Granite vs Quartz countertops

[Orchidflower]

I watch quite a bit of HGTV, and see many are using concrete that has been stained. Much cheaper than other tops I understand, and looked great to me.

 

[Westernskies]

GRANITE ! Quartz looks and performs like imitation granite- might as well go with the real deal, IMO.

 

[Janet H]

Check out the Kitchen/bathroom publication from consumer reports. There is a detailed comparison there between surfaces. After reading this and doing some shopping, we did granite as well - in fact our redo is just nearing an end. The counter tops went in a couple of weeks ago.

For us, the visual impact made the difference. The composite quartz was too consistent a surface - we wanted to see the variations of granite.

 

[MichaelB]

It seems granite is the preferred finish around here. We talked about the resale aspect - never seen an ad for "quartz countertops" - but are still undecided.

Our kitchen currently has black granite (ugh) with multiple stains (that were cleverly covered when we bought) which cannot be remedied and seriously irritate DW. It show even the slightest stain or water residue. As expected, anything that bothers her really bothers me and I am highly motivated to make this change. We have to cut the current granite regardless because we need to replace a broken, non-standard cooktop, so it's the right moment.

What worries us the most is the fact that granite stains. I know - sealant, once a year, etc and it'll never happen. This is like investing - it's not the probability of a market decline, it's the consequence. If I stain the countertop it'll be like relocating to hades or living though a twenty year pestilence.

We're going to checkout a few stores today, just to look, touch, and ask - mostly about care and maintenance.

 

[Westernskies]

For us, the visual impact made the difference. The composite quartz was too consistent a surface - we wanted to see the variations of granite.

Ditto- we have a synthetic solid surface quarts countertop at our cabin- it was in when we bought it and we hate it-too homogenous looking, no character. It looks synthetic.

Here is the granite we put in our kitchen just before we put our house on the market- we love it, and I hope the new owners will, too.

 

[Amethyst]

It's a beautiful desert pattern, WS, yet I never quite saw the point of making beautiful upgrades to one's home just before selling it. To me, it always felt like a gyp to make my house nicer for strangers, than it was while I was in it. Make it nice for me, that's my thought.

I assume the place you're moving to is even more spectacular?

 

[Westernskies]

It's a beautiful desert pattern, WS, yet I never quite saw the point of making beautiful upgrades to one's home just before selling it. To me, it always felt like a gyp to make my house nicer for strangers, than it was while I was in it. Make it nice for me, that's my though t.

Thanks, Amethyst, but the upgrades helped sell it fast in a neighborhood of cookie cutter-homes (most approaching 10 years old, most without any upgrades):

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/sold-our-house-in-34-days-46182.html

I assume the place you're moving to is even more spectacular?

The house we are moving to is a big step up... we are buying it primarily as an investment, but you have to live somewhere...
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...tment-plunge-long-post-with-photos-45051.html

 

[Texas Proud]

It's a beautiful desert pattern, WS, yet I never quite saw the point of making beautiful upgrades to one's home just before selling it. To me, it always felt like a gyp to make my house nicer for strangers, than it was while I was in it. Make it nice for me, that's my thought.

I assume the place you're moving to is even more spectacular?

Not that I upgrades like WS.... but I did upgrade the house I am selling... because the floors were the orginal laminate that looked pretty bad.. to someone else... I could care less... (but my wife was wanting something else).... also, our bathroom had deteriorated so bad that we had to freshen it up or nobody would want the place...

So far... no takers... but it has only be a short time...

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Wow, what a beautiful new place Westernskies.

It's great your upgrades paid off. In 2004 when we downsized sold our modest 1950's ranch-style house, it sat on the market for 200 days. On the realtor's advice we replaced the wallpaper in the study and bathrooms (Sooo 1990s she said.) with fancy (and expensive) faux finishes.

A 15% price reduction finally moved it. The new owners immediately bulldozed it and built this.

 

[MichaelB]

We went out looking at options saturday past. After looking and touching there was no choice - granite carried the day.

When I reminded her of the stain factor she just looked at me - with that special look reserved for long time couples - and said "you're just gonna have to be careful and not stain my new granite".

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[harley]

To all of you that have never resealed their granite countertops - I personally know two couples that spilled red wine on their granite and didn't clean it up right away. The porous granite sucked up the wine. One of them is living with the stain. The other one hired somebody to come in and grind down the countertop to get rid of it. I don't think it would have mattered much if the countertops had been darker, but on their's it was really obvious.

I have quartz, so I don't know for sure, but when I was shopping all of the sales people told me you needed to reseal every year. We were going low maintenance, and we loved the color options we had available, so we went with the quartz. We've only been here 1 1/2 years. I'll report back in 8 more and let you know how it's working out.

