Porcelain countertops

[Anonymous]

Does anyone here have these countertops or have seen it in person? Having lived with marble before in the kitchen, I would never do it again. I love the overall look of porcelain from what I’ve seen in pictures but I believe that the edge profile looks weird and cheap almost like laminate. Is this a fair assessment?

[Anonymous]

It's very thin and delicate.

I read this as I am sealing my marble countertop.

[Anonymous]

So I am new to the quartzite chorus here... but after spending *months* on selecting counters for our new build (and alternating between marble, quartz, porcelain), we went with (real!) quartzite and are very happy so far. From what I can tell, is brings the beauty (or close) of marble, but perhaps 20% of the durability problems. It seems a good compromise. Not an answer to your question, but if you are drawn to the look of marble but want better performance, I'd go quartzite rather than porcelain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I am new to the quartzite chorus here... but after spending *months* on selecting counters for our new build (and alternating between marble, quartz, porcelain), we went with (real!) quartzite and are very happy so far. From what I can tell, is brings the beauty (or close) of marble, but perhaps 20% of the durability problems. It seems a good compromise. Not an answer to your question, but if you are drawn to the look of marble but want better performance, I'd go quartzite rather than porcelain.

Op here. Thanks! Quartzite is definitely on my radar. Quartzite can be tricky too because a lot of it is dolomite being passed off as quartzite. Do you mind sharing which one you have and how you are caring for it? Does it etch? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Quartzite poster back... We purchased bianco superiore from Gramaco. It was from this lot (which I think sold out a while ago): https://www.gramaco.com/product/bianco-superiore-b4645/ (Photos are not great--much prettier in person. We were skeptical until we saw it.)

Yes, I had the dolomite concern. I addressed this a few ways. First, our fabricator said that Gramaco was pretty reputable, and that if they backed it as quartzite, that was better than many other wholesalers.

Second, after getting our slabs, our fabricator cut a small test piece. Per fabricator--who I trusted, and I believe this not to be BS--the only real way to determine if it is dolomite is to see how it cuts. Apparently real quartzite is far harder for the machines to cut than is dolomite or marble. Given that the issue here is the hardness of the material, that made sense to me. Our fabricator reported that these were some of the hardest slabs that her guys had cut in some time, and thus they had good confidence that this was true quartzite.

No doubt the risk of marble/dolomite is real. We found one or two "quartzites" at other places we perhaps liked a bit more. We got on facetime with our fabricator... and she said, "yes, that's beautiful, but that's not quartzite." So we passed.

In all, we're very happy. Can't treat it like porcelain or quartz, but *far* heartier than marble. That said, we've only had for several months now, so don't have years of experience yet.

One other thing about light-colored quartzite--we really wanted a more traditional, marble look--many have very aggressive horizontal veining. Thin strikes and lots of them. We didn't love that look. So this lot was one of the few we found that was light color, real quartzite, but that didn't have the super-intense linear streaking.

Good luck searching! I'm thrilled with what we picked. If I were to do it over again, I'd definitely stay quartzite in the kitchen, but I would have gone down that road earlier so I could have monitored quartzite lots arriving at Gramaco (and elsewhere) sooner, seeing yet more options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quartzite poster back... We purchased bianco superiore from Gramaco. It was from this lot (which I think sold out a while ago): https://www.gramaco.com/product/bianco-superiore-b4645/ (Photos are not great--much prettier in person. We were skeptical until we saw it.)

Yes, I had the dolomite concern. I addressed this a few ways. First, our fabricator said that Gramaco was pretty reputable, and that if they backed it as quartzite, that was better than many other wholesalers.

Second, after getting our slabs, our fabricator cut a small test piece. Per fabricator--who I trusted, and I believe this not to be BS--the only real way to determine if it is dolomite is to see how it cuts. Apparently real quartzite is far harder for the machines to cut than is dolomite or marble. Given that the issue here is the hardness of the material, that made sense to me. Our fabricator reported that these were some of the hardest slabs that her guys had cut in some time, and thus they had good confidence that this was true quartzite.

No doubt the risk of marble/dolomite is real. We found one or two "quartzites" at other places we perhaps liked a bit more. We got on facetime with our fabricator... and she said, "yes, that's beautiful, but that's not quartzite." So we passed.

In all, we're very happy. Can't treat it like porcelain or quartz, but *far* heartier than marble. That said, we've only had for several months now, so don't have years of experience yet.

One other thing about light-colored quartzite--we really wanted a more traditional, marble look--many have very aggressive horizontal veining. Thin strikes and lots of them. We didn't love that look. So this lot was one of the few we found that was light color, real quartzite, but that didn't have the super-intense linear streaking.

