Countertops: Granite vs. Quartz vs. Soapstone ... ? (Home Depot, cleaning, resale value, stains)
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I too agree that soapstone is NOT AT ALL POROUS. I gave it VERY serious consideration for my current kitchen and talked with some home owners that had it. Downside is mostly just that it WILL scratch / abrade and over time that will show wear.
Not arguing with you at all - I agree with what you said, but that's actually part of the charm of soapstone in the right setting. It develops a patina. That patina is not staining (soapstone absolutely WILL NOT stain), or pitting, or anything actually defacing. It's simply a velvety, warm patina of age. It works really well in industrial, rustic, or farmhouse type kitchens.
OP - Think - what are chemistry sinks and tables usually made of? You guessed it - soapstone. Why? Because of the extreme durability and ease of care.
We had the same problem when picking our countertop. I LOVE the carrera marble look, but really do a lot in the kitchen so I need something really strong that doesn't etch or mar. I ended up getting a white quartzite (not manmade quartz - very different), and have been so happy. Everyone thinks it is carrera marble, but it is really tough. I got it in the bathroom too and it doesn't stain with water, and we have lemon juice, blood, etc. on the countertop and I can even use bleach wipes on it and it doesn't show a thing. It looks amazing.
In terms of the soapstone and granite. I had granite in 2 apartments before, and it was great. Really sturdy and remained looking nice for the years I was in those apartments. However, we spent almost a year looking for light colored granite and could never find any that came close to looking like carrera. We were in a rental before this with soapstone and all the edges in the kitchen and master bath chipped over time, and began tearing holes in our shirts. There were also gouges in the countertop over time. Our friends in town also had the same problem with their soapstone countertop in their kitchen, and after 3 years had it replaced with granite.
Here is a pic below - sorry it isn't great. But you can get an idea. If you do go with quartzite you may have to go to a couple of suppliers as it isn't really popular in the states, and people will try to correct you and say "You mean quartz", and you have to say, "No, quartzite, the natural rock".
Word of caution, OP - BE VERY CAREFUL when buying quartzite. Or rather - what some sellers call quartzite. Real quartzite is beautiful and durable (and expensive, but probably worth it). We spent a ton of money on a beautiful slab of "quartzite" from a reputable dealer in Dallas, for our island top. It almost immediately began staining, with the slightest drop of lemon juice or pickle juice or wine. Come to find out, it wasn't actually quartzite, though it was sold to the seller as quartzite. It was actually a slab of some sort of marble. Thankfully, we were able to get it replaced (we went with teakwood). Upon researching, we found that this sort of thing is common in the industry. If I were you, I would literally bring a lemon half with me to the showroom and tell the salesperson "If this is quartzite, this lemon won't hurt it, so I'm going to rub it on this slab." You will know immediately whether or not what you've got is quartzite.
As for the soapstone chipping and gouging, all I can tell you is that we haven't had that problem at all. Ours has been in our kitchen for over a year now. But like I said, it does develop signs of wear, which some people like and some people don't, over time. As someone else said earlier in the thread, it will still be in your house 200 years later, if it's left there, even with daily heavy use. It will not, however, look like a smooth sheet of Formica or polished granite or marble. It will be softly worn.
We had granite in our former house - it was brand new when we moved in. It needed resealing, and the sealant began pitting, after about two years. That seemed like a hassle to me, which is one reason we chose soapstone this go round. Most granite does need resealing every few years, though there may be exceptions. Several other things jarred my nerves about granite: the extreme coldness and hardness of it, and the busy patterns in many granite slabs. Now this is just my personal opinion, because I realize that some of those patterns in stones are beautiful and colorful, but I have a collection of Polish pottery that I like to showcase in my kitchen, and that collection is beautiful and colorful. I didn't want sensory overload - I wanted a "quieter" backdrop for my colorful dishware.
OP, apparently there are pros and cons to any counter surface! LOL
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 12-08-2015 at 06:20 AM..
Another Corian fan. I had a matte forest green counter that was timeless. After 10 years, just shine it up and it still looked brand new.
+1 on the Corian. I did my remodel 5 1/2 years ago. In a small space, I played every game possible to make the space feel bigger and part of that was white countertops and white appliances.
If I were remodeling with resale in mind, I'd probably use a quartz product even though I don't really like stone countertops. At some point, I think granite & stainless is going to look as dated as harvest gold appliances and burnt orange shag carpet. It's had such huge market penetration that the market is bound to swing 180 degrees away from that look.
We are on our second house with Quartz and love it. Both houses we went with Cambria. They have a huge variety of colors, textures etc. Most people assume ours are granite. I don't really have a huge preference, I think all counter types have their pros/cons. Go with what you like, but for us the quartz works and we have had no problems with out Cambria counters.
We've had hard surfaced counters and enameled cast iron sinks and kept losing dishes when they'd chip and stemware when it fell over. One little tip would be enough to do in the nice ones. We've found stainless steel sinks and Formica to be much more forgiving. We cook a lot in the kitchen so we tend to opt for function over pretty. It's also a 1950's house, so granite, soapstone or quartz wouldn't quite match our kitchen, yours is probably much more modern.
But, there's more options than merely granite, soapstone or quartz. What about laminate or butcher block? Not that opening the list to even more choices is going to help you decide.
