Granite vs Quartz countertops

[aja8888]

Quartz is really just "engineered stone" which is ground up natural materials (quartz primarily, although other materials can be added to meet aesthetic features) and bound with a synthetic resin. Granite is natural rock which is sliced into slabs, polished, and cut to installation size.

Both are quite nice and durable.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley Here's a CR report on it - https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...ests/index.htm It does look like it's susceptible to chips and cracks. Cool looking, though.

It does say it cracked while the other 13 materials didn’t...? I’m between volleyball matches and didn’t read the whole thing but the part I read said that.....

[Dash man]

We have granite in our primary home and Taj Majal Quartzite in our Florida condo. We love them both and haven’t had any staining issues. But the quartzite is stunningly beautiful compared to any other countertops I’ve seen.
As mentioned by someone earlier, quartz is engineered. When we were looking, the slabs were also smaller requiring more seams in the countertop.

[Katsmeow]

I am not sure which way I would go and may need to decide this soon (we may be replacing cabs and counters). The last couple of houses I've had granite. The last house was blue pearl and the one before was a darker color.

Honestly, I never sealed my granite. These were existing houses so maybe someone did it...but I didn't. I would have if they needed but they didn't. And, I definitely cut acidic foods on the granite. I mean basically the granite was my cutting board for anything that was non-poultry/fish/meat.

I never had any problem with the granite. Never a chip. Never a stain. Maybe it would have been different with a lighter colored granite.

That said -- I think a lot of the quartz cabs are nice too. I will probably go for whatever looks the best. If I decide on a light color I am more likely to go for quartz.

Current house has soapstone which I had often thought I wanted. Now -- I don't want soapstone. It is definitely pretty and it looks very nice. But, I can't cut on it. I made the mistake of cutting some vegetables on it and now I have a bunch of little scratch marks. I know I can buff them out, but who wants to? So, when we replace the counters - no soapstone.

[pb4uski]

That's funny... I love soapstone but it is a budget buster. I think you can buff out the scratches with mineral oil.

[iloveyoga]

I have been very happy with my Corian countertops. I like the smooth line between the sink and countertop.

[Ronstar]

We replaced 2 of our bath vanity tops with quartz last year. I’m now in the process of demo’ing the kitchen - replacing our 24 year old corian with quartz. We have granite on our bar. I like the looks of granite, but it has to be sealed. DW likes quartz because there is no maintenance.

[Bestwifeever]

DD has had her townhouse with tons of granite for twelve years and it’s never been resealed. Our granite kitchen counters are five years old and we’ve never resealed them. Both DD’s and ours look mighty fine, shiny, no chips, blah blah. There are good reasons to prefer different surfaces but granite resealing wasn’t one for us.

[Souschef]

We went with granite, because our original counter tops were 4 inch tiles, which DW hated. The funny thing was, when we went to the stone yard to pick one, we came around a corner from opposite directions and picked the same one! It was called Madura Gold, and we love it.
At the same time we went to a single sink, which is great for washing large pots and pans, and a new higher Kohler faucet

[trumpeting_angel]

People are sold on quartz because “you have to seal granite.” Sealing the granite is simple, takes little time, and only has to be done twice a year at most. If you’ve ever wiped down your wooden furniture with Pledge or washed the sink with a spray cleaner, you’ve done most of what is equivalent to sealing. Clear the counter, clean it, spray on the sealant, leave for - IIRC - 20 minutes, then wipe it off. Done.

[aja8888]

We put granite in our kitchen about 4 years ago. It's perfect and never been re-sealed since the installation. No stains, clouds, etc. Looks like it was put in yesterday.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar We replaced 2 of our bath vanity tops with quartz last year. I’m now in the process of demo’ing the kitchen - replacing our 24 year old corian with quartz. We have granite on our bar. I like the looks of granite, but it has to be sealed. DW likes quartz because there is no maintenance.

Well, not every granite needs to be sealed. We never sealed any of ours and it was fine. Maybe if it was a light color it would have been different. But ours wasn't all that dark in the last house (Blue Pearl).

[Ronstar]

Ours is a darker granite. The supplier sold us the sealer and told us to keep it sealed. Our bar granite is slightly absorbent. A condensation ring from a glass will sometimes leave a ring for a few hours. But we have never had any lasting stains on it.

[Scrapr]

We like the natural coloration of the granite. The quartz just seems ho hum to us. We like the veins and the coloration as it moves through the slab, We book matched our slab at the one or 2 seams and it looks great.

That said I'm seeing more quartz in the new construction. Things go in cycles. Corian was it after the formica, Then granite. Now the man mades are popular

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrapr We like the natural coloration of the granite. The quartz just seems ho hum to us. We like the veins and the coloration as it moves through the slab, We book matched our slab at the one or 2 seams and it looks great. That said I'm seeing more quartz in the new construction. Things go in cycles. Corian was it after the formica, Then granite. Now the man mades are popular

Though early examples and current low end quartz looks manmade, you can buy quartz countertops that mimic granite, marble, soapstone, etc. now too. Some examples here https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/a...tz-countertops.

[COcheesehead]

We’re looking at a lot of model homes. Quartz and materials that appear solid in color are in.

[misanman]

Quote:

People are sold on quartz because “you have to seal granite.” Sealing the granite is simple, takes little time, and only has to be done twice a year at most. If you’ve ever wiped down your wooden furniture with Pledge or washed the sink with a spray cleaner, you’ve done most of what is equivalent to sealing. Clear the counter, clean it, spray on the sealant, leave for - IIRC - 20 minutes, then wipe it off. Done.

Glad you posted this. We've had granite for 10 years or so. The installers left a spray bottle of cleaner/sealer which we use 1 or 2 times a year. When I read the complaints about sealing granite I wondered if we were doing something wrong. Glad to hear that "spray it on, wipe it off" is the process as that is what we've been doing. The "Pledge" analogy is a good one.

[tmm99]

It seems the seal works like a water-proof spray? The sofa I bought years ago came scotchguarded, and if I spilled anything liquid, it beaded up instead of soaking in, and the seal on the granite works like that, I assume, from the photos I've seen on the Internet. So if you spill nothing on it, I imagine you don't need the seal.

So to people who responded that they never sealed their granite and haven't had any stain issues, maybe you are such a clean, non-klutzy bunch of folks who haven't spilled anything major?

[MissMolly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 It seems the seal works like a water-proof spray? The sofa I bought years ago came scotchguarded, and if I spilled anything liquid, it beaded up instead of soaking in, and the seal on the granite works like that, I assume, from the photos I've seen on the Internet. So if you spill nothing on it, I imagine you don't need the seal. So to people who responded that they never sealed their granite and haven't had any stain issues, maybe you are such a clean, non-klutzy bunch of folks who haven't spilled anything major?

Well, we have had our granite in the kitchen for over 10 years. Never sealed it. I did the "water test" where you pour a small amount of water on the granite and see how long it takes to soak in, if ever. I waited over 30 minutes, and it never soaked in. Just stayed in a puddle on top. According to the test, no sealing is needed. And no, I am far from non-klutzy/non-messy. I poured the water right next to the sink area where most activity happens - plates/dishes/pots/glasses always being set down, cutting/dicing happening, etc. No soaking in at all.

[COcheesehead]

6 year old granite in kitchen. Spilled red wine on it all the time. Never stained.
Marble vanity tops in two of the baths. Stains just by looking at it.