Good luck searching! I'm thrilled with what we picked. If I were to do it over again, I'd definitely stay quartzite in the kitchen, but I would have gone down that road earlier so I could have monitored quartzite lots arriving at Gramaco (and elsewhere) sooner, seeing yet more options.

PP, you rock! Thank you so much for taking the time to break this down and to even post links. This was so helpful. I knew about the dolomite but didn’t have the other info. I also really am not a fan of the linear streaks either so I appreciate the link you posted. Have an amazing Saturday and thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quartzite poster back... We purchased bianco superiore from Gramaco. It was from this lot (which I think sold out a while ago): https://www.gramaco.com/product/bianco-superiore-b4645/ (Photos are not great--much prettier in person. We were skeptical until we saw it.)

Yes, I had the dolomite concern. I addressed this a few ways. First, our fabricator said that Gramaco was pretty reputable, and that if they backed it as quartzite, that was better than many other wholesalers.

Second, after getting our slabs, our fabricator cut a small test piece. Per fabricator--who I trusted, and I believe this not to be BS--the only real way to determine if it is dolomite is to see how it cuts. Apparently real quartzite is far harder for the machines to cut than is dolomite or marble. Given that the issue here is the hardness of the material, that made sense to me. Our fabricator reported that these were some of the hardest slabs that her guys had cut in some time, and thus they had good confidence that this was true quartzite.

No doubt the risk of marble/dolomite is real. We found one or two "quartzites" at other places we perhaps liked a bit more. We got on facetime with our fabricator... and she said, "yes, that's beautiful, but that's not quartzite." So we passed.

In all, we're very happy. Can't treat it like porcelain or quartz, but *far* heartier than marble. That said, we've only had for several months now, so don't have years of experience yet.

One other thing about light-colored quartzite--we really wanted a more traditional, marble look--many have very aggressive horizontal veining. Thin strikes and lots of them. We didn't love that look. So this lot was one of the few we found that was light color, real quartzite, but that didn't have the super-intense linear streaking.

Good luck searching! I'm thrilled with what we picked. If I were to do it over again, I'd definitely stay quartzite in the kitchen, but I would have gone down that road earlier so I could have monitored quartzite lots arriving at Gramaco (and elsewhere) sooner, seeing yet more options.

This is really pretty PP! From an NP who is trying to make the same decisions about quartz v granite v something else.

[Anonymous]

Hey all, quartzite poster from above... I feel you. I spent a *long* time looking at options. Here is where I came out:

Marble: Loved it; almost picked it. Fabricator gave me a scrap of the sort of marble we were thinking about using to take home. After a night of testing with wine, water, pasta sauce, etc., ... we were at a quick no. Which is too bad, as there were some *beautiful* slabs. We've got toddlers, and yelling at them for the next 10 years didn't seem ideal. (We did it though in master bath, though, so have some great marble there.)

Quartz: Originally picked this. Totally get why folks use it. (It's in our laundry room and basement kitchen.) But since we were doing a backsplash with the material--and because I really loved the natural look--I ultimately couldn't do quartz for the main kitchen. Mileage may very here and again get why people go with it... but after a lot of trying, I couldn't find anything that I really loved. Natural material for me has a different sort of beauty.

Granite: Folks routinely post here that they have beautiful granite... and when they post, they post dark or black granite. I agree entirely that, for dark countertops, granite may well be the way to go. But we wanted white tones to predominate, and none of the granite we saw (and we looked at a lot!) had the sort of look we were after. All the light colored granites had the very distinctive granite look. (Nothing wrong with that! Just not what we wanted.)

Porcelain: We thought a bit about this. But... similar "not natural" issues to quartz. (Though I thought the porcelain patterns were actually a good bit nicer than most quartz.) Further, I was worried about it cracking from a pot.

Soapstone: We used it for the outdoor kitchen. But again, not the color we wanted for the main kitchen.

So, in all, quartzite was the choice for us in the kitchen. It's working great so far!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey all, quartzite poster from above... I feel you. I spent a *long* time looking at options. Here is where I came out:

Marble: Loved it; almost picked it. Fabricator gave me a scrap of the sort of marble we were thinking about using to take home. After a night of testing with wine, water, pasta sauce, etc., ... we were at a quick no. Which is too bad, as there were some *beautiful* slabs. We've got toddlers, and yelling at them for the next 10 years didn't seem ideal. (We did it though in master bath, though, so have some great marble there.)

Quartz: Originally picked this. Totally get why folks use it. (It's in our laundry room and basement kitchen.) But since we were doing a backsplash with the material--and because I really loved the natural look--I ultimately couldn't do quartz for the main kitchen. Mileage may very here and again get why people go with it... but after a lot of trying, I couldn't find anything that I really loved. Natural material for me has a different sort of beauty.

