Granite vs Quartz: Kitchen design quandry
cosmera
6 years ago
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Christine Smith
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Granite vs Quartz?
Comments (4)Granite upkeep is very easy for many granites. The difficulty of using natural stone is that they aren't all the same. Some require sealing and some don't. Even the stones that need sealing don't need it that often. We asked friends with granite when we were buying and they rarely seal more than once every few years. We got our "granite" (Azul do Mar, a quartzite) over 5 years ago and haven't sealed since it was installed. Our fabricator insisted on sealing it at install because he seals all granite, but based on the test we did on our sample, it didn't even need that - nothing stained the unsealed sample. People were agonizing about granite going "out" back when we were choosing too. There is a wide range of granites available. Particular colors may go up and down in popularity (and availability) - e.g. absolute black was hot on GW 6 years ago; now the light ones that look similar to marble are getting the most attention here. But that doesn't mean that black is out. I don't think that granite will ever be "out" but 10 years from now, there will probably still be some people agonizing about whether it will. People tend to think of avocado and harvest gold - how in they were and how bad they looked to us later. I take comfort that people have to go back 4 decades to find a kitchen design fad that crashed so badly. Most of the time our tastes don't swing so wildly. Our granite is a lot more busy than the persa avorio granite you are considering and we still love it as much as when we put it in. We have the full granite back splash....See MoreCage Match: Quartz vs Granite
Comments (20)The durability of quartz and granite can vary widely. How's that? Granite is plutonic rock formed over the course of millions of years under high heat and formidably high pressures. It's not going to dissolve in your kitchen. Engg. quartz is crystals/chunks of stone suspended in resin. Neither is going to decompose in a hurry. What are we doing in our kitchens to impact the longevity of either? Except, that is, changing our fashion aesthetic to change the counters out to a new colour/pattern/material? Monkeypuzzle, you are spinning needlessly on a futile if minor problem. If you are looking for a family of material to come down on the side of, you've got suggestions above: Do you want uniformity and regularity? Default to quartz although there are some subsets of granite that fit here, too, but still, default quartz. Do you want a non-sealing white (or light) counter? Default to quartz since most lighter natural stones will warrant sealing - which, it seems, is a scary step for you. Do you want movement / unique (although this is a loaded word) / drama or whatever? Default to natural stone. All that said, I will tell you that I wanted a no-movement, fairly uniform dark counter and I whittled my leading candidates down to: (a) a couple of granites, (b) a DuPont Zodiac engg. quartz, (c) and a Schist (which was a local MA stone), and (d) also a white marble (which fit none of my wants but it is so pretty!). I went with a granite. It is quiet but with its fluorescent cobalt blue inclusions, it gives me all the bling I may possibly want. Not always visible so in broad daylight, it just appears as a quiet black material with some clear quartz spots here and there. At night, with the halogens on, the cobalt blue inclusions pop up here and there depending on where one stands. And I love it. But the key is to identify what you need from your counter top. You are spinning like a top because you are wanting to conduct this futile academic exercise on what everyone else thinks is the best material. There is no such thing. You need to define what considerations matter to you, what you want, and then search to fit that bill because there is such a diversity of properties when it comes to natural materials that any universal law you pop up with, there will be a natural rock that contravenes that. That said, either quartz or granite will still be standing when any of us here are turning in our graves....See MoreGranite vs Quartz countertop in an Indian Household.
Comments (23)Joseph Corlett - please note that there are some granites than have extremely low absorption rates and therefore will not stain. My granite counters have been in place for 10 years, and look like the day they were installed. I have used spices like turmeric on the counters, spilled lemon juice, wine, tomato sauce, and nothing shows. In fact, I was cleaning silver the other day, and spilled silver polish (an abrasive) on the counter, didn't notice, and it stayed there for several hours. Wiped up, counter showed nothing, because it did not absorb. While there are many stone counters that will show stains, it would be ignorant and misleading to say that all the thousands of granites are that way. As Crl_ said, I would like to see what happens to your favorite solid surface counters when toilet bowl cleaner is left on them. I once left a bit of mustard on my mother's Corian counter; I think she still hasn't forgiven me. If the OP is interested in granite, s/he should go to a stone yard, and ask the people there which granites have low absorption rates, and then bring home samples of those and test them with home spices to see what happens....See MoreCost comparison: granite vs. quartz countertops
Comments (18)"Quartz and man made stones are now more expensive because of demand." Not always... Some exotic granite slabs can cost more than quartz. Granite prices vary because you have cheap china slabs to mid grade to exotic.. But popular/overused low to mid grade granite is typically cheaper than quartz. I agree that Quartz is popular right now and demand is driving prices up. When I was searching years back, I saw a blue granite slab with big swirls in it - 7k a slab......See MoreChristine Smith
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