Quartz or Granite?

[Joules21]

I prefer granite. When I look at nautral stone, and see natural varations from the earth, it's like a piece of art. Each piece is unique. Sealing granite takes 30 minutes and can be done once a year. I would imagine everyone can find 30 minutes in their schedule. ; )

Quartz is really nice too. It's uniform. It's a great choice if you are looking for a specific "look" and color. Be careful with hot pans/pots - quartz manufactures don't usually cover heat damage and its not under warrenty.

Have fun and pick what you like.

[Wry_Martini]

I've had kitchens with granite since the late 1980s, and am always puzzled when people describe it as being 'high maintenance' or 'hard to care for'.

I've also had quartz - I have no objections to it, I just prefer granite.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Wry_Martini

I've had kitchens with granite since the late 1980s, and am always puzzled when people describe it as being 'high maintenance' or 'hard to care for'.

I've also had quartz - I have no objections to it, I just prefer granite.

The fact is the firms that "invented" the marketing for "quartz" countertops are the same firms that used to sell countertops made completely out plastic/polymers. The big selling feature for companies like Dow or DuPont has always been "our stuff is indestructible". When they figured out how to mix their plastics with stone dust (that is the "granite" ) the had to make their selling features sound superior to the other products. The marketing people basically make up "maintenance issues" for the natural product. It is kind of dishonest but that is how marketing often rolls...

[Sunnydee]

We are in the midst of a kitchen remodel and have selected our granite slabs for the countertops. I've never had granite before and don't know much about its maintenance. The contractor told me he'd seal it the first time and then I should seal it each year after that. The stone yard told me to buy their $90.00 bottle of sealer, apply it, and be happy. They claimed it would last for ten years or more, which sounded great, but is it true? Anyone have any words of wisdom for me about products and maintenance? Thank you.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

We are in the midst of a kitchen remodel and have selected our granite slabs for the countertops. I've never had granite before and don't know much about its maintenance. The contractor told me he'd seal it the first time and then I should seal it each year after that. The stone yard told me to buy their $90.00 bottle of sealer, apply it, and be happy. They claimed it would last for ten years or more, which sounded great, but is it true? Anyone have any words of wisdom for me about products and maintenance? Thank you.

The very good quality sealants are made to have an extremely small molecular size, they don't sit on top of the stone so much as attach at the intra molecular level. So long as you do not scrub / grind your counters (which is pretty hard to do in any kind of normal kitchen...) you probably will NEVER "wear out" such a sealant.

In a bathroom or laundry area there are some kinds of solvents that destroy this kind of sealant, but that is a whole other problem...

[Winter01]

I really love the look of both quartz and granite. If I had a choice to pick I would probably do quartz because it is different and just looks really nice on top of being functional. You don't see it as often.

We bought a house with granite countertops and lived there for 5 years. I have to admit, we never sealed the granite. Just cleaned it with appropriate cleaners and it still looked great.

Our current house we just bought has really beautiful granite countertops--and a ton of counterspace. I am going to have to look into sealants. I didn't even realize we were supposed to do this.