Granite: Folks routinely post here that they have beautiful granite... and when they post, they post dark or black granite. I agree entirely that, for dark countertops, granite may well be the way to go. But we wanted white tones to predominate, and none of the granite we saw (and we looked at a lot!) had the sort of look we were after. All the light colored granites had the very distinctive granite look. (Nothing wrong with that! Just not what we wanted.)

Porcelain: We thought a bit about this. But... similar "not natural" issues to quartz. (Though I thought the porcelain patterns were actually a good bit nicer
than most quartz.) Further, I was worried about it cracking from a pot.

Soapstone: We used it for the outdoor kitchen. But again, not the color we wanted for the main kitchen.

I would love to hear more about the soapstone. How’s it fairing? By the way, your place sounds amazing!

So, in all, quartzite was the choice for us in the kitchen. It's working great so far!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey all, quartzite poster from above... I feel you. I spent a *long* time looking at options. Here is where I came out:

Marble: Loved it; almost picked it. Fabricator gave me a scrap of the sort of marble we were thinking about using to take home. After a night of testing with wine, water, pasta sauce, etc., ... we were at a quick no. Which is too bad, as there were some *beautiful* slabs. We've got toddlers, and yelling at them for the next 10 years didn't seem ideal. (We did it though in master bath, though, so have some great marble there.)

Quartz: Originally picked this. Totally get why folks use it. (It's in our laundry room and basement kitchen.) But since we were doing a backsplash with the material--and because I really loved the natural look--I ultimately couldn't do quartz for the main kitchen. Mileage may very here and again get why people go with it... but after a lot of trying, I couldn't find anything that I really loved. Natural material for me has a different sort of beauty.

Granite: Folks routinely post here that they have beautiful granite... and when they post, they post dark or black granite. I agree entirely that, for dark countertops, granite may well be the way to go. But we wanted white tones to predominate, and none of the granite we saw (and we looked at a lot!) had the sort of look we were after. All the light colored granites had the very distinctive granite look. (Nothing wrong with that! Just not what we wanted.)

Porcelain: We thought a bit about this. But... similar "not natural" issues to quartz. (Though I thought the porcelain patterns were actually a good bit nicer
than most quartz.) Further, I was worried about it cracking from a pot.

Soapstone: We used it for the outdoor kitchen. But again, not the color we wanted for the main kitchen.

I would love to hear more about the soapstone. How’s it fairing? By the way, your place sounds amazing!

So, in all, quartzite was the choice for us in the kitchen. It's working great so far!

Let’s try this again. I would love to hear more about the soapstone. How’s it fairing? By the way, your place sounds amazing!

[Anonymous]

Quartzite advocate back... soapstone is holding up great outside so far! On one of our (many) trips to a stone supplier, we found a slab of soapstone we really loved and wanted to use somewhere... so outdoor kitchen it went! Happy to share photos of that or quartzite in the kitchen if it would help anyone.

And thanks for the nice comment! We spent nearly 2.5 years designing and then building our house. Having still recently moved in, it's wonderful to have the project done. It was our hobby for 2+ years, and I learned a lot along the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quartzite advocate back... soapstone is holding up great outside so far! On one of our (many) trips to a stone supplier, we found a slab of soapstone we really loved and wanted to use somewhere... so outdoor kitchen it went! Happy to share photos of that or quartzite in the kitchen if it would help anyone.

And thanks for the nice comment! We spent nearly 2.5 years designing and then building our house. Having still recently moved in, it's wonderful to have the project done. It was our hobby for 2+ years, and I learned a lot along the way.

You are awesome! Thanks so much for the useful info. One question: how do you choose a fabricator?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quartzite advocate back... soapstone is holding up great outside so far! On one of our (many) trips to a stone supplier, we found a slab of soapstone we really loved and wanted to use somewhere... so outdoor kitchen it went! Happy to share photos of that or quartzite in the kitchen if it would help anyone.

And thanks for the nice comment! We spent nearly 2.5 years designing and then building our house. Having still recently moved in, it's wonderful to have the project done. It was our hobby for 2+ years, and I learned a lot along the way. [/quote


PP here. Thanks so much.

[Anonymous]

Quartzite poster... we had initial meetings with three different fabricators. We found those fabricators through a combination of research online, recs from our builder, and recs from our kitchen designer. We chose a fabricator who has a reputation for being somewhat more expensive, though we found the pricing competitive with other options. They went through a lot of iterations with us and were both patient and helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quartzite poster... we had initial meetings with three different fabricators. We found those fabricators through a combination of research online, recs from our builder, and recs from our kitchen designer. We chose a fabricator who has a reputation for being somewhat more expensive, though we found the pricing competitive with other options. They went through a lot of iterations with us and were both patient and helpful.

Can you share the name of your chosen fabricator?