Granite vs Quartz, your choice and why?

[Debfrommaine]

Thinking about granite for the kitchen counters and bath - I like quartz, hubby likes granite. Realize one is a natural product and other is man-made, have had both but........can't decide. Your opinion please.......and thanks. :confused:

[Cynbod]

Thinking about granite for the kitchen counters and bath - I like quartz, hubby likes granite. Realize one is a natural product and other is man-made, have had both but........can't decide. Your opinion please.......and thanks. :confused:

May I inquire why you like quartz over granite. I have granite in my home in Brooklyn and I love it, however, for the house in TV I have been considering quartz. I have seen some beautiful guartz counters, but I am not sure.

[hdh1470]

Quartz,only surface approved for food industry.But will cost more.

[jimbo2012]

A few facts
One complicating factor is that we are not comparing just two materials. We are comparing three: quartz vs. engineered granite vs. slab granite. Due to the manufacturing process, quartz countertops and engineered granite counters are closely akin. Slab granite stands alone as the one material quarried directly from the ground.

Quartz vs. Granite: Radon
Radon in granite and quartz countertops is a contentious issue, and like pricing, one with shifting parameters. Radon is a radioactive gas that has been linked to lung cancer. Radon can be found in granite and quartz.

Consumer Reports indicates that a scientist found "almost no radon" in the engineered stones, and very little coming from the granite.

Quartz vs. Granite: Stone or Not?
If your only concern is whether or not your counters are 100% stone, this is pretty much a tie. Granite can come in the engineered stone version, but quartz is always engineered. What does "engineered" mean?

Prominent quartz countertop maker CaesarStone notes that 93% natural quartz aggregates are mixed with the remaining 7% of color pigments and polymer resins. The resins are there to bind the particles together. Engineered granite is made in much the same way. However, since a 100% version of granite (slab granite) is available, the balance shifts to granite.

[Debfrommaine]

May I inquire why you like quartz over granite. I have granite in my home in Brooklyn and I love it, however, for the house in TV I have been considering quartz. I have seen some beautiful guartz counters, but I am not sure.

I had quartz in one house and felt it was easier to care for and clean. The granite I had a few years ago would tend to streak - then I heard food stains can occur more with granite, but not sure how true that is. Both are beautiful, as you mentioned.

[keithwand]

Had Zodiac quartz in our new Orlando spec built home in 2004 and while we liked it we would have preferred granite which we now have throughout in TV.

[getdul981]

We have had both. Quartz in our home in VA and now we have granite here in TV. We would have preferred to have granite here, but it was a spec home and we had no choice at the time. The quartz needs minimal maintenance and is very hard to chip or break. Granite on the other hand is very easy to chip and break and needs to be sealed periodocially. I have heard of granite having radon, but have never heard of quartz having radon before this thread. Also, the reason granite needs to be sealed is that it is pourous and the reason quartz doesn't is that it is not pourous.

[l2ridehd]

One is a natural material, one is man made. I personally like the beauty that is inherent in the natural stone with granite. No two slabs are ever the same. Something that is not possible with any man made mass produced product. Both are great products and it is more a personal choice then anything else.To me quartz is pretty, nice to look at, granite is beautiful. Might be slightly more care, however with the granite wipes out today, still very easy to care for.

And the radon issue is not an issue. Radon problem occur where you have huge 100's of feet thick granite ledges under ground and the radio active content in them seeps out and up as a gas. Takes 1000's of years and has only been known as an issue for about 50 years. Does a 1 inch thick slab of granite have radon? Probably yes. Can you measure it? No. If a home has a radon problem it occurs because of where the home sits, not because you have granite in your kitchen.

[BmoreGal]

I vote for Silestone.

I have it my current home, as well as my past home.

Looked at granite, but decided on Silestone. Same coloring as granit, same cost, but IMHO a better choice for me.

Silestone is as hard as granite, but does not need to be sealed, Will not stain, and wipes up easily. I use anti-bacterial wipes to clean.

No fuss, no mess

[jane032657]

I chose granite because I wanted intense color so I got exotic granite Verde Fucoco/Fire Red. Not too much other deep thinking went into it.

[Sleeper]

We just had our design meeting 2 weeks ago....chose quartz because we liked the black with grey/green color mix...we were told only granite choice was whole slab. They schedule you for a granite shop visit to pick out your exact piece. Think quartz was a little cheaper.

