Karen_mt, just so I'm clear, anything other than "drawing" on the stone (scratching, powder) would indicate it is not quartzite?

Better yet can I just fly you to Georgia and take you shopping with me? ;)

Fly me to Georgia to train the sales staff to identify rocks. Then the problem is solved for reals. (But of course, I'd love to shop with you!)

But yes, a serious scratch, gouge, or the ability to make powder would all tell you this is NOT quartzite.

Thank you so much!! And I wish you could train and enlighten everyone... it should not be such a guessing game!

I'm getting there! Writing articles, teaching workshops, giving webinars... slowly it's taking root. This community is learning and is helping spread good info too.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Googling around, I found several vendors selling something they're calling Arizona Quartzite slabs. The various vendors all call it Quartzite but as karin_mt has taught us, stone labels mean nothing. Description/ photo of Arizona Quartzite from one vendor

If it does make powder and scratch is it definitively marble? I've been eyeing a Dolce Vita "quartzite " that I suspect is marble.

traci_from_seattle, it means that it has dolomite or calcite, which makes it NOT true quartzite, and if you want a non-scratching non-etching surface, you should look elsewhere. Yeah that pic shows clearly - lots of marble in there.

http://www.visionlearning.com/blog/2013/12/12/geology-kitchen-mystery-super-white/

http://www.pitt.edu/~cejones/GeoImages/1Minerals/2SedimentaryMineralz/Calcite_Dolomite.html

Thanks Chess! I'm ok with whatever it ends up being, just having a hard time determining what that it, even after reading the articles, although I appreciate you adding them. I love learning about the different characteristics, I just sometimes wish it were a little more cut and dried.

traci_from_seattle, it's hard to tell from the pic, but it looks like there are a lot of crystal formations in that stone. If so, then what you have is likely calcite, and you really don't want that in your kitchen, I don't think. Read more here:

Those crystals are actually characteristic of calcite, which is highly reactive (relatively speaking) to the most common feature of every kitchen – water. Water fresh from the tap is usually OK as most municipal supplies arrive with a pH in the 7-8 range, but as soon as it’s exposed to air it starts absorbing CO2, which can drop the pH to ~5.6 in minutes to hours, depending on the water’s starting alkalinity. That’s low enough to start actively dissolving calcite, which means that regular old tap water will for sure etch your counter if it’s left on long enough.

And that’s just tap water. Pretty much every fruit & vegetable out there has a pH low enough to dissolve calcite – tomato sauce alone has a pH between 3 and 4, while lemon juice is 2, so good luck finding a ‘safe’ meal to prepare on your very expensive, beautiful, but exceptionally delicate counters.

People toss around the name ‘quartzite’ pretty loosely, particularly if the slab has what looks like large quartz crystals in it (a solid indication that it may in fact contain NO quartzite). Since calcite is utterly inappropriate for a kitchen, or really anywhere you can expect it to get wet regularly, you’d do yourself a favor bringing a sample home and leaving a towel soaked in lemon juice on it for several hours. All that should do to real quartzite is clean it.

My wife and I picked a slab, labeled and sold as quartzite, that looks very much like yours. We're convinced, through research here and elsewhere and standard tests, this is a type of marble. When they drilled the hole for the faucet, it zipped right through. A clear indication that it's a soft stone. It etched from some jalapeno juice. It scratches easily.

John McElwee - whatever type stone that is, it is breathtakingly gorgeous.

I know slabs can vary a lot, but the OP's slab doesn't look much like any of the Blue Shadow slabs I was able to Google. It looked more like this Storm Quartzite and also like the darker parts of Fusion Quartzite. It is gorgeous and I would definitely pursue it further with the stone yard. Ask where it was quarried. The quartzite and hard granite we have both came from Brazil. On the web, at Arizona Tile where I found pics of Blue Shadow that look very different says they are from India. Who knows, maybe the OP's slabs were mislabeled.

friedajune, not to steal anything away from the OP, it's even better looking in person on our island with navy blue cabinetry. It's a shame that anyone has to go through the issue of dealing with ill informed and/or misrepresented (especially if done deceptively) products.

