We are replacing the kitchen countertops. Granite is beautiful but lighter colors may etch. Quartz is made with resins that could ‘melt’ if a hot baking dish is placed on it. Quartzite is supposedly the most durable but like granite needs to be sealed.
So confused. Does anyone have any experience, positive or negative with any of these three?
If you are good with trivets (I never put a hot pan on a bare countertop), quartz is the way to go. No sealants, no stains, no fuss. Cleans beautifully. If you bake a lot, you might want to go with granite as some baking sheets can inevitably end up on the counter (we don’t bake much).
Once sealed, you don’t have to do much to a granite countertop. And typically the installer will do the sealing for you…
I am not a fan of the lighter colors anyway, because a clean dark granite countertop always makes the kitchen look amazing. Now if I could only convince DH to help keep the clutter off of it…
You know…it isn’t exactly rocket science to reseal granite. We have had ours for about 7 years now…a light color…and there isn’t a mark on it. I use the sealer on it about once every two years. Mine is Ivory Fantasy if you want to see the color.
We have a quartzite in our new kitchen. Our stone people said the hardness depends on where and when the stone was formed. Our quartzite actually has marble qualities so some granites would have been harder than what we selected. That gave me pause except the fabricator had our sam stone in their coffee bar for 10 years + and it looked fantastic.
We’ve been told our stone only needs to be sealed once every 10 years. So far so good but I tend to be careful with wiping up spills immediately and I always use a trivet. We also are empty nesters so we don’t have to worry about little ones.
Honestly I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these materials.
We built our house in 2007 and our designer talked us into using Caesarstone (quartz) when everyone was still using granite. It was on kitchen counters, including huge breakfast bar island as well as bathroom counters. When I sold the house 10 years later,it all still looked brand new. Loved it, and never had a issue. My new house has beautiful Carerra marble in the kitchen and I am constantly worried about stains, etching, etc. When I redo my kitchen, I’m putting in quartz.
We have a light colored quartz with small darker brown flecks throughout. I love it. We have had it for probably 5 years now and have no complaints. I am careful to use trivets for hot pans and dishes. I have had different kind of stainable berry juices on it that I thought I might have trouble removing, but it wiped off fine. Very happy with our choice.
Love my Granite! Have had it for 18 years as it’s just as beautiful today as it was installed, I have resealed it once, it’s no big deal. I love placing any old HOT anything on it.
Not all granite needs regular sealing. Our Uba Tuba Verde, a blackish with “regular” warm tones, is not very porous. I sealed it once in 6 years. Our lighter granite on our outdoor bbq is Fantasy Yellow, and I seal that almost every year. Oh course, being outside is partially responsible for this.
I love the more natural beauty of granite but, personally, do not like the dark colors. I like lighter colored granite with some movement, regardless of cabinet color.
We had granite in a kitchen that we sealed only once in the 11 years we lived in that house. It took hot pans, red wine spills, art projects, etc., and it was fine!
I used a quartzite cuz I wanted a lighter color. I have a lucite chopping board by the stove, so hot pans, baking sheets go right on that, I don’t know that is necessary, but I like to play it safe. If I redid, I would probably use a quartz that looked like marble.
Supposedly the fashion trends say that granite is passé these days.
Passé? Ok…so maybe that’s why many of the quartz and quartzite look like…granite.
We just went through a pretty extensive house search and poured concrete and soapstone counters seemed to be very “in”. (We bought an old fixer so redid the kitchen.)
Only without the “depth” and “uniqueness”.
@thumper1 in our Denver house, we needed to do some remodeling work in the kitchen, and more than one place talked about how granite was out and soapstone, concrete, laminated and in some cases glass were the fashionable thing. That didn’t actually make a great deal of sense to me, but that was what was presented in at least 3 or 4 places.
ProfessorPlum168, When my brother recently remodeled his kitchen he was told the same thing. I think designers, retailers, (and, yes, consumers) have a much easier decision process. Don’t have the hassle of slab shopping for everyone involved! (Go Bears!)
“Granite” encompasses a pretty wide variety of stone. Some need sealing, some don’t, some are sensitive to etching, and some aren’t. We have a white granite, on our perimeter counters; it’s completely bulletproof - never been sealed and I have spilled all sorts of stuff on it with no ill effects, even after spills sit for days.
On our island we have the exact opposite, a very sensitive but gorgeous blue bahia granite that doesn’t stain but is very sensitive to etching, so we avoid putting anything non-pH-neutral on it, like vinegars, citrus, or fruit juices.
Any decent granite yard will give you a sample of your preferred granite to test. Take it home, pour white vinegar, soy sauce, and tomato juice on it, let sit overnight, wash off in the morning and see how it held up. Then use your sample as a trivet on your quartz 
I loooved the soapstone, but 8 years ago was way more expensive than the granite. Then I dropped my keys on the sample piece we had. Big chunks missing. No way I could ever live with it! My neighbor hasn’t poured concrete- it seems to stain pretty easily. Granite has been great. I also have white quartz on a built in desk/shelving unit in our study. I absolutely love it! Definitely planning on quartz when we redo the master. I really think you can’t go wrong with any! Pick your favorite!
We built our home in 2005, and put a granite island and countertops around the perimeter. The granite people,were phenomenal and cut it and installed it and sealed it. My granite has seen my kids grow up and drop stuff, spill stuff, crawl on it and stand on it. I’ve put hot cookie sheets and pans of boiling water just off my stove. So, I would say, granite is a good option. My advice would be, to find a place where you actually go and look at slabs and pick your exact slab(s). Stone varies beyond that little 6x6 a designer will show you.