 

[tmm99]

To all of you that have never resealed their granite countertops - I personally know two couples that spilled red wine on their granite and didn't clean it up right away. The porous granite sucked up the wine. One of them is living with the stain. The other one hired somebody to come in and grind down the countertop to get rid of it. I don't think it would have mattered much if the countertops had been darker, but on their's it was really obvious.

I have quartz, so I don't know for sure, but when I was shopping all of the sales people told me you needed to reseal every year. We were going low maintenance, and we loved the color options we had available, so we went with the quartz. We've only been here 1 1/2 years. I'll report back in 8 more and let you know how it's working out.

I am resurrecting this old thread instead of opening a new one. I hope it's OK?

I am trying to decide if we should go with granite or quartz, and before reading this thread, I was leaning toward granite, but since I want a light-colored countertop, I may be safer with quartz.

Your opinions change since 2009?

As for the resale value of a home although we have no plans to sell in the near future, does anyone know if it makes a difference, granite or quartz?

 

[MBAustin]

I think quartz is more popular now than in 2009 (when we bought/remodeled our house). In a previous kitchen remodel, I had light colored granite and would NEVER have it again. It really does stain easily regardless of sealing (especially sensitive to anything greasy or oily). We have dark granite now which has been fine, but I think I would go with quartz in any future project.

 

[W2R]

I am resurrecting this old thread instead of opening a new one. I hope it's OK?

I am trying to decide if we should go with granite or quartz, and before reading this thread, I was leaning toward granite, but since I want a light-colored countertop, I may be safer with quartz.

Your opinions change since 2009?

As for the resale value of the home although we have no plans to sell in the near future, does anyone know if it makes a difference, granite or quartz?

I loved my (black) granite countertops in my old house that I discussed in posts #21 and #25 above (see photo below). To me as a buyer, granite would have been a big plus; I'm not familiar with quartz so maybe that would not have been as attractive to me. Maybe ask a local realtor? When I sold that home, the new buyers immediately did a complete kitchen remodel, tearing out everything including the countertops. So there went my gorgeous granite. Oh well, it's their home now.

My present home came with new-looking countertops made of some sort of laminate or something, perhaps Formica (?), in a pattern of black, grey, and white speckles that is intended to look like granite. I figured that as soon as it gets stained or cut, I'd replace it with granite. Well, I have been here 3 years and it is amazing! It has really held up and still looks brand new. Perhaps manufacturers have improved this type of material since before the days of granite, in order to compete effectively.

It requires almost no care other than occasional wiping with a sponge. So yes, my opinions must have changed because I haven't replaced my countertops with granite. However if they become stained or gouged, out they go!

Here are the two countertops, old and new:

 

[Lsbcal]

I am resurrecting this old thread instead of opening a new one. I hope it's OK?

I am trying to decide if we should go with granite or quartz, and before reading this thread, I was leaning toward granite, but since I want a light-colored countertop, I may be safer with quartz.

Your opinions change since 2009?

As for the resale value of a home although we have no plans to sell in the near future, does anyone know if it makes a difference, granite or quartz?

We are remodeling our kitchen at the moment. We chose a natural stone. If you want light colors you might go with quartzite. The industry does not always refer to the rock types as the geologists do. Some granites will have a mix with plenty of light colors. Quartzite (a metamorphic rock) is usually more expensive but it is fine grained and can be beautiful.

FWIW, we chose dark colored stone slabs. They are "Saturnia" by name but are really a schist which is a metamorphic rock that is not quite as fine grained as some quartzites. See: Schist Happens: Get to Know This Brilliant Stone - Use Natural Stone


My advice is to walk around a stone yard that displays a good variety of slabs. You might find you are fascinated with the stone varieties, or maybe not.

 

[Jerry1]

To me it was simply a cost issue. Granite was a lot less expensive than quartz. Our granite came sealed with a ten year guarantee. I don’t plan on resealing but I also don’t plan on leaving wine or oils sit on the counter for and length of time. We had one accident (sweet potato in a basket went bad and sat on the counter and got moldy) that caused a stain, but all we had to do was soak a paper towel with hydrogen peroxide and let it sit on the stain overnight. Took two days but the stain did come out. If it hadn’t, we’d have called the place we bought it from as we’ve only had it about two years. If I didn’t have a tight remodel budget, I’d go with quartz, but it was at least twice as expensive and we had a couple large counter tops. It was a few thousand more in our application to go with quartz.

 

[Dreamer]

We had a new kitchen put in the end of 2014 and we have quartz. I love it.