It's not Fusion. I've been looking at Fusion slabs all over a 200 mile radius for months. However it does look like a darker version of another quartzite that I saw.

@karin_mt

FYI, I've heard about the etching on quartzite from fabricator forums and saw photos. Taj Majal was one that I saw.

Here's another comment about it from a distributor. "The principle flaw you'll find in quartzite is its tendency to etch in certain areas of countertops. Etching, or cutting and scratching into unprotected surfaces due to acid or other other substances, can be prevented by hone finished stone rather than polish finished. "

https://www.marbleandgranite.com/blog/2012/october-2012/quartzites-are-not-the-same-as-granite-for-your-ki

How do you test for that? Sounds impossible.

Thank you once again karin_mt for educating all of us. Brazil & Italy always sound fancier and sway people but I wish it were that simple.

We were suppose to go back to the stone yard today to see if we could figure out what it is by scratching the back of the slab as per your suggestion but my husband had to go into work. They are holding a slab for us so hopeful we will get there next weekend.

John, your slab is beautiful as well. Is it primarily gray or blue? Ours was blue and we are doing white cabinets.

Honestly, at this point I'm so frustrated that if it turns out to be a marble, I give up. I'll probably re- look at quartz, although not my first choice.

Stacey, it is various shades of gray and we're doing white and navy blue cabinets.

My intent wasn't to say slabs from Brazil are better. Just saying since the slabs of Blue Shadow that I saw on the web were from India and looked much different than the OP's slab, to do some sleuth work and ask where it is from. If they don't say India, maybe it is not Blue Shadow and could be one of the ones I know came from Brazil that look similar like the Fusion we got or the Storm that says from Brazil that I linked.

silken... I was referring to myself. I am in Georgia and here I find that I think they make up some of the names anyway. I have a feeling mine is marble (thank goodness for karin).

I was at a different slab yard a few weeks ago and asked the salesperson about a "super white quartzite " and the possibility of it actually being marble and I kid you not her response was "potentially ". I asked didn't she think that would be important for me to know before I purchase, and her response was "there is no way for me to know the make up of a stone other than by what the label says"

So frustrating!

It is frustrating considering it is an expensive part of a kitchen update or build. It's too bad you just couldn't get a small corner off one of the slabs and test it. Then it wouldn't matter what is was called or where it came from, so long as it stood up to the tests.

Silken, exactly!

I think they should have samples of every stone they sell. It's a huge investment and it seems to be "buy at your own risk". I wouldn't even mind paying for samples so you could bring them home, see in your own space, and most importantly test them to be sure you know what you're buying.

Ask them if they've already sold slabs out of that lot to fabricators and who they are. You will likely find scraps for testing with them. It'll also give you options for guys familiar with working with the stone.

Great idea dan! I didn't think of that. They only had 2 slabs left so I would assume some had already been sold.

Since the slab we bought was their last one and they weren't getting any more, they gave us the showroom "chip" which is about 8x14. We didn't think of (or know) to test it. Based on what we knew about quartzite, we trusted them to sell us what they claimed it to be. Not so next time. I wished we had kept the plug from the faucet drilling.

"there is no way for me to know the make up of a stone other than by what the label says"

AGH.

See what we're up against?

John, you mentioned other fabrication issues?

Is the seller and or fabricator standing behind their work / product?

