Granite vs. Silestone

[Anonymous]

Anyone recently chose to get Silestone (think it's Quartz stone) over Granite in their kitchen? It looks like it's more durable than Granite and if it does chip it has more consistent color? Is it a lot more than granite?

[Anonymous]

We just bought a house that has Silestone. I really like it, because I love the fact that you don't have to worry about sealing, or possible staining.

Silestone is cheaper than granite, I think.

However, I think newer granite has better sealants, and you don't really need to worry about staining anymore. Also, at first glance Silestone may look similar to granite, but now that I see it everyday, I can clearly tell that it's very different from granite. The flecks are much more uniform and look more manmade. I don't mind it at all, but others might.

[Anonymous]

Silestone is more expensive than granite. We just got a quote for both from the same company. The Silestone was about 20% more.

[Anonymous]

How about stainless steel countertops? Any opinions on those?

[Anonymous]

I think Silestone looks classy. I love granite, but by the time we can afford to actually re-do our outdated kitchen (in a decade or more) I was told it will be outdated. Who knows? I did read it emits something bad-don't recall what, but supposedly at safe levels. Of course we have been told so many things are safe which aren't. I'm not a fan of steel, but it's not my style.

[Anonymous]

We had a choice and choose granite. Silestone is so incredibly fake looking IMO.

[Anonymous]

I would just pick what you think looks the best. When we researched it, the price difference was minimal.

As for sealing the granite, we've never sealed ours in 3 years, and I'm not sure how long the previous owner had it. It looks fine (no stains) and its on the lighter side of colors. I do NOTHING to it but wipe it down like any other counter. its not "high maintenance" - not sure why people make a big deal of that. We always get compliments on how beautiful it is.

[Anonymous]

When we redid our kitchen in 2008, we chose Silestone over granite. I love it, it's so low maintenance, and it's antimicrobial.

[Anonymous]

I have wood. I hate it so much. I think I will replace with silestone for ease of use.

[Anonymous]

We chose Silestone over granite. We love it.

[Anonymous]

We recently redid our our counters and did granite over Silestone even tho I liked the Silestone more. Want to sell our house in a couple of years and was afraid Silestone would be too trendy looking.

[Anonymous]

Silestone in Dali ... it is gorgeous. No one believed me from the sample. Now everyone says, "wow, your counters are so cool - what is that?" And it is so easy to take care of. Granite - you wipe it wrong and there is a smear. Silestone - nothing hurts it.

[Anonymous]

granite can emit radiation - believe it or not, my doctor told me to have the countertops tested for radiation at my last physical when I told him we were moving to a new house.

I rented an apartment in Boston once that had stainless steel countertops - VERY difficult to keep looking clean and dry. Think about how hard it is to keep SS appliances and trash cans clean and smear-proof, and then multiply that by the surface area and water usage of a countertop.