so easily and still look great. No issues with coffee maker or crock pots either. I also have Black Galaxy granite in my powder room. The highly polished granite shows every water spot - will not use it again.

Whether you notice every spot or not has a lot to do with the lighting in the kitchen. If possible get a sample, smudge it and see if you see the smudges as you move the sample from place to place in the kitchen. If you notice the smudges on the sample, you may find yourself polishing the countertops extensively later. To avoid this you may want to go with a different finish.

Rob, too bad people can't respond to your websites without providing their email. That's just not happening. I would not allow the clipped corner on the one mb closet you lose a lot of utility in doing that, I would swap the sink and dw so that the dw is not in the middle of the sink-stove- fridge triangle. I would put a pullout trash where the dw is.

We are getting ready to order our counters and have our hearts set on Charston by Cambria, which is a black with iridescent blue flecks. It reads almost totally black until you are up close. After reading your question and the replies, you have me questioning this decision. (Although what decision DIDN'T I question) I did some more research and what I came up with is: it doesn't matter what you choose, you will find pros and cons for any color and any material. You will find people who love it and people who hate it or had bad experiences. I'm worried about my coffee maker now, and I went home and tested water spots on my countertop sample, but in the end I think we are going to stick with what we love, because if I went light, then I'd worry about coffee or wine stains. (I know quartz isn't supposed to stain, but in looking for info on water marks on black, I came across some people talking about tea stains on a white quartz) FWIW my sample showed the water spots at certain angles after they dried. I wiped them off with greasy fingers. (not on purpose, I was eating pizza since demo has started already) and the greasy fingers left grease spots, but that seemed to come up after rubbing vigorously with a cloth. Obviously water spots that happen constantly over time, would be different, but I guess that's the risk I'm taking.
Right now I'm more concerned with the fact that you aren't supposed to use cleaners, especially bleach, on quartz. Clorox wipes are my go to cleaner in the kitchen, so I'm going to have to re-train myself about that one.

@practigal - thanks so much for your input! I removed the email requirement to leave a comment. Never noticed it before.

Clipped corner .. hmmm. I see your point.

DW / trash bin swap - another good point. Our consideration was right-handed / left-handed relative to the sink. We'll have to consider this again.

-Rob

@Megan - it all comes down to personal preference. While my better half can't stand the smudges and watermarks on our Black Galaxy, I'd choose it again. Notice my deferment to her choices in our new home ;-)

Joseph Corlett - your photos are my biggest fear! The black quartz is gorgeous, but I sure don't want to be worrying about my coffee maker (or crockpot) sitting on it.

Megan - I think you are right. I have gone back and forth, and part of me was saying - just go with the quartz!! And I also left sitting water, lemon juice, etc on the little sample I had. All did wipe up without damage. I should have tried sitting a hot coffee mug from the microwave on it as well. But at the end of the day, it is more expensive, and both my husband and I like the Black Pearl granite (and are able to get it at a fantastic special price that makes it $2k less than the granite - and we will be just as happy I think). Also the risk aversion side of me would be heartbroken if I ended up with spots as Joseph's pictures show. I had a dark granite before for 10 years, and I know how it wears, so comfort level of the known and price win out. But yes, I am seeing that no matter which color or material, some will love it, some will not, and eventually you have to go with what you love.

Carolinaflowerlover - I am thinking we will love the Black Pearl as well! Our cabinets are a medium stained cherry, and I tried to talk myself in to a lighter granite, but the dark colors call my name! We decided against the honed finish, as I have read about the issues with fingerprints (and it would gray out that beautiful black finish).

Beautiful remodel Rob! And love the color choices in the new house you are building! I was interested in black cabinets for our remodel, but hubby couldn't see it. I love the Black Galaxy granite as well; my husband seems to prefer the Black Pearl and I'm okay with that. There is just something about the black against that cherry color. I did find myself irritated with the smudges in our previous house (we had Tan Brown granite). But we were in the middle of raising our 3 kids, and neatness was not in their vocabulary!! Now it is just the 2 of us, and I'm pretty neat, so I am willing to deal with it as it is the darker colors that catch my eye. I would have liked some bit of pattern in it to combat the smudging, but dear hubby isn't a fan. I finally gave in since every time I look at granite, the dark colors are what I am drawn to. So going to go with design/preferred color, having decided that mattered more than the smearing/streaking that can occur unless you wipe it dry.

tdfurlong:

With the possible exception of the coffee maker, all my pictures are due to customer abuse. Granite will suffer the same fate. I doubt the sintereds would.

@Joseph Corlett: is the coffee maker mark from water or heat? I use a keurig, and I don't think it has many drips but it definitely has no heat on the bottom.

@tdfurlong - if we liked any of the black granites as much as the black quartz that we picked, I probably would have gone with the granite. We just fell in love with this one quartz and we couldn't find anything like it (with blue flecks) in granite. I sent my husband to the granite yard to look at blue volga and some other darker granites with blues, but he didn't like any of them. I suspect if we were willing to drive around to all the slab yards and pay a premium, we MIGHT find a granite with blue in it that we liked, but this quartz we know we like. I'm a little put off by the reviews of Cambria. I even contacted them to see if I could go see the slabs, and the CS rep gave me an address of the distributor, but when my husband called, they said they aren't open to the public and they didn't even know why we were calling them. I think we are pretty much just going to take our chances, order the slab, go see it at our fabricator and hope it's good. Our pattern doesn't have much movement so I'm hoping there isn't a lot of variations.

oh and as for the heat on quartz thing. I've added a large gorgeous butcher block style cutting board to my kitchen building supplies list, so that we have it when we get our counters. I plan to use that for my crock pot and sous vide and toaster oven. It has to be gorgeous because I plan to have it sit out all the time so no one forgets to use it.

Furlong, it will be BEAUTIFUL with cherry! I wanted cherry, but outright kitchen is too small for a dark cabinet and dark counter. It will be so pretty!

Hi tdfurlong, thanks for your comment. We have a variety or darker quartz counter tops available. This means you get the look and feel of granite, but on a surface that's nonporous and maintenance free. Just wash your surface with warm water, and use a mild soap if desired. Cambria won’t stain, and it never needs sealing or reconditioning. Granite is a porous stone, and regularly needs sealing with a chemical treatment that can ultimately end up in your food if preparing on the surface. Granite can also absorb liquids and food, risking potential staining and bacterial growth in the countertop. Here are some design options to consider:

• https://www.cambriausa.com/Designs/design-palette/ellesmere
• https://www.cambriausa.com/Designs/design-palette/carrick/
• https://www.cambriausa.com/Designs/design-palette/Blackwood/
• https://www.cambriausa.com/Designs/design-palette/Cambria-Black/
• https://www.cambriausa.com/Designs/design-palette/Edinburough/

Let us know if you have any additional questions. Thank you.

"@Joseph Corlett: is the coffee maker mark from water or heat? I use a keurig, and I don't think it has many drips but it definitely has no heat on the bottom."

I just felt my top where my Keurig sets and there is no heat on my countertop, but that isn't applicable to the above pictures. I didn't do any investigation as to why or how the coffee maker is related to the discoloration, so unfortunately I can't say.

" I even contacted them to see if I could go see the slabs, and the CS rep gave me an address of the distributor, but when my husband called, they said they aren't open to the public and they didn't even know why we were calling them."

Cambria:

Excuse me while I tell you how to run your business, but that ^ is insanity.

Problem with quartz is that industry is not telling the truth. Quartz is hardest material, harder than granite but the so called quartz slabs are not pure quartz, most of the quartz slabs has less than 60% quartz rest is all sort of industrial waste like granite/marble powder from quarry, glass and concrete and biggest culprit is the resin. Most manufacture states percentage of quartz vs resin by weight, this is just the marketing tactics, stone is heavier than plastic resin, if you look at volume most slab has 15-30% resin. Resin is biggest culprit when it comes to quartz staining and dull marks, resin is very soft material and it reacts with any household product like lemon juice, vinegar, wine, soap, tomato juice etc. and when you spill nay kind of acidic/alkaline on quartz it creates etch mark, which looks like stain but it is a chemical reaction with resin, which you cannot get out unless you re-polish surface by professional guy. Even regular use abrasive object like magic eraser, or scotchbrite will create a dull mark when you rub quartz countertop with it for cleaning, it is cutting though soft resin and destroying fine finish. Quartz need to be treated like a baby, it is good for display in galley but not for daily use in kitchen. Egypt pyramid has granite which has withstand 3000-4000 year of abuse but todays quartz cannot withstand normal use and tear of daily kitchen activity. I made mistake of installing quartz, but I will never go back to quartz natural stone/granite is best option for me.