Countertops - Quartz vs Granite

[PandaBear]

I will not install something I can't sit a hot pan on.....everything I have ever said after 150 degrees you risk damage. Any hot pan off the stove is more than that.

I have seen apartment with granite countertops having a pot mark on it. Sure it didn't burn or melt but it definitely damage it cosmetically.

My rentals are all with laminate countertops, you can't prevent idiots renters or their friends / families. If they damage a $900 laminate I can replace it easily, not so much with a $6k stone.

 

[Pablo]

You are right. The word s/b" damage". And everything I have read says the temperature for "damage" is 150 degrees. Whatever it is-it equates to a hot pan just coming off the stove. Something I place on our granite counter tops all the time. I took a loaf of bread right out of the oven just yesterday-sat it on the counter top to cool. The oven was 350 degrees.

Definitely an advantage of real stone. But we still don’t do it on ours.

 

[CKN]

I have seen apartment with granite countertops having a pot mark on it. Sure it didn't burn or melt but it definitely damage it cosmetically.

My rentals are all with laminate countertops, you can't prevent idiots renters or their friends / families. If they damage a $900 laminate I can replace it easily, not so much with a $6k stone.

I have placed hot pans numerous times on granite with no damage. I'm a Landlord too- and one doesn't know how tenants do what they do. Take a Pic next time-lwould love to try to figure out what happen.
Could have put a lead acid battery on the countertop....

 

[Jay73]

If ya were in Chicago I'd say stop on by as this is what I do for 14 years now so could give ya more of an unrushed viewing of everything. Every color ya named is in our warehouse. Funny thing is when I bought my condo little over 2 years ago I'm like that color looks like ours and sure enough it was. I lean to quartz but there are a few granite colors I really like.

 

[vavavroom]

Everything in fashion can and will be out of fashion. This is why I only look at engineering and ease of maintenance perspective of a product.

I never would have thought you'd disregard cost. Knock me over with a feather.

 

[vavavroom]

The most beautiful countertop I have seen was made from a slab of labradorite. I'm a heavy-handed, sauce-spilling maniac in the kitchen so that's not for me. Just a reminder, this is what labradorite looks like.

 

[PandaBear]

I never would have thought you'd disregard cost. Knock me over with a feather.

Labor cost yes. The slab is only a small part of it if you know where to get it. What I found is that Home Depot and Lowell's charge by sqft and other places charges by the slab. I wanted my counter top to have no joints / gaps so I went to Lowell's. They didn't charge me more to use 2 slabs and ended up being the cheapest.

If you get a durable and easy to maintain, boring but age well style, you are already ahead of the curve.

 

[Pablo]

The most beautiful countertop I have seen was made from a slab of labradorite. I'm a heavy-handed, sauce-spilling maniac in the kitchen so that's not for me. Just a reminder, this is what labradorite looks like.

Almost appears translucent

 

[vavavroom]

Almost appears translucent

Diffraction occurs within the stone. Refraction and interference give the appearance of depth with the iridescence always changing colors and intensity depending on the angle of incidence and the angle of observation. You see a range of colors from muted to bright metallic flashes from within the stone. Labradorite is by the way a type of granite.

Google "labradorite countertop."

 

[Fattylocks]

Personally I like granite. Going on 12 years of hard use with no special care. Shines like a mirror.

 

[alarmguy]

Many posters here criticize granite for being prone to staining. Not if you have it sealed and keep up with some simple clean and polish products. I've had granite for 21 years, my wife cooks and uses the kitchen much more than the average bear, and we've never had a stain. You leave a pint of red sauce, olive oil or even motor oil on any stone surface overnight, you're just asking for trouble.

Yeah, it's lack of knowledge that people harp on this.

Both materials have benefits and negatives. The benefits are to the individual who chooses and purchases the product for their wants. Also, even though less likely, go spill come grape juice on your manufactured quartz counter top, leave it for an hour then get back to me. Same goes for that careless teenager who puts a hot pot down and leaves it while they text their friends. Also be brand conscious, I dont think a big deal but it is a manufactured product and there is a right standard way to produce it and a cheap way, if buying a production home you might want to know the company. All name brands and major home improvement stores dont sell the inferior produced ones to the best of my knowledge ...

