We are going to replace our counter-tops. Low maintenance is very important. I am leaning towards quartz but my wife likes granite. I like the look of the granite more than the quartz, but granite seems to be a bit more “sensitive”. Thoughts?
Jay,
I don’t know anything about quartz, but when we redid our kitchen I had the same debate, but between soapstone and granite. I went with soapstone and while my counters look great, soapstone chips and scratches easily and in hindsight I would have chosen granite.
I also liked the soapstone look, but we eliminated it due to the issues you mentioned.
I’m not familiar with but i hear a lot of good thing about concrete and other ‘formred’ products
Jay -
We have had granite countertops for about 8 years and are very satisfied. No issues, very low maintenance (apply a sealant once a year, very easy to do).
Bob
I couldn’t be happier with my granite. I’ve never had an issue with granite and I’ve never understood why it has a reputation as being “sensitive”. Perhaps lighter colors of granite show stains? Unless you’re leaving a spilled can of tomato sauce on the counter for a week, I don’t understand how that would happen.
We chose granite, and have been pleased. We considered concrete, but opted not because we heard it required more maintenance and was more susceptible to stains and other problems.
Very happy with granite, too. Don’t think I’d ever do anything else.
JD
We have granite. They were already installed when we moved in (1992). Still like brand new.
Granite was the best decision we made for counter tops. Works great in the bathrooms too.
We have granite countertops in our kitchen but recently selected some nice quartz pieces for our bathrooms. The only difference between the two is like others mentioned above, granite needs to be sealed once a year, quartz is completely maintenance free.
Granite on my kitchen counter tops and a three inch thick end grain rock maple butcher block on the island. Love them both.
We have quartz in the baths and granite in the kitchen. Both are great. No problems at all.
From my research when I redid my kitchen about 10 years ago quartz had a very slight durability/staining advantage over granite but a huge disadvantage in appearance. I couldn’t find an engineered quartz that I could bear looking at every day. Maybe they’ve gotten better since then?
That said, I have a stain on my current Absolute Black granite counters that will not come out. It came from laying a cast iron pan on it and then the counter getting wet without my noticing it. The cast iron rusted on the bottom and left a big rust mark that will not come out. I reconfigured a bit to put it under the dish drain but I may eventually get the counter repolished.
I see some people above saying granite needs to be resealed regularly. This depends on the type of granite, most dark granites do not require it.
We’ve been extremely pleased with quartz. Totally non-porous and maintenance free.
Everyone I know with granite also loves it, including some to maintain it and others who don’t bother. For darker patterned granite, it probably doesn’t matter that much.
We have granite on numerous surfaces inside. They are all very good. We just installed quartz outside. Also really like it.
We have had dark granite for 10 years. Beat the shit out of it, don’t seal it etc. Looks like the day it was installed.
George
Jay - if the stain doesn’t go deep you can have someone grind it out and repolish the stone.
George
Yes, that’s what I’ll probably do eventually. A pain to find someone to do it unfortunately.