Thanks Mary! that is so helpful. im going to have to replace my quartzite. Taj seems to be the safest bet without the infamous staining. love your Taj…so subtle and pretty.

very nice!

@ILoveRed - can I ask what happened to your quartzite?

We did the leathered Taj Mahal. It’s been in about 6 months and we couldn’t be happier. We were ok with the honed or the leathered and it came down to picking from the matched slabs and then deciding based on their colors. There can be such a difference is color! And for us, finding matched slabs wasn’t easy. I wanted them on the lighter side and what we would find would be much darker or already sold. I love the leathered finish. I feel like it doesn’t show stuff as easily and I really like the texture on it. We haven’t had any issues with it and I’m really happy we made all the trips to search it out!

A lo108

the infamous staining so common in quartzite similar to mine. most often blamed on adhesive bleeding but seeminly impossible to get out. its everywhere in my kitchen.

not seen in taj mahal, that i can tell..wish i had chosen it to start with….

@ILoveRed - ugh i'm sorry. That's such a bummer. Is there any way to know if you're getting a quartzite that could have the bleeding issue (I know hindsight is 2020)? How do you avoid it the next time? I'm trying to get my list together of questions to ask teh supplier and the tests to do as well ... thanks again!

@kchamousis - OH MY! That is beautiful. I love that coloring - thank you for sharing! What area are you located in/were looking at slabs?

ILR, I encouraged you to go with Taj Mahal way back when you were debating that choice! Sorry you had to go through that ordeal with your slabs.

I used Taj Mahal when I remodeled the kitchen in my previous house back in 2018 and used it again in the house we just built. All polished slabs. In the previous kitchen I matched it with dark stained cabinets and in the new house with white cabinets. I also used a Taj Mahal remnant on the counters and behind the bbq grill of my new outdoor kitchen.

Forgot that I also used TM to refinish a fireplace surround in my previous house! In total I have bought/used 9 slabs of TM over the years!

We are in the Bay Area in California. If you are close, I'd be happy to share the places we went. My best suggestion ... go with someone who knows countertop material! The gal helping me with the backsplash went along on some of our trips and she knew the ins and outs of the different stone stores and saw color really well. Plus she had the guys in there moving slabs all around into the light and out of the light, side by side, and I don't know that I would have thought to have done all that.

Without her help, we would have had a much harder time! If you are able to zoom in on these pictures, you can see the texture on the leathered finish. I really think it hides a lot!

Chispa….yes you did. i remember that clearly. wish i had followed your advice.

SMH

chispa ... if you have any pictures of your fireplace surround with the Taj Mahal, I'd love to see them as it's something.

@kchamousis - thank you for the additional photos! I'm in the Midwest :) our backsplash looks VERY similar to yours. It's stunning!

@chispa - can you expand on your comment about seeing it in person? I for sure will but curious how that could have prevented the bleeding issue?

@kchamousis, no longer live there and it seems I never took a good head on photo of the fireplace. I did find this one when it was being built ... missing middle section and mantel.

Thanks chispa!! That helps me see it CAN work!

@kchamousis, Wait! Found one ... need to do a better job of organizing my photos!

You just need to find a great fabricator. This guy was a craftsman and could do anything with stone.

@A L0108, I've had no bleeding issue. Did you mean to ask I Love Red about the issues with her quartzite (which is not TM) ?

I have Blue Fusion quartzite counters and they are bullet proof. Probably not the color you are looking for but I love them.

@moosemac - those are beautiful!! Wow! Do you have a photo of your kitchen?

I saw an amazing "test" list on here ( to ensure a slab is true quartzite) at some point and now I'm having a really hard time finding it. I believe it was posted by a geologist ... does anyone have a link to this? ...

I have been living with my polished Taj Mahal quartzite for about nine months. It is bulletproof. This is our family ”compound” home so I really wanted something I didn’t need to worry about. I am really happy with my choice.

@nycbluedevil_gw - GORGEOUS! I absolutely love that. It looks like you went with Polished? It's stunning! So glad to hear it's been bulletproof - we have a toddler and not always the "easiest" on our counters :) so definitely want something that is stunning but can also hold up over time!

@A L0108, look for the geology posts by @karin_mt

@nycbluedevil_gw @MinnesotaMary @kchamousis @stiley - interested to hear what sort of (if any) "tests" you did in advance of purchasing your slabs? I'm looking tomorrow and just want to make sure I check all the boxes :)

We completed a reno recently with white dove cabinets and polished sea peal quartzite which has many beautiful colors. it’s been bullet proof so far and i don’t baby it.

what colors are in sea pearl? would it go with cabinets that are more true white than white dove, like chantilly lace?

@cyc2001 - GORGEOUS!!

