Anyone regret quartzite countertops in kitchen??

[Anonymous]

We have quartzite and I keep telling DH that it was the best purchase ever. I do not like fake looking stone. I had that and never again. I didn’t want marble because it’s very delicate and etches and stains. Granite was affordable and seemed durable but once I saw my friend’s quartzite I was in love. The key is to be careful in selecting the slab. Some quartzite has similar properties to marble and I was even told some dishonest sellers will tell you marble is quartzite. Especially the white ones. If you google, you will see tests you can do on samples when you go to pick a slab. The supplier scared me about durability and so I have always tried to be very careful but after a number of mishaps I really do think it’s close to indestructible. We have had numerous spills of vinegar and lemon juice. I cleaned them up within a few minutes so maybe if left longer it would have been an issue but we have zero etching. I have missed both tomato sauce and food dye (cookie decorator here) on several occasions overnight and it always cleaned right up. I use special cleaners but have had others mistakenly use Clorox wipes, etc and they didn’t harm it. Not that I would ever do that intentionally. We are now 4 years in with zero stains or etching. Meanwhile our marble backsplash has a lot of staining. Given that the counter gets way more direct hits than the backsplash, I can only conclude that true quartzite has much better durability than marble.

[Anonymous]

We have Taj Mahal and no issues at all. We love it.

[Anonymous]

We also have Taj Mahal quartzite in our kitchen on the counters and backsplash. No etching or staining in three years despite spills and splatters of just about everything imaginable.

In contrast, the marble in both of our bathrooms has a bunch of stains. Wish we’d gone with Quartz there.

[Anonymous]

Let me make this SIMPLE. If it says "soft" quartzite, it is NOT quartzite. Terrabianco, and Fantasy Brown polished are examples of this. Real quartzite simply will not etch, it is just too hard. Most quartzites run around 8 on the Mohs scale of hardness, which is quite impressive, as diamonds are 10. If you are considering "real" quartzite, buy it and never look back. You'll love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have had quartzite countertops for about 4 or 5 years. It looks beautiful and I don't regret it.

You do need to be a little careful, the only thing is really not to leave red wine stains without cleaning them up. We have left it once or twice overnight and it stains a little, but if you rub it a lot you can get rid of almost all of it.

If you want your kitchen to look perfect and don't want to have to be careful, it may not be the way to go, but it was worth it for me.

Can you get the red wine stains out by pouring white wine on them?

It works for textiles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I have Cambria

I also love Cambria. This is my third kitchen where I had it installed.

It’s so easy to clean, food safe and does not need to be sealed. It also comes in fabulous colors and patterns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me make this SIMPLE. If it says "soft" quartzite, it is NOT quartzite. Terrabianco, and Fantasy Brown polished are examples of this. Real quartzite simply will not etch, it is just too hard. Most quartzites run around 8 on the Mohs scale of hardness, which is quite impressive, as diamonds are 10. If you are considering "real" quartzite, buy it and never look back. You'll love it.

You are correct in that many quartzites are labeled incorrectly - fantasy brown is a dolomite and not a quartzite. Quartzite is formed from sandstone that has been fused under enormous pressure. But hardness has nothing to do with etching.

There are 3 parameters of countertops to be aware of

1. whether it contains calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate (limestone, marble, dolomite). These etch because acids dissolve the calcium or magnesium carbonate. Quartzite, quartz and granite are safe. Sealers won’t help.

2. how porous it is. Porous stones stain and non porous stones don’t. Manmade quartz is almost completely nonporous as well as dark granites. Marble, some white granites, and quartzites that are more sandstone-like (grainy, feathery) are porous and require sealers.

3. Brittleness - some stones are brittle or have a lot of fissures that it can cleave along. Porcelain countertops are notoriously brittle. These materials are easy to chip and you have to be careful with hitting the counter edge with a dish or dropping a bowl on the counter.

“Hardness” is kind of the catch all term that the sellers will use to claim that a stone is bulletproof. “Quartzite is harder than granite” is a claim that doesn’t say anything about staining. If your quartzite is dreamy and feathery like Mont Blanc, it is probably pretty porous and will stain without sealing. If it’s more crystalline like Taj Mahal or crystallo, you might not need sealing.

That being said, I have quartzite that I love. It’s kind of a cross between essenza blue and allure, light in color, and fairly crystalline, meaning that the sandstone was put under enough pressure that the grains melted together under high heat. I had it sealed, and it’s been perfect - no staining, no water spots, no etching since it doesn’t contain any magnesium carbonate or calcium carbonate.