Countertops that are not quartz, marble, quartzite, wood, or stainless steel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the concern about most marble is overblown. Yes, it etches. But the etches don’t accumulate, because each one wears out pretty quickly. We had marble for years and I learned pretty quickly not to take any one etch too seriously. If you need it picture perfect at every moment, I guess marble’s not the one. But every individual etch disappears, and god it’s so beautiful.

That said, we are redoing kitchen and going with quartz, because marble was nearly 4x the price.

I agree with your note on marble - overblown. It’s so so beautiful and feels nice - not like an epoxied plastic

We just went through the process and after seeing real stones of all types I can’t agree to a quartz and definitely not porcelain - it’s feels imitation after seeing the real thing. I appreciate the practicality and understand the decisions made by others but I know every day I’d be wishing I spent another $k to just have what I wanted

[Anonymous]

20 years ago a coworker got white Corian. I visited her and with the way the sun was shining, the entire counter surface looked marked up, with tons of scratches. I get you can get it refinished, but has it changed in the last few decades to not be so likely to scratch?

I loved the granite in my last house. So easy to clean. And sealing was like spraying Windex and rubbing it in with a cloth.

I now have marble in the bath and kitchen island. While I love the pattern (Rainforest Brown), it does show some etchings. Not sure if those are original or from use.

Granite was just so functional. I could put hot pans on it, I could cut on it and it cleaned up so easily. In 15 years of use, we never had a stain.

Now that we retired and moved, we have a beige pattern of Corian in the rest of the kitchen. With no kids at home, I haven't had to worry about scratching it up, but I really miss my granite.

[Anonymous]

Those with granite, do you actually cut things on the granite without a cutting board? Or put hot pans down without a trivet?

We have granite but always use a cutting board, to keep the knives from dulling and use trivets to protect the surfaces … but you’re saying this is just unnecessary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those with granite, do you actually cut things on the granite without a cutting board? Or put hot pans down without a trivet?

We have granite but always use a cutting board, to keep the knives from dulling and use trivets to protect the surfaces … but you’re saying this is just unnecessary?

PP 2 above who loved granite - while I didn't cut everything directly on the granite, I liked that I could occasionally cut something without worrying about making a scratch in the countertop. It was more of a quick cut item and I was too lazy to walk across the kitchen to where I kept the cutting boards. I would cut a lemon or lime too, and the acid never made a stain. However, I usually used a cutting board, mainly for easier cleanup. Now living with Corian, I don't dare cut anything directly on the counter.

I put many hot pans and cookie sheets right from oven to island. I would then grab a cloth pot holder and move it over, but I liked being able to set things down for a few seconds/minutes without worrying about really damaging the granite. It is advised to use a coaster or pot holder, so you should continue to do so. But if you need to sling a pan out of the oven because the bread is about to burn and you forgot to put a trivet down first, it's probably ok to put it on the counter while you grab the trivet.

I did have the ubiquitous Giallo Veneziano, so if it was hardy enough for hotel check-in desks, it was probably fine for my casual treatment.

[Anonymous]

We have a light colored granite. It was here when we bought the house but I think it is Moon White based on these pics

https://graniteselection.com/blog/the-most-popular-white-granite-colors/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the concern about most marble is overblown. Yes, it etches. But the etches don’t accumulate, because each one wears out pretty quickly. We had marble for years and I learned pretty quickly not to take any one etch too seriously. If you need it picture perfect at every moment, I guess marble’s not the one. But every individual etch disappears, and god it’s so beautiful.

That said, we are redoing kitchen and going with quartz, because marble was nearly 4x the price.

I agree with your note on marble - overblown. It’s so so beautiful and feels nice - not like an epoxied plastic

We just went through the process and after seeing real stones of all types I can’t agree to a quartz and definitely not porcelain - it’s feels imitation after seeing the real thing. I appreciate the practicality and understand the decisions made by others but I know every day I’d be wishing I spent another $k to just have what I wanted

Marble isn't practical for a family that lives in the kitchen and cooks a lot. No way is it easy to manage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those with granite, do you actually cut things on the granite without a cutting board? Or put hot pans down without a trivet?

We have granite but always use a cutting board, to keep the knives from dulling and use trivets to protect the surfaces … but you’re saying this is just unnecessary?

I would never cut directly on the granite just because it would destroy my knives. I definitely put hot things down on it without a trivet. I've never put anything under my granite to protect it from hot things. I'm very rough on my granite. The only issues with my granite is now in 2 different houses with 2 different types of granite, the granite has cracks on the piece in front of my sink. The only other problem is that in both houses someone dripped a little super glue on the counter and it messed up the finish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised you don’t like quartzite. It’s beautiful and a natural stone, yet extremely durable. Is it too expensive? Is there an ethical issue? Ours looks like new 5 years in. No cracks, stains or etching. I’d do it again.

Everything I learned when replacing countertops a few years ago is that quartzite has all the weakness of marble and cant be repaired. It etches and it can't be buffed out. It will crack and shatter. The video above mislabels some of those surfaces as granite when they are quartzite.