My sea pearl has cream, gray, beige, and blue-green. I think it’s perfect with the white dove. Is chantilly lace more yellow? it would work with that too. Might not pair well woth a stark white. here are my slabs - different lighting and hard to see how beautiful it is in the pics. I really love it - it was a big splurge.

chantilly is more stark white than white dove.

im removing the wall between kitchen and Dining room. dining room has stark white half wall and crown molding, so i want to do the cabinets a stark white, as it will look off in my opinion.

the sea pearl is pretty , but as you stated, i wasnt sure if a true white would work. i want quartzite, and haven't heard good things about princess white, which is a truer white.

looking for true quartize that will work with white cabinets

A L0108 ... To answer your question on tests we did ... I have to say we didn't. BUT, I had an incredible tile/countertop gal who "knows" who went with me and we went to the stone yards that she trusted and worked with frequently. I have worked with her in the past and gotten to know her well and know her high standards on products and trust her knowledge 100%. If we'd had to make a final decision on our own, I'd have been doing my own "tests." I'm guessing you will need more than one slab, so just be sure to have the people working there pull them out side by side for you so you can see them together. And look at the numbers the slabs are given and find them in sequence. I was surprised that even being cut from the same slab, but not in sequence, can have such a different color. If you do decide on using Taj Mahal, I don't think you would be disappointed. I've had it 6 months now and had zero issues! We sealed it originally and are about ready to do so again, but that really was a quick task. I don't have any scratches or stains : ) Good luck with your search tomorrow!!

Abby, here is a link to an article by Karin, the geologist who often posts on Houzz. I have this bookmarked and referred to it often.

https://usenaturalstone.org/definitive-guide-quartzite

As for testing, I was able to get sealed and unsealed samples of Taj Mahal. I added small amounts of cider vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, red wine, ketchup, mustard and turmeric paste to each and let them sit overnight. I also did the scratch test.

Of course, I was already very confident that TM would pass with flying colors (based on all my research!) but I tested anyway. Nothing stained or etched the sealed sample. I could see some faint coloration from the turmeric and red wine on the unsealed sample. Good luck!

And don't forget that a stone could be hard, but still be porous. Those would benefit from being sealed. The test was putting a small chunk in some water and observe if the water wicks up into the stone and how quickly it happens.

I think Sea pearl and Taj Mahal are very similar, if not two end of the same stone type. My last 3 slabs were labeled as Taj Mahal by the stone yard. When a different installer came to do my outdoor kitchen he said the kitchen counters were Sea Pearl. These slabs looked just like the other slabs I had bought 5 years ago in another state and were also labeled as Taj Mahal

Who knows? Maybe karin_mt can clarify?

Honestly, I didn’t test. I had seen a lot of Taj, the stone yard is large and reputable and my fabricator (with whom I have worked a lot) sources from there frequently. I have spilled all kinds of things on the counters, including red wine and turmeric. Not a single stain. Much different from the honed calacatta marble counters I have had in my city apartment for 10 years. Lots of etching and some pitting. My Indian food cooking there is something that is done very carefully!

You are all so helpful! Thank you so much! Does anyone have any input or advice on questions I should ask my fabricator? Specifically working with quartzite? They are very well-known and respected in the area in which I live so I totally trust them but I just wanna make sure I’m doing all my due diligence before finalizing the selection. Thank you again!

Does your area have 2 cm or 3 cm slabs?

In CA most slabs were 2 cm, but here in FL most slabs are 3 cm.

With the 2 cm slabs I had a built up laminated edge. In other words, they just stuck on another piece of the slab to make the counter look thicker. You could also achieve the same with a mitered piece.

With the 3 cm slabs I kept is as is and just had a pencil/eased edge done. It looked thick enough to me and better to keep things simple.

FWIW i dont think taj mahal would work well with stark white since it is so gold/beige/creamy. Taj and sea pearl are generally found to be more reliably bullet proof than other quartzites, based on what i have read on this site. So many stones are mislabeled, it is hard to know what is what without testing as explained by karin-mt and referenced above. good luck!

Comparing it to fashion ... bright white button down shirt paired with khaki pants is a classic look and that is the look you will get with Taj Mahal and bright white cabinets!

A L0108, I wish I had advice for some fabricator questions. Ours came highly recommended from our GC who we have known for 30 years so we took his good opinion. I think my husband had some questions, but honestly I was just watching. We went to his shop though while he laid out our templates on our slabs. I was really glad we did that as he was watching the movement in the stone in many different ways, whereas I was looking at the area I thought was the prettiest. He planned it out right down to the way the movement went in the piece that was in our windowsill. He spent so much time planning it out, that I felt really good about how it would be in our home. He did an incredible job.