[Barefoot]

I chose granite because I wanted intense color so I got exotic granite Verde Fucoco/Fire Red. Not too much other deep thinking went into it.

Jane, can you post a picture?

[terrieb]

We installed Quartz in our home in Ohio. It was a toss up between Quartz and Granite. Whereas it is a little more expensive, you do not have to seal it like you do Granite, it is not prone to bacteria, and the colors are awesome. You clean it with a wet rag. I love it. I would highly recommend the Quartz. It is more durable against chips than Granite....so we were told.

[jane032657]

Jane, can you post a picture?\

Sure here it is. We did wide backsplash, Kitchen Island top and all three sides, as well as side near dishwasher, along with both bathrooms and kitchen counter. There are three pictures attached, please let me know if you cannot open them, thanks.

[JC and John]

Thinking about granite for the kitchen counters and bath - I like quartz, hubby likes granite. Realize one is a natural product and other is man-made, have had both but........can't decide. Your opinion please.......and thanks. :confused:

We chose Zodiac during the design process as I did not see any granite that I liked. Had granite back in VA and was nice but needed extra care and over time areas of the countertop where I did most of my work got darker despite my cleaning and sealing efforts. Loving the Zodiac. It is easier to care for and streak free unlike the black granite in our rental CYV. Put HD Wilsonart laminant in the baths and clean up is a dream and looks great.

[Pa & Giggi]

I closed on my home 1 year ago in St. James when if you wanted granite you were shown small pieces or you could look at the model homes to get an idea of what the granite might look like. My color is nothing like the model home but I am aware that it is a natural stone so I am OK with that. What I am questioning is does anyone know if the granite they used is an engineered granite?

The reason I am asking is because since day 1 that I moved in I have been unhappy with the quality compared to what I had back
home. In MA I had chosen my stone myself by walking in the yards of two quarries, and there is a difference in the feel of the surface. Here,I constantly always have smudges and am always trying to buff them out, and I have tried everything. I never had that problem with my two different granites in my home up north. They shined up so nicely and never had a greasy smudgy feel to them.
I was wondering if the Villages had put in an inferior product and this could maybe even be engineered granite.

Of course we are kicking ourselves we didn't do aftermarket granite but it is in now and we paid a premium price for it so we have to live with it (for now anyway).
Any advice on this?
Thanks.

[jimbo2012]

What is the typical cost of the granite upgrade

[rubicon]

I vote for Silestone.

I have it my current home, as well as my past home.

Looked at granite, but decided on Silestone. Same coloring as granit, same cost, but IMHO a better choice for me.

Silestone is as hard as granite, but does not need to be sealed, Will not stain, and wipes up easily. I use anti-bacterial wipes to clean.

No fuss, no mess

We had Silestone in our home in Minneapolis best stuff ever

[rubicon]

Slab granite has to be sealed which is not a big issue but still an issue. Silestone is eaily maintained but care is needed not to leave scratches

[gomoho]

I closed on my home 1 year ago in St. James when if you wanted granite you were shown small pieces or you could look at the model homes to get an idea of what the granite might look like. My color is nothing like the model home but I am aware that it is a natural stone so I am OK with that. What I am questioning is does anyone know if the granite they used is an engineered granite?

The reason I am asking is because since day 1 that I moved in I have been unhappy with the quality compared to what I had back
home. In MA I had chosen my stone myself by walking in the yards of two quarries, and there is a difference in the feel of the surface. Here,I constantly always have smudges and am always trying to buff them out, and I have tried everything. I never had that problem with my two different granites in my home up north. They shined up so nicely and never had a greasy smudgy feel to them.
I was wondering if the Villages had put in an inferior product and this could maybe even be engineered granite.

.

Of course we are kicking ourselves we didn't do aftermarket granite but it is in now and we paid a premium price for it so we have to live with it (for now anyway).
Any advice on this?

hanks.
If you study "real" granite you will see a depth to the stone that engineered just cannot reproduce. It almost comes alive - just study the piece and look for veins or crystals deep in the stone. There is no mistaking the real thing

[Barefoot]

\

Sure here it is. We did wide backsplash, Kitchen Island top and all three sides, as well as side near dishwasher, along with both bathrooms and kitchen counter. There are three pictures attached, please let me know if you cannot open them, thanks.

Totally totally gorgeous!!