If you learned about countertops from anyone in the countertop industry, my experience is that they are mostly very ill-informed and do not even understand how quartzite, granite, and marble were formed. Marble and dolomite are formed from limestone, which is mostly made from the shells of scallops and other creatures, which contain a lot of calcium carbonate. Marble etches because the calcium carbonate dissolves when contacted by a strong acid. Dolomite etches because it is basically the same thing as marble except there was magnesium rich water around when the limestone was compressed, causing a lot of magnesium carbonate, which also dissolved when in contact with with a strong acid. Picture yourself squeezing a lemon slice over a tums tablet.

Quartzite doesn’t etch. It’s made from sandstone that has been compressed over millennia, and consists mostly of quartz. Quartz is another name for silicon dioxide, and unfortunately has the same name as the synthetic resin and ground up quartz product that also goes by Cambria, etc. Silicon dioxide is a very tough material, resistant to chemicals, high melting point, and is resistant to almost all strong acids and bases except HF acid (the one they used in breaking bad). Picture yourself squeezing a lemon slice over some sand.

Some quartzites are problematic because they are closer to the sandstone end of the spectrum, so they are very porous (mont Blanc) and will stain unless sealed assiduously. Some are brittle and will chip along fissures because they are closer to the pure quartz end of the spectrum (crystallo). I have one that is somewhere in the middle. No stains, no fissures, no chipping, and no etching. Red wine, lemon slices, blackberries can be left overnight on the counter with no stains.

Granites are made from magma, which is also made in a large part by quartz, which is why it is so tough. Most granites are not very porous, but the lighter granites can be somewhat porous, requiring sealing. Like quartzite, they contain no calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, so they do not etch.

Choose wisely and test. Quartzites are not all the same. The porous ones are more likely to stain, but will not have fissure issues. The crystalline ones won’t stain, but can be brittle.

I'm curious how you would classify the Fantasy series of quartzite. Whenever someone was discussing quartzite online it always seemed to be the Fantasy product. I installed Fantasy Brown in a bathroom and it etched immediately. My installer had installed Fantasy Blue/brown in his own kitchen and experienced a disaster. His cracked and chipped fairly quickly. He warned me against using it in my kitchen so I just put it in one bath. It looked beautiful but I'd never deal with it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised you don’t like quartzite. It’s beautiful and a natural stone, yet extremely durable. Is it too expensive? Is there an ethical issue? Ours looks like new 5 years in. No cracks, stains or etching. I’d do it again.

Everything I learned when replacing countertops a few years ago is that quartzite has all the weakness of marble and cant be repaired. It etches and it can't be buffed out. It will crack and shatter. The video above mislabels some of those surfaces as granite when they are quartzite.

If you learned about countertops from anyone in the countertop industry, my experience is that they are mostly very ill-informed and do not even understand how quartzite, granite, and marble were formed. Marble and dolomite are formed from limestone, which is mostly made from the shells of scallops and other creatures, which contain a lot of calcium carbonate. Marble etches because the calcium carbonate dissolves when contacted by a strong acid. Dolomite etches because it is basically the same thing as marble except there was magnesium rich water around when the limestone was compressed, causing a lot of magnesium carbonate, which also dissolved when in contact with with a strong acid. Picture yourself squeezing a lemon slice over a tums tablet.

Quartzite doesn’t etch. It’s made from sandstone that has been compressed over millennia, and consists mostly of quartz. Quartz is another name for silicon dioxide, and unfortunately has the same name as the synthetic resin and ground up quartz product that also goes by Cambria, etc. Silicon dioxide is a very tough material, resistant to chemicals, high melting point, and is resistant to almost all strong acids and bases except HF acid (the one they used in breaking bad). Picture yourself squeezing a lemon slice over some sand.

Some quartzites are problematic because they are closer to the sandstone end of the spectrum, so they are very porous (mont Blanc) and will stain unless sealed assiduously. Some are brittle and will chip along fissures because they are closer to the pure quartz end of the spectrum (crystallo). I have one that is somewhere in the middle. No stains, no fissures, no chipping, and no etching. Red wine, lemon slices, blackberries can be left overnight on the counter with no stains.

Granites are made from magma, which is also made in a large part by quartz, which is why it is so tough. Most granites are not very porous, but the lighter granites can be somewhat porous, requiring sealing. Like quartzite, they contain no calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, so they do not etch.

Choose wisely and test. Quartzites are not all the same. The porous ones are more likely to stain, but will not have fissure issues. The crystalline ones won’t stain, but can be brittle.

I'm curious how you would classify the Fantasy series of quartzite. Whenever someone was discussing quartzite online it always seemed to be the Fantasy product. I installed Fantasy Brown in a bathroom and it etched immediately. My installer had installed Fantasy Blue/brown in his own kitchen and experienced a disaster. His cracked and chipped fairly quickly. He warned me against using it in my kitchen so I just put it in one bath. It looked beautiful but I'd never deal with it again.