Our fabricator came highly recommended as well. I would ask how much experience they have with quartzite. Do they use laser templating? (You get your layout on the computer and can see exactly where your cuts and stone will be and you can ask for changes if it isn’t exactly what you want!) Ask what edge treatments they do with quartzite? I used an “eased” edge. Less chipping potential. Ask about sealing / what they use and make sure they seal any inside edges around faucet and cooktop openings.

Thank you all so much for your input, photos etc. I was able to view some TM yesterday in person and it is absolutely stunning. Photos don’t do it justice! Here’s the slab I am leaning towards… but also love the brushed option too (second photo). I asked about polished vs brushed/leathered holding up/absorbing differently but both suppliers didn’t think this would be an issue.

Welcome any thoughts on the slab photos below. Again, photos don’t do it justice :)

And other slab a little lighter…

So pretty! Go for it! Taj mahal is one quartzite that I never hear any problems about so it seems like a safe bet.

Re the finish....

polished finish will reflect lighting and you might find the glare annoying

I love my leathered finish I love the sound of cups and plates sliding across my island I feel a non shiny finish is more organic and closer to the original stone This is all personal preference of course but I wanted to share my thoughts

Before you decide make sure you see the slabs outside in natural light. Never had a stone yard decline to do that once I was down to the final decision.

Run your hands over the slabs to check for any fissures/cracks and look closely to see how much resin might have been used to fill any fissures/cracks.

Do you have a fabricator? I would have them come and give the final opinion on a slab as they should be able to spot any issues that the average homeowner won't.

Make sure you see every single slab you want to buy, take several photos of the slabs and photos of any identifying numbers written on the sides.

I did polished in both kitchens. In current kitchen I probably should have done brushed/honed because of the large windows, but I was looking/buying 8 months into covid and inventory was at the lowest point with no shipments coming in. I felt lucky I found the 3 slabs I bought at a smaller out of the way stone yard. The bigger well known stone yards had no TM inventory at that time.

Check the exact sizes of the slabs and play with your layout. We fell in love with a specific slab (of a different granite) that was cut a bit shorter than others, and our layout didn't fit -- would have needed an extra seam.

Abby, the leathered or brushed slabs really seem to show less on them in the light. I worried about stuff getting in the little texture places, but that's a non issue. I agree with chispa on getting pictures of any identifying numbers on the slabs. That's the first thing my tile gal did. Also like chispa, we bought during Covid and inventory was very slim. When we picked ours, we had designers standing around behind us waiting for us to walk away from the slabs. My tile lady said they would have bought them instantly if we hadn't. So when you find what you want, get it!

THANK YOU for these tips - theyre so helpufl!

@chispa - Run your hands over the slabs to check for any fissures/cracks and look closely to see how much resin might have been used to fill any fissures/cracks.

Any advice on how to tell what resin use looks like? Where to look for this or anything to be concerned with it. I love the tip of having my fabricator go see the slabs as well - that is a great idea! We're located about 90 miles from the slab yard so I'm not 100% sure they would be able to get there. If they are not able to go to help select slabs with me - how would the "average" customer (i.e. me) notice these type of things?

@kchamousis @typeandrun - thank you for the tips! I'm leaning towards doing the leathered (so gorgeous!) and just wanted to see if you have any issues with the texture for writing or rolling out dough etc? The slabs that we found of leathered I like are pretty smooth - not too crazy rough texture by any means but wanted to see if you had any thoughts/experience on this!

I also received pricing from a few suppliers (using the same fabricator) and one came in MUCH higher (like $20/square foot higher) ... is that concerning? Why would one supplier be so much less expensive than another? I took a sample from the "less" expensive supplier and ran all the tests on the leathered sample which it passed with flying colors. Thoughts from anyone?

Abby, I don’t have any issues writing on my countertops although mostly I’m just writing my grocery lists which are on post-it pads. My husband does though and has never complained. I’ve not rolled out any dough, but I don’t really think it would be an issue. The texture really isn’t deep. It’s there, but not in an obnoxious way, if that makes sense. I think mine are probably similar to what u found, and they are pretty smooth. I have one area of mine that did have a deeper texture mark and we had that cut so it was not where I’d be working. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we decided on leathered; it’s hard to switch from glossy that we had become “used to.” But I couldn’t be happier with it and all the little things I worried about before it arrived vanished when it came in my kitchen and I instantly fell in love with it!

The resin is a filler they put into any cracks/fissures to keep the slab intact. Have you ever worked with wood filler? Usually not as obvious on a slab, but similar idea. My current slabs definitely have more resin than the ones I used in my previous kitchen and I didn't really notice that when I viewed them outside at the slab yard.