I had marble and will use again in new kitchen...building again.
I didn't have stains but water circles which bug me but no one else noticed but me.if you're OCD it may drive you crazy. If you're not, go for marble. I think it's timeless. Seeing less and less granite in new homes. Good luck!

Hate the new granite in our new kitchen.
Even "Pros" make mistakes.
Go with something else; there are lots of options out there.
Regards,
Karen & Joseph
for Decorative Philsophy

That's clever!

@apple_pie_order
best countertop choosing advice yet :D

i too love the look of marble, but wasn't a fan of the maintenance. we ended up choosing cambria quartz in "torquay" which i was very happy with. are there other quartz products that have that timeless marble look perhaps??

That post on testing marble is very true. I would also leave it on for a few minutes and then wipe it off to really see the effect. BTW vinegar is worse than all. Quartz and Granite are more practical alternatives and there is a huge variety if you go to some places. I would test those as well because sometimes stones are not classified correctly. This stone below I think is beautiful. It was sold as a quartzite but I was called to remove dull spots and water marks which in the natural stone restoration business we refer to as "etch marks" It was really a dolometic marble.

I have heard Danby is a better marble choice for the kitchen than the Italian marbles - it is supposed to be more durable.

There is a new uv cured sealing process called vitremela which is supposed to make marble etch-proof for 10+ years. Check with your stone yard to see if they offer it.

How about Caesarstone Quartz "Dreamy Marfil"? It's pricey but the best of both worlds.
http://www.caesarstoneus.com/en/The-Catalog/Pages/5220%20Dreamy%20Marfil.aspx

How about Cambria quartz in New Quay or Windermere?

I also vote yes to Caesarstone. I like a manufactured stone for its durability in a kitchen; no stains, no rings no worry.

Your kitchen choices are beautiful. I love the backsplash tile you chose. Either choice will look amazing. Good luck! I can't decide either. ;)

I also loved the look of marble and was determined to find someone that would tell me it was a good idea and not to worry. I never found that person, so I ended up looking at quartzites. In my opinion they echoed the feeling and allure of marble much more than any granite variety I had come across and it is also a natural stone just like marble and granite, not engineered like Quartz countertops. It has the all the veining of a beautiful marble but all of the durability of granite. Hope this helps!

Quartzite is amazing. Looks like marble, just as practical as quartz!

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! Such a great benefit to this website!

I have marble on my island and I love it. I have a glass cutting board on the portion that I use for cooking. Good luck!

yes, quartzite is another great product...It has the same looks a marble but holds like granite.

Kory which quartzite is in the pic you attached? Thanks

Hi pippin, I believe it was Calcutta clear.

I fabricate counters for a living and would never put real marble in my kitchen. Regular sealing will help repel stains but there is nothing to stop scratches, etching and general wear on the polish. We have a hard time getting it out of the shop without scratching it, I can't imagine what it looks like after a year in a house with kids! My suggestion if you like that "timeless" look of the white marbles would be Quartz. Ceaserstone has gotten them down really well with London grey, frosty carina and misty Carrera, also Compact has one that is really close called compact carrera.

Great comment Tim ….our fabricator said the same thing…. I'm going with honed black granite (enhanced)

I'm also very fond of natural quartzite as a marble alternative.

I don't want to sound negative like I'm picking on your choices, but honed finishes are also high maintenance because the finish is achieved by not polishing completely ( stoping at a lower grit like when you sand