PP. All the fantasy brown and fantasy blue slabs I have seen have been dolomite - made from limestone that has been compressed in the presence of mg++ rich water. It contains magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate and magnesium calcium carbonate. Of these, calcium carbonate reacts the most with acids, so that is why dolomite etches less than marble, which is mostly calcium carbonate.

Sometimes fantasy brown/blue is called a “hard marble”. That’s inaccurate because although it is probably denser and less etch prone than marble, it’s not marble. I’ve also seen it mislabeled as granite and “soft quartzite”. Stoneyards call it a granite or quartzite because they rationalize that it’s “tougher” than marble, so it’s ok to call it granite or quartzite. But that’s like selling a pork chop and calling it beef.

Granite - once was magma,
made of quartz, feldspar, other minerals.
Quartzite - once was sandstone, made of quartz (silicone dioxide)
Marble - once was limestone, made of calcium carbonate
Dolomite - once was limestone, made of magnesium and calcium carbonate
Quartz - quartz powder plus plastic resin

Soapstone is the other commonly used stone that hasn’t been discussed much - made mostly of talc, so it’s soft, even softer than marble. It’s also nonporous, so it won’t stain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised you don’t like quartzite. It’s beautiful and a natural stone, yet extremely durable. Is it too expensive? Is there an ethical issue? Ours looks like new 5 years in. No cracks, stains or etching. I’d do it again.

Everything I learned when replacing countertops a few years ago is that quartzite has all the weakness of marble and cant be repaired. It etches and it can't be buffed out. It will crack and shatter. The video above mislabels some of those surfaces as granite when they are quartzite.

If you learned about countertops from anyone in the countertop industry, my experience is that they are mostly very ill-informed and do not even understand how quartzite, granite, and marble were formed. Marble and dolomite are formed from limestone, which is mostly made from the shells of scallops and other creatures, which contain a lot of calcium carbonate. Marble etches because the calcium carbonate dissolves when contacted by a strong acid. Dolomite etches because it is basically the same thing as marble except there was magnesium rich water around when the limestone was compressed, causing a lot of magnesium carbonate, which also dissolved when in contact with with a strong acid. Picture yourself squeezing a lemon slice over a tums tablet.

Quartzite doesn’t etch. It’s made from sandstone that has been compressed over millennia, and consists mostly of quartz. Quartz is another name for silicon dioxide, and unfortunately has the same name as the synthetic resin and ground up quartz product that also goes by Cambria, etc. Silicon dioxide is a very tough material, resistant to chemicals, high melting point, and is resistant to almost all strong acids and bases except HF acid (the one they used in breaking bad). Picture yourself squeezing a lemon slice over some sand.

Some quartzites are problematic because they are closer to the sandstone end of the spectrum, so they are very porous (mont Blanc) and will stain unless sealed assiduously. Some are brittle and will chip along fissures because they are closer to the pure quartz end of the spectrum (crystallo). I have one that is somewhere in the middle. No stains, no fissures, no chipping, and no etching. Red wine, lemon slices, blackberries can be left overnight on the counter with no stains.

Granites are made from magma, which is also made in a large part by quartz, which is why it is so tough. Most granites are not very porous, but the lighter granites can be somewhat porous, requiring sealing. Like quartzite, they contain no calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, so they do not etch.

Choose wisely and test. Quartzites are not all the same. The porous ones are more likely to stain, but will not have fissure issues. The crystalline ones won’t stain, but can be brittle.

I'm curious how you would classify the Fantasy series of quartzite. Whenever someone was discussing quartzite online it always seemed to be the Fantasy product. I installed Fantasy Brown in a bathroom and it etched immediately. My installer had installed Fantasy Blue/brown in his own kitchen and experienced a disaster. His cracked and chipped fairly quickly. He warned me against using it in my kitchen so I just put it in one bath. It looked beautiful but I'd never deal with it again.

PP. All the fantasy brown and fantasy blue slabs I have seen have been dolomite - made from limestone that has been compressed in the presence of mg++ rich water. It contains magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate and magnesium calcium carbonate. Of these, calcium carbonate reacts the most with acids, so that is why dolomite etches less than marble, which is mostly calcium carbonate.

Sometimes fantasy brown/blue is called a “hard marble”. That’s inaccurate because although it is probably denser and less etch prone than marble, it’s not marble. I’ve also seen it mislabeled as granite and “soft quartzite”. Stoneyards call it a granite or quartzite because they rationalize that it’s “tougher” than marble, so it’s ok to call it granite or quartzite. But that’s like selling a pork chop and calling it beef.

Granite - once was magma,
made of quartz, feldspar, other minerals.
Quartzite - once was sandstone, made of quartz (silicone dioxide)
Marble - once was limestone, made of calcium carbonate
Dolomite - once was limestone, made of magnesium and calcium carbonate
Quartz - quartz powder plus plastic resin

Soapstone is the other commonly used stone that hasn’t been discussed much - made mostly of talc, so it’s soft, even softer than marble. It’s also nonporous, so it won’t stain.

We love our soapstone it’s kind of the best of marble (natural, honed) and harder stones (non-porous, heat resistant)