 

[FIREd]

I replaced a dark granite countertop with a light quartz countertop last year in my kitchen. The new quartz (with a marble look) feels like a solid slab of stone and looks really natural. I find both materials easy to clean and maintain. I was concerned about stains on the "white marble" quartz but so far it has remained spotless (my mother has real marble countertops at her house and they stain and etch very easily). As far as resale value between granite and quartz, I have no clue. In my cheap-ish neighborhood, I cannot imagine it making much of a difference. But in a more upscale setting, people might be more inclined to expect granite or other natural stone material.

 

[Cobra9777]

We are remodeling our kitchen at the moment. We chose a natural stone. If you want light colors you might go with quartzite. The industry does not always refer to the rock types as the geologists do. Some granites will have a mix with plenty of light colors. Quartzite (a metamorphic rock) is usually more expensive but it is fine grained and can be beautiful.

FWIW, we chose dark colored stone slabs. They are "Saturnia" by name but are really a schist which is a metamorphic rock that is not quite as fine grained as some quartzites. See: Schist Happens: Get to Know This Brilliant Stone - Use Natural Stone

Yeah, I didn't see quartzite mentioned in the 2009 discussion. We used quartzite in our recent master bath remodel. It's the most amazing natural stone surface I've ever seen... supposedly harder than granite. It's usually very pricey, but we just needed a single small-ish piece for the vanity and found a remnant in our supplier's boneyard at a decent price.

We installed a higher grade granite in the kitchen about 12 years ago. It's held up well and looks great. I reseal about every two years and we've had no stains despite numerous red wine mishaps. We like the irregular patterns and streaks.

 

[tmm99]

I loved my (black) granite countertops in my old house that I discussed in posts #21 and #25 above (see photo below).

Yes, very beautiful. Too bad the new owner demoed it.

 

[tmm99]

I want to go with a light-colored slab, so from what I read so far here, I have a feeling granite is out due to the staining factor. I may change my mind though, which I'm known to do...

 

[pb4uski]

To me it was simply a cost issue. Granite was a lot less expensive than quartz. .... If I didn’t have a tight remodel budget, I’d go with quartz, but it was at least twice as expensive and we had a couple large counter tops. It was a few thousand more in our application to go with quartz.

+1 We were budget constrained because we didn't want to end up with more invested in our condo that what it would be worth, so we decided on granite instead of quartz due to granite's lower cost. It should be templated tomorrow and installed in a week or two.

ETA: part of the reason that granite was cheaper for us is that we could do our kitchen with one vary large granite slab... but quartz would have required two slabs because quartz doesn't come in slabs large enough... the difference between buying one granite slab or 1 1/2 quartz slabs was pretty significant.

 

[W2R]

Yes, very beautiful. Too bad the new owner demoed it.

I thought so too! They didn't demo the ugly 1960's bathrooms, complete with pink plastic tub/shower surround. Just my gorgeous kitchen. The photo of the black granite countertop in my old kitchen, was after I had lived there for 13 years with it. During that 13 years I re-sealed it maybe twice (10 minutes each time). I used Windex on it often with no bad effects, and Windexed it just before taking that photograph.

I just added a photo of the laminate countertop in my new house.

 

[tmm99]

To me it was simply a cost issue. Granite was a lot less expensive than quartz. Our granite came sealed with a ten year guarantee. I don’t plan on resealing but I also don’t plan on leaving wine or oils sit on the counter for and length of time. We had one accident (sweet potato in a basket went bad and sat on the counter and got moldy) that caused a stain, but all we had to do was soak a paper towel with hydrogen peroxide and let it sit on the stain overnight. Took two days but the stain did come out. If it hadn’t, we’d have called the place we bought it from as we’ve only had it about two years. If I didn’t have a tight remodel budget, I’d go with quartz, but it was at least twice as expensive and we had a couple large counter tops. It was a few thousand more in our application to go with quartz.

How many years ago did you price quartz? Quartz used to be very expensive, but the price has come down a lot in the recent years.

What color is your granite?

 

[tmm99]

I thought so too! They didn't demo the 1960's bathrooms, complete with pink plastic tub/shower surround. Just my gorgeous kitchen. The photo of the black granite countertop in my old kitchen, was after 13 years and re-sealing maybe twice (10 minutes each time). I used Windex on it just before photographing it.

I just added a photo of the laminate countertop in my new house.

Yeah, I like the color/design of your laminate countertop. That's the kind of color I want to go for. I've seen something like that in quartz too, but my DH likes the marbled look better so that's what we will go for, but who knows what we end up with.

Either way I think your countertop in your new house looks very clean and contemporary. I would definitely keep it. Ours is in a very bad shape, so it really needs to be replaced.