[Happinow]

We chose granite in our home and really like the look. However, we were surprised to see that it will discolor easily, i.e., if you leave a cold glass on it for a long time, say all day, it will discolor it. The color will come back to normal after a few hours but it still discolors. It will stain and you cannot put hot things on it or very cold things on it or it will stain it permanently. You have to be very careful. You cannot leave veggies or fruit on it if the fruit starts to rot....say a tomato left on the counter that starts to turn or a banana that turns brown and you leave it there for a few days. If I had known this I would have chosen differently.

[John_W]

...we were surprised to see that it will discolor easily, i.e., if you leave a cold glass on it for a long time, say all day, it will discolor it. The color will come back to normal after a few hours but it still discolors. It will stain and you cannot put hot things on it or very cold things on it or it will stain it permanently. You have to be very careful. You cannot leave veggies or fruit on it if the fruit starts to rot....say a tomato left on the counter that starts to turn or a banana that turns brown and you leave it there for a few days. If I had known this I would have chosen differently.

It could be that certain colors would stain. We had granite (Santa Cecilia shown below) in our home in Baltimore for the last 3 years, it's a goldish color with black and brown specks. Never had a problem with staining or discoloration and we put anything on it, hot pots, vegetables, whatever. Ours was just a medium grade of level 3, I think we paid $3600 installed for a 10' island and a L-shaped counter that was probably another 10'. I don't know if they use that same grading system down here, but in Baltimore area the granite was priced by grade of 1 thru 7 plus of course the type of edge cut.

For resale granite is the magic word. It doesn't matter if you have something that costs twice the price the buyers only can hear the words "Granite" and "Stainless Steel". We sold our home in Baltimore in 18 hours to a cash buyer with no contingencies.

http://www.customstoneforyou.com/products/Yellow_Santa_Cecilia_Granite.jpg

[CFrance]

I love my granite and wish we had it in TV. Maybe some day. I've had it for 7 years in MI and never had a problem with it staining. I put very cold things on it all the time. Very hot things, no, because of the fear of it cracking along a vein. But I never put hot things on any countertop no matter what the surface. I haven't had a chip and can't imagine what it would take to chip it. It is so strong and hard.

The dark from wet things is moisture, not a stain. It goes away quickly. It's not easy to stain granite, at least what I have. But I don't leave spills standing around on it. I wouldn't do that with any surface.

The "seal" consists of a spray bottle of something from Home Depot. We were told to seal it once only, but I might do it once a year. Really, it is the same amount of work as cleaning off your countertops at the end of the day.

I just love the depth and feel of granite. As for radon, the NYT had an article about that. They said the granite that comes out of Italy and the most common other countries that supply granite is safe. It's the stuff coming out of some South American and Eastern Europe countries that is showing radon at unsafe levels. I can root around for a link to the article if anyone wants it.

We have Corian in TV. It's a beautiful color, but i know we will end up scratching it.

[getdul981]

We have Corian in TV. It's a beautiful color, but i know we will end up scratching it.

FYI, you can buff or sand out any scratches in Corian.

[Shirleevee]

We chose granite in our home and really like the look. However, we were surprised to see that it will discolor easily, i.e., if you leave a cold glass on it for a long time, say all day, it will discolor it. The color will come back to normal after a few hours but it still discolors. It will stain and you cannot put hot things on it or very cold things on it or it will stain it permanently. You have to be very careful. You cannot leave veggies or fruit on it if the fruit starts to rot....say a tomato left on the counter that starts to turn or a banana that turns brown and you leave it there for a few days. If I had known this I would have chosen differently.

We had granite for 25 years in our NY home. If it stained, it was only temporary and has never discolored. Three cooks in the home (two professional) hot and cold items placed on the granite and never a problem. There are different grades and pricing of granite though.........

[JoeC1947]

Ever see how fast a piece of meat thaws out when you place it on granite! You don't want to thaw it completely out of the fridge but the granite sure gets it going fast. Of course, the food should be wrapped in plastic and not left on the styrofoam tray it comes in.

[CFrance]

FYI, you can buff or sand out any scratches in Corian.

Thanks, getdul, I know that. But how often can you do that? I think this Corian may be continually getting scratched. It's just a case of how easy it is to scratch. Even a box that comes in the mail, you better watch out not to slide it on the surface in case it has any grit on it. Or some of the bottoms of my ceramic baking dishes. I was comparing that to the granite, which is carefree, IMO, especially where scratching is concerned.

Having said that, I do love this particular Corian pattern. It's a creamy, beigey yellowy, pebbled look that goes really well with the medium brown maple cabinets. So we will just have to take more care with it.