Aside from the fact they didn't sell us quartzite (we're confident it's marble), the answer so far is no. We had several issues related strictly to fabrication. When this fabricator (don't know if this is standard practice) marked up the slab for cutting, they used a white-out type marker. After they installed/sealed the slab, we could see the ghostly remains of these markings (and what looked like a ring from the bottom of a quart sized can). They came last week to address this. I wasn't here but my wife said they used steal wool to remove the markings (they missed some) but instead made a horrible mess of the slab. There are two large areas where they effectively removed the factory polish leaving huge dull areas. They were supposed to put on a "better" sealer than the "dry seal" they initially put on. This new sealer doesn't prevent (dark) water marks left from a sweating glass (for example). The original one did. They also had to recut a mucked up notch to go around a cabinet corner. That they did fairly well. We have a 13x72 "bar counter" that protrudes about 1.5 inches (like a normal overhang) over the base cabinet it sits on. They were supposed to make the edges/corners straight (like what you see along side a standalone stove} but they made them rounded. They look awful. They said there's nothing they can do to "fix" that. They would cut another piece but they have no more and aren't getting more. So I guess they're telling us we're stuck with this. They are scheduled to come again to address the mess they made on the island slab but my wife and I decided to just request they refund our money and come get their stone. We just sent that to them last night but we don't know what they will do. I'm ready to fight but hopefully they won't drag this out. They are clearly wrong about the type of stone and that's the real show stopper.

John, I agree you should hold for a refund and part ways with these guys.

Oh my gosh, what a mess with both the seller and fabricator! Can you test the stone in an inconspicuous spot? Sounds although you already know it's marble but I mean to prove to the seller. If you scroll up on this post karin _mt explained to me exactly how to test the stone. I haven't been able to get back (it's quite a hike from where we live) but now I'm not sure I even want to. Please keep us posted. I would love to know if they stand behind their work / stone.

Stacey, I did a scratch test on the "chip" they gave us and on the installed slab as well. I didn't do an etch test on the installed slab but I did on the chip. It easily scratches. A bit of white vinegar left an etching mark within 10 minutes. Being that they're insisting quartzite is "soft" (softer than granite), this can happen. They said "be careful". LOL!

That's ridiculous! Even with my limited knowledge I know that's incorrect!! Ask karin_mt if you can quote her, and cite her credentials perhaps! Show them the chart she has posted the scale of stone hardness...marble being at one end and quartzite at the other. There is no soft quartzite!

(karin correct me if I'm wrong)

We knew going in that quartzite was hard (harder than granite) and chose it specifically because my wife doesn't care for granite (there are some that I like) but we didn't think/know to test it and that there was a bunch of misleading information being foisted upon the consumer.

I don't think most people do unless you're fortunate enough to have found this forum prior to purchasing. It's fraudulent whether intentional or not. You shouldn't sell a product you don't understand.

Ok. So tonight we had burgers for dinner. A little ketchup was left on the countertop for probably 2 hours before the counters were cleaned. Guess what? There's a light etching where the ketchup was. I hope that real quartzite isn't this delicate.

John McElwee, true quartzite isn't delicate at all. Unfortunately, ensuring that the stone you are purchasing IS actually quartzite, is very difficult to do since there are no regulations on this. It kinda sucks.

UPDATE: The company called today to let us know they're going to refund our money and remove the countertops. They also said we were misled by the geologist and that granite can be soft and marble can be hard. LOL!

At least they're not putting up a fight about refunding your money. Keep us posted and let us know what you end up replacing them with.

Aww,that's so discouraging. The slab is so very beautiful. I'm sorry, I'd be sad to give it up. I would, though.

Hi John McElwee....wondered what you ended up going with?

We ended up passing on the quartzite and haven't done anything yet.

We also abandoned the search for quartzite and ended up going with Silver Waves granite. It has similar "motion" to the one we had except it's black/white/gray. They're (different company!!) coming Monday to template.

Something like this.

http://pic.stonecontact.com/picture/20157/121702/silver-waves-granite-black-forest-granite-tiles-slabs-p365879-1b.jpg

That a nice granite! I rarely see one that I like, but I like that one.

LOL, it is a gneiss ("nice") granite. You got it exactly right, Chess.

That's really pretty! Hopefully everything goes well this time around!

I'm starting to look again next week

Now that's service! The new company we hired came Monday to measure. They installed it today!!!

It's gorgeous!!