re: Quartz vs Granite Counter Tops

quote:

---

Quartzite is a type of natural stone bro.

---

Right and often mistakenly called quartz by consumers in the countertop world, hence the bow to the poster. Its harder than, as heat resistant as, and less porous than granite. Primarily due to higher quartz content.

I wish I had taken a little more time researching when we redid our kitchen. Stumbled across the info on quartzite shortly after we put in the countertops. our kitchen, I probably would have looked into that. We went with granite and we have been satisfied. I think it was probably more expensive back then.

Quartz sucks, does not look as good and won't last as long

We bought a home with quartz countertops in 2005 & we are seeing cracks in a few places, that's our next project, redo the kitchen

quote:

---

quartzite

---

quote:

---

It’s some kind of ground up granite glued together to look like granite

---

Nope. Quartzite is natural stone and harder than granite. Quartz countertops are ground up materials, mostly or all quartz, with a binder. The binder is the weak link and why can scratch and be damaged by hot items. Quartz is the primary mineral in granite and quartzite that make it hard and non porous. Quartzite has a higher Quartz content than granite making it harder and less porous than granite can be.

Quartzite is the only way to go. And it's competitively priced as well.

quote:

---

Well, this dumb frick just learned some shite.

---

Its a common mistake people make.

Just got quartzite installed. Love it. We had the surface “leathered” so it has a little texture to it.

Originally wanted soapstone because I love the look of it. But I looked at a couple of kitchens and unfortunately the material is prone to chips

I’ve never heard of heat related cracks and I’m in the countertop business. Quartz has really only started taking off in my area the last couple of years though.

quote:

---

I’ve never heard of heat related cracks and I’m in the countertop business. Quartz has really only started taking off in my area the last couple of years though.

---

I never read about quartz developing cracks, either. I have recently read that UV from sunlight can affect the resin coating and cause the same type of color changes it does in other types of resin, usually yellowing. I guess that could also cause surface crack?

I'm just a guy who researched countertop materials when we had a remodel done (and can't ever seem to stop looking thing up after the fact ) so you'll have way more insight into this than I do.

When I was looking the QUartz buzz was just picking up. One of the best pieces of advice I read was to give quartz time to see where things went and that just because something was fashionably hot now did not mean it wouldn't seem dated in a decade. Hence the conclusion was that using more traditional natural stones will never be a bad choice. Granite, marble, slate, soapstone, if cared for, will not be out of date. I would add quartzite to that and there are others.

I honestly don’t know if excessive sunlight would cause enough damage to the Resins to cause surface cracks. I wouldn’t think so though.

Ain't nothing wrong with Corian.
It really was the counter of choice before granite took over in the 2000's