50 Shades of Quartzite (AKA, is quartzite porous?)
karin_mt
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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karin_mt
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agokarin_mt
5 years agoRelated Discussions
anyone use silver quartzite for counters?
Comments (3)Sochi I did read your posting with pics of white quartzite and marble. Which one are you using? My concern is the staining. I sprayed a sample with a home store sealer as directions called for. I tested ginger ale, salad dressing, blue berries, hot sauces, etc. I let it sit for 5 to 7 minutes and then wiped. I found that the quartzite absorbed the liquid and left spots. These spots did disappear in about an hour but left a residual mark almost like it etched off the sealer. Those marks will be visible as you walk by the counter. I'm certain this will bother me. I am wondering though if the sealer I used is inferior to a professional sealer that will be used by the installer. Our fabricator is getting us a new sample to retest. I was just curious if anyone has had experience with Silver Quartzite. It's almost like concrete - solid grey in color but once you come up to it you'll see tiny brown specks and some blue also. I think it's very beautiful but unsure of the porosity of the stone. I added a link to silver quartzite images. Here is a link that might be useful: silver quartzite images...See MoreStone experts: What's up with quartzite?
Comments (54)We have Quartzite Bianca and had our fabricator test it (ketchup/lime juice/oil) prior to installation and no stains or etches. Unfortunately, after installation, turns out it etches with water. The issue is the resin applied at the quarry (all stone over the past decade has resin applied, mostly for color enhancement) is reacting to acids. You don't think of water being an acid, but it can be depending on the pH. Technically, what etches is a reaction between calcite in the stone (e.g., marble, limestone, travertine) and an acid. Since quartzite does not contain calcite.. etching is caused by the reaction between the resin and the acid which explains why two people with the same stone experience different things re: etching. Depends on the quarry and resin used. I've removed the etching with baking soda, which also means water is not etching the stone, but the surface.. Your fabricator can also rebuff the stone to get the etches off. Won't cure the long-term problem, but can get rid of what etching you currently have. As to sealers.. once I read about people with this stone having oil stains, I researched sealers. I was told silicone-based sealers do a great job repelling water, but attract oil based stains, so I switched to a product by Stone Products (www.superiorstone.com) which is a flouropolymer--a smaller molecule than silicone which means it fills the voids better and does not attract oil stains....See MorePlease help me choose slabs of white quartzite
Comments (23)Update: My designer and I went to view 4 & 5. While she agreed the patterning on 5 was interesting, she thought the tonal variations of the shades of white in 4 was better. 4 was also DH's favorite. There are 15 contiguous numbered slabs of #4, so DH and I made an appt. with the stone yard to go pull out more slabs over lunch tomorrow. Although I expect the slabs to be similar, there may be some variations that make some slabs more pleasing to us than others. I am hoping the yellowish area on the far right of the top slab does not appear on all the slabs in that lot. Maybe some of the lower slabs have a little more variation in the lines too. Kiffgirl, I looked at Marmol too. They have some nice cross cut WM now, which I considered before deciding on the vein cut. BKW, we do not have any 90 degree turns to deal with. The 2 perimeter runs will be separated by a French door to the side yard. (No seams required - yay!) Taking stripes around a corner was certainly something I worried about when we were originally planning an L configuration....See MoreBrand New Quartzite: ALREADY STAINED!
Comments (404)You're an odd duck Joe 😅 But I have to say I do agree with the sentiment of a lack of standards within the industry has soiled it. Many overpromised and underdelivered jobs which is unfortunate... but I'd argue this is due to a large portion of the industry lacking general required skills & knowledge. With wholesalers willing to sell to anyone with a wet saw, many "fabricators" seek a quick buck leaving the client in a lurch. I work in the wholesale business while previously on the front line for a fabricator. I find it interesting that some of my fabricators rarely if ever bring these problems my way, and yet others are putting one fire out after another before saying they won't work with certain materials. This leads me to the conclusion that knowing what you're doing might have something to do with it. However as mentioned this is a wholesaler issue as well as many stones are passed off as something they are not. Calling a dolomite a granite, or a marble a quartzite for example. While quartzites like Taj Mahal or Cristalo are a much stronger, less porous materials, but many of the stones in this thread like Do Brasil, Macubas, Aria, etc.. I have sold over a hundred times easily (annual wholesale sales $8,000,000-$10,000,000 which also includes quartz, granite, marble, dolomite, limestone, onyx, porcelain, etc...). In fact I've recently had customers come back after 4 years because they were building a new home only to put Aria in again because they loved their last counters so much. That said I have seen these issues crop up many times, and in quite a few cases I've had to link up a quality fabricator to rescue a sus fabricators job. I always say "I have 40 clients, but I don't have 40 I'd let into my house". I'm sure the same goes for your business 😉 Now just to respond to a couple of your points "Some of these quartzites have had your recommended procedures followed to the letter and have still failed miserably." - How do you know? You hovering over them? You know the disiccants that you find packaged in products occasionally? Well the same stuff occurs naturally in some of these stones. These stones will suck up moisture, oil, and anything else; you're not sealing your way out of them. It's the nature of the beast; they are unsuitable for use as countertops. - You know everything on earth has a saturation point. Science! But many stones have a higher cement content that binds the quartzite leading to these more porous qualities. However many stones are marketed as "soft quartzites" which is a misnomer, and some stones that are not quartzite at all which is on the entity that sold the material to them. What is more unsuitable is the industry's lack of self-policing. Every time there's an unhappy customer, the natural stone industry suffers. I hate what these irresponsible hacks, importers, trade associations, and fabricators are doing to my industry. - Agreed When I click on your link I get this: "This content isn't available right now. When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted." I'll be happy to debate this with you and your fellow stoners on your Facethingie page. Or bring it over to All Slab Fabricators, unlike the SFA, where everyone is welcome. - I know for someone of your age the internet can be difficult; I don't mind showing you how to do it: https://gprivate.com/69fzy once you're there just ask to join. It's hardly exclusive with 18k+ members, 5K more than your group 😘 I sense a bias Joe, certainly it could be argued that I have one as well, but my goal when selling product is not to be an evangelist for any one product. You on the other hand wrote this: We Corian fabricators were telling consumers over a decade ago about the problems inherent in natural stone. But no, like a wayward daughter in love with the bad boy biker at the bar, you wanted hard and shiny and turned deaf ears to our pleas. We told you Corian never, ever, bled at built up edges. We told you it was virtually stainproof and repairable. No. You were warned repeatedly. Now own up. It's all we can do to hold our "I-told-you-sos" inside. We don't wanna hear it. I provide the pro's and con's for a product and let the customer decide. I always say no news is good news. Unfortunately; as you pointed out many in my business do not approach it with the same tact....See Morecarladr
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