in my last house we did silestone counters and a hardwood island top. both were not as durable as i hoped. new house has granite and knock on wood, it’s been perfect.
we have Caesarstone(quartz) throughout the house, kitchen and bathrooms. extremely happy with the look and durability/zero maintenance.
Jay,
Google “Peter Brooks Stoneworks” and give Pete a call. Tell him you’re a friend of mine and I suggested you call him. He must have or know someone who can help you out.
Jay, both granite and quartz are reliable and will work well. It’s really personal preference at this point and you can’t go wrong with either. Granite probably has more exotic choices if you’re into that stuff. Fwiw, I like granite in the kitchen and quartz in the bathroom.
see if you can look at samples of HONED granite or quartz. matte finish and really beautiful.
Just redid our kitchen with Leathered granite.
Not simply matte or polished, but textured with the color variations.
Very happy with the results.
Considered real stone but didn’t want seams and grout to deal with. Decided on Corian in a granite like color pattern, (price was an issue too). Have not had any issue or problem in 22 years. The counter top appears seamless and extends from the bar counter top in the livingroom through the six foot pass through into the kitchen counter tops along two walls. The 12 foot by 4 foot center island has a gas 6 burner plus grill cook top, sink and 4 foot prep area. These counters have been through a lot and when clean, you’d swear they were new. About 38% the cost of slab granite and 40% the cost of granite tile, while double + the cost of laminate finishes.
We have dark granite on the island in our kitchen and the rest of the counters are stainless. Love them both. The stainless does get a patina (scratches) over time but it still looks great after 10 years. The granite looks great, too, but does have a couple edge chips.
have never resealed our granite in 20 yrs and still looks new.
8 years and haven’t sealed ours. Looks just like the day it was installed.
JD
Thinking back to when I researched IIRC this the advice I read was to pour some water on the (not yet sealed) granite you were considering. If it just sits there without sinking in the granite doesn’t need to be sealed. If it gets absorbed slowly it should be resealed once a year. If it sinks in immediately then resign yourself to having stained granite as sealing isn’t going to do much good.
Our granite was installed in 1988. We bought the house in 1992. I cannot discern any signs of wear.
+1. Looks great, no maintenece required, easy to clean, recommended as a qpr when compared to other materials.
Jay, we are in the remodeling process and I’ve learned more about granite than I ever thought possible. First thing to know is that there are small granite slab yards with very limited selections and then there are gigantic slab yards with hundreds of different types. Fortunately you live in Southern California where both North Hollywood and Anaheim are home to some of the biggest yards in the Country. Secondly granite comes in bundles of about a dozen slabs and while a given style will be uniform within a bundle there are big differences between bundles. We also found that quality (the number of filled crevices, and seams or veins) in each bundle can vary significantly. So once you have zeroed in on a particular pattern go look at the slabs available in a number of yards so your wife can choose the one she likes best.
Your fabricator will get the best price on the granite, most of the big yards won’t even quote a homeowner.
PS. Once the granite is chosen it’s more than likely your wife will decide you need a new backsplash, and maybe the cabinet color needs to be changed…trust me, your fun has only just begun. 
I have a ton of experience in real estate and construction and would go with granite over quartz etc… But the largest factor in that is personal preference and to some extent budget. These days granite is extremely competitive. If one has only typical counter depth applications there is even a wide selection of pre-fab (with bull-nose, one end mitred, and a backsplash) stuff for a steal.
I would say that the durability difference between quartz and granite is typically not worth over-riding appearance at all. Both are very durable. Unless you are the dumb-ass in the business that falls in love with a very cool looking specialty granite, that happens to be soft, but goes with it anyway. AKA Me. I just love the look of natural stone. I think it will also be more lasting than some of the composites. It looks richer to me, especially in any application other than a higher tech kitchen. I prefer something with more movement in it than the simple speckled. That’s a part of why soapstone appeals to people. But yes soapstone has maintenance issues.
Some granite needs to be sealed, most doesn’t. Anaheim has tons of yards Jay. As Peter said, your fabricator will get the best prices so best to even ask the fabricator what yards they have the best relationship with, and have the name at the ready even if you shop on your own. You do kind of need to get quotes even if you have to make a guesstimate at the discount because some stone will vary from the norm. It actually also helps to know the sizes that you need. The slabs are not the same size between types. So you may well end up with much more wastage with one selection which could be a factor. Once you see something you like, definitely have them pull individual slabs out of the bundles so that you can check for defect and select the patterns that appeal as well as go with one another. Then you make sure to have them hold those particular slabs.
Cambria quartz in the kitchen for 5 years now, looks and holds up great with no maintenance. Lots of comments on how nice and elegant it is.
Any recos on a fabricator?
Our fabricator came via a recommendation from our designer, who worked closely with out GC. If you are using either, they should be able to help.
Jay, I’m sure I can find the name of the person who did ours through our contractor and he was excellent. PM if you want me to find out his name.
Jay, our fabricator is out of Bakersfield so doubt he would be of use. One of the ways to tell a good fabricator is look at some of their jobs and see how well they did the seams. Once you’ve seen a good seam (almost invisible) and a bad seam (mind the gap ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
) you’ll know the difference!
Another consideration is that if you choose a granite with a strong pattern it will likely be necessary to bookend the seams otherwise they will stand out like a beacon no matter how good the seam job. This may mean you have to buy an extra slab to accommodate the matching seams.