+1 on the Corian. I did my remodel 5 1/2 years ago. In a small space, I played every game possible to make the space feel bigger and part of that was white countertops and white appliances.
If I were remodeling with resale in mind, I'd probably use a quartz product even though I don't really like stone countertops. At some point, I think granite & stainless is going to look as dated as harvest gold appliances and burnt orange shag carpet. It's had such huge market penetration that the market is bound to swing 180 degrees away from that look.
I'm old enough to remember that "shag" was once "chic" was because it was a high-end product. The stuff that first came out in high-design NY apartments was WOOL and it really felt WONDERFUL to walk on barefoot. It was, of course, a chore to care for, as you truly needed a rake to sort of "align it" so that it could be vacuumed and even then you'd get a MOUND of lint in the vacuum bag. Heaven help if you if your pet got sick on it, as wool is not so easy to clean -- as it dries it can shrink, which would make the "modern" perimeter tacked-n wall-to-wall stuff take on a puckered look!
Then came the cheap synthetic shag that was sold to the clueless masses that they were getting something "stylish" even though it felt like walking across a pile of fishing nets. Factor in the fact that no regular housecleaning routine had time to rake the carpet and no wonder low pile carpets won out.
When it comes to things like "harvest gold" that was a bad fad and few if any of the high end appliance firms ever really promoted it. What firms like SubZero and Hobart did promote were home appliances wrapped in timeless and durable stainless steel or "fully cased" appliances that blend in with the cabinetry. Those are still the smart options for home buyers thinking of long term value.
Similarly you can look at kitchens in the high end homes from back before the widespread adoption of electricity, you will see LOTS of natural soapstone, and extravagant use of marble and granite. The shift away from those natural product explored after WWII, but for traditional "kitchen outfitters" they never really disappeared and the more cost effective quarrying / shipping techniques of recent decades is unlikely to see discerning buyers turn away from these quality options...
The answer ultimately boils down to personal choice of course, but here's our experience.
We initially put granite counter tops to replace tile. We found granite to be pain to maintain and experienced some pitting in certain spots. This could have been due to the type of granite we picked, but it was still a pain. Granite looked nice, but it is so common these days that it really was nothing special.
A few years later, we remodeled our entire kitchen. We went with quartz counter tops. It was absolutely THE BEST decision for us. The counters look fantastic -- we get positive comments on our counters all the time from visitors. In fact, when we refinanced, the appraiser actually commented that the counters were beautiful.
But, more importantly, maintenance is a breeze. The surface is so smooth and wipes up easily. We regularly put hot pots on the counters and haven't had any issues. Although my husband and I usually use cutting boards, our kids have used knives to cut things without a board many times and no problems. We've had the counters for five years and they still look beautiful, shiney and new.
We just love our quartz counters, and, to be honest, if we ever move and buy a house with granite, the first thing we'll do is rip the granite out and put in quartz.
The answer ultimately boils down to personal choice of course, but here's our experience.
We initially put granite counter tops to replace tile. We found granite to be pain to maintain and experienced some pitting in certain spots. This could have been due to the type of granite we picked, but it was still a pain. Granite looked nice, but it is so common these days that it really was nothing special.
A few years later, we remodeled our entire kitchen. We went with quartz counter tops. It was absolutely THE BEST decision for us. The counters look fantastic -- we get positive comments on our counters all the time from visitors. In fact, when we refinanced, the appraiser actually commented that the counters were beautiful.
But, more importantly, maintenance is a breeze. The surface is so smooth and wipes up easily. We regularly put hot pots on the counters and haven't had any issues. Although my husband and I usually use cutting boards, our kids have used knives to cut things without a board many times and no problems. We've had the counters for five years and they still look beautiful, shiney and new.
We just love our quartz counters, and, to be honest, if we ever move and buy a house with granite, the first thing we'll do is rip the granite out and put in quartz.
There are some positives for man made quartz. That said, anybody that had issues with granite "pitting" almost certainly was sold a product poorly suited to a working kitchen. Further, the range of colors / patterns in natural stone is probably 50 or 100x greater than the limited offerings of the man-made product.
You'd be making a mistake to rip out premium granite upon move-in!
There are some positives for man made quartz. That said, anybody that had issues with granite "pitting" almost certainly was sold a product poorly suited to a working kitchen. Further, the range of colors / patterns in natural stone is probably 50 or 100x greater than the limited offerings of the man-made product. You'd be making a mistake to rip out premium granite upon move-in!
I agree with this for sure.
We ripped out laminate and tile. Now - in it's defense, the laminate really was in premium condition and it was 17 years old - but yuck - we didn't want white laminate with a white tile island top.
In our former house, the granite was new (as was the house - it was custom built but the buyer backed out so we got a good deal on it). It's pattern was way too busy for my taste, but it was brand new granite and even though it wasn't my style, I had to admit it was a nice match with the backsplash, which also wasn't my style. So we weren't about to rip all that out. Now - if we'd stayed there for more than five years, maybe. Who knows? We moved so it wasn't an issue.
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You misunderstand how the market moves...
So we weren't about to rip all that out. Now - if we'd stayed there for more than five years, maybe. Who knows? We moved so it wasn't an issue.