If you're concerned about granite staining for sure, buy an oil based sealer good for at least 10 years, (label claims 20 years) OR buy factory sealed granite with lifetime warranty against staining.

I hate arm chair reporting based on internet stories and you tube videos instead of experience with the product. They are both good, choose it for the reason you wish. Keeping in mind (if you care) the color and style you choose today may not be the color and style someone chooses in 10 to 15 years. Call me crazy, but buy what you like now, just like you choose the color of your cars and clothes, furniture and cabinets.

 

[Pablo]

Someone dropped something crazy heavy on my brothers granite. Not a fan of his colors his kitchen is awesome

 

[mr_boring]

Just as a bit of a follow up. I like the quartz. I tossed a 4lb chuck roast on it to thaw last night, it thawed not as quick as when I set one on an upside down aluminum pan (which works at warp speed), but pretty darned quick. Bought 2 kinds of cleaner so far, some spray can (Rock Doctor) that foams at Lowes - I do not like it. Have to just do like a 1/3 second burst on a section and enough foam comes out to clean Detroit. Weiman's Quartz (spray bottle) I do like.

I make a bit of sausage and I'm not going to use Dawn in a spray bottle while I'm linking sausages on my countertop. Maybe for 'gentle everyday cleaning' but I gotta sanitize my stuff and I don't want to eat soapy sausages.

 

[Cropduster172]

I've got both. Put quartz in our kitchen when I remodeled it in 2021.
It's fine. We use various all surface cleaners like Method, Target's house brand, whatever. Have granite in our beach house. It's been there since we bought the place 15 years ago...it's green and I like the idea that stone from the ground is green. I sealed it once 10 years ago or so. Use the same type products to clean it as the quartz.

 

[Pablo]

Someone dropped something crazy heavy on my brother's granite. Not a fan of his colors his kitchen is awesome

My brother has 7 or 8 nice rental homes now. He has low end quartz in those. Looks a bit "sterile" to me the couple I have seen, but is holding up. He gets $3000-$4000/month rent from those. You do the math.

 

[Cropduster172]

View attachment 226253View attachment 226254Someone dropped something crazy heavy on my brothers granite. Not a fan of his colors his kitchen is awesome

View attachment 226255

So what was that...some sort of epoxy resin repair?

 

[Pablo]

So what was that...some sort of epoxy resin repair?

I think!! I am not sure. It is glass smooth, cannot feel it. My brother said repair was 20+ years ago

 

[alarmguy]

Just as a bit of a follow up. I like the quartz. I tossed a 4lb chuck roast on it to thaw last night, it thawed not as quick as when I set one on an upside down aluminum pan (which works at warp speed), but pretty darned quick. Bought 2 kinds of cleaner so far, some spray can (Rock Doctor) that foams at Lowes - I do not like it. Have to just do like a 1/3 second burst on a section and enough foam comes out to clean Detroit. Weiman's Quartz (spray bottle) I do like.

I make a bit of sausage and I'm not going to use Dawn in a spray bottle while I'm linking sausages on my countertop. Maybe for 'gentle everyday cleaning' but I gotta sanitize my stuff and I don't want to eat soapy sausages.

Sanitize = Mix of bleach and water is the solution
Not sure if it can be used on consumer counter tops

 

[alarmguy]

View attachment 226253View attachment 226254Someone dropped something crazy heavy on my brothers granite. Not a fan of his colors his kitchen is awesome

View attachment 226255

So what was that...some sort of epoxy resin repair?

Yeah, I am not understanding the photos.
It that a chip or an attempt to fix a chip?

Counter tops can be repaired, all types

 

[Pablo]

Yeah, I am not understanding the photos.
It that a chip or an attempt to fix a chip?

Counter tops can be repaired, all types

Yeah sorry everything since June 2 was on my phone. Near impossible to properly caption at the time.

I was staying at my brother's house for the first part of my trip until I got COVID and then isolated in the back of parents house (who both had COVID ugggh)

Anyway those are three photos of a huge gouge/chip out that one of his son's did a LONG time ago. Totally unsure of the repair process and the inevitable polish of that surface because it is so smooth. Brother did say patch darkened with age.