Hello! No I really have not noticed scratches, swirls or problems with staining. Some times I may see a little mark, but I usually use Bar Keeper's Friend to rub it out. I also sometimes use Clorox cleaner with bleach! I use a blue scotch brite sponge and wipe down with a microfiber sponge as the water seems to bead up and sit on top. I am really not very careful with them (LOL) and they still look fantastic! The only issue I have had is with some small chipping around the sink edge,,,but that has to do with the fabricator rather than the material. They left a raw edge instead of beveling or polishing out the bottom edge....and I did not know any better back then to tell them that they needed to smooth that edge out. Because the edge is not finished it seems to be more fragile...especially if it gets hit with a cast iron pot handle. :/ However, I have dropped a cast iron pot on the outside edge of that counter with no ill effects so it is a very strong material. I hope you love your counters as much as I love mine!

I have had Vermont Danby, the Olympian White variety, for over 4 years. If you go with any marble, you need to understand its properties before you purchase it, so you won't be surprised. It is indeed more dense than other marbles, and does not stain, meaning that it does not discolor from coffee, tea, wine, berries, etc. I have no discolorations on the marble, BUT I do have lots of etching. It is a calcium-based stone, and as such will etch from anything acidic--wine, vinegar, pickles, citrus, tomatoes, even hard water. There's no way to prevent it, as etching is a wearing away of the stone due to a chemical reaction of the stone with the acid. There's also no way to get rid of the etches unless you have the stone re-honed or re-polished. Also, you can only see the etches when the light hits the stone in a certain way. And honed marble shows the etches less than polished. It is also relatively soft, as stones go, and chips easily. The first chip I got was from dropping a glass from the upper cabinet, which not only broke the glass, but the glass left small white chips on the surface of the marble. Of course I panicked and called the installer who came and filled them in and smoothed the surface. After that I have lots more chips, especially around the sink and on the edges from banging pots, bottles, etc., while working in the kitchen. I haven't called them back to fix them, as I just learned to live with it. So if you think you can live with a counter top surface that isn't going to look as good as the day it was installed, and has reminders of all the entertaining and cooking you do in the kitchen, then you probably will do all right with marble. If not, then you might want to go with something more durable. BUT realize that all of these surfaces are in a work room, and will show wear and tear sooner or later. Good luck!

I agree, that is not your fee to swallow. A bit ridiculous in my opinion. Someone wasn't doing their job correctly and they already promised something in a contract that they could not follow thru with. I'll be honest...I probably wouldn't have even swallowed the $200+ difference because, again, you was told it could be done, plus you already paid with a contract in place. You're being nice already by taking care of the difference but please stand firm on the other fee. That is their responsibility. Their mistake, their fee to pay. They could always hang on to it and sell it to another customer possibly. White quartz is something a lot of people like.

Hi Patricia, sorry for the double-post but they feel like two different questions. This thread: has anyone heard of slabs not matching because they were different sizes (jumbo vs. standard) or made a couple months apart? The other thread: can anyone share a photo of a island where the edge was cut from a different slab? (so the slabs match but the edge isn't from adjacent material). Since the backstory seems to be confusing the issue, I tried to edit the original post here, but Houzz won't let me. Sorry about the confusion.