I know this is an old thread.... figured I would post anyway. I have been looking at granite and quartzite. We took Quartz out of the equation. Anyway....found a quartzite I love love love called Superwhite. However, they told me that they do NOT suggest quartzite for kitchen counters at all. They said it tends to etch and stain far more than granite :(((( But then I see people here using it..... I want to just go for it...but its an expensive project to have to change out in a year or two. Any feedback on those that have used it.....

Hi jaluca, welcome! The floors are just a shade over 5" wide, they are all one width. DH and I had decided on random widths and when I went into the reclaimed flooring place I changed my mind at the last moment and went with all 5". I think both would have looked great, but I'm very pleased with the 5". We have a water-based finish on the floor. We opted not to go with a more typical oil-based finished in part for environmental reasons (and to reduce odour) but also because oil finished tend to yellow the hardwood and I loved the blonde/light brown colours in the birch. Hope this helps, let me know if you need any other info.

From Karin's wonderful guide to Stone... Scratch Test Take a glass bottle or a glass tile with you when you go stone shopping. Find a rough, sharp edge of the stone. Drag the glass over the edge of the stone. Press pretty hard. Try to scratch the glass with the stone. Quartzite will bite right into the glass and will leave a big scratch mark. Any feldspar will do the same. (Granites are made mostly of feldspar) Calcite and dolomite (that's what marble and limestone are made of) will not scratch. In fact you will be able to feel in your hand that the rock won't bite into the glass. It feels slippery, no matter how hard you press. PS - don't press so hard that you risk breaking the glass in your hand. You shouldn't need to press that hard!

Wanting to add to this thread that we got the Matarazzo quartzite in our newly remodeled kitchen 10 months ago and we are loving it!!! We have found it can* etch and have two spots that have come out. Once from a wet wooden cutting board, used as a drying board and caused the wood to leave a stain. That was my fault. Got it mostly out with baking soda trick. Another one was a missed left over drink spill that wasn’t wiped up possibly something acidic. But we still love the live stone look. It’s something quartz can never ever have ; the unique look and feel is something special. Every time I wipe it, i fall in love again! It does have stronger variations in some places but with our neutral style, it was the right amount of interest for the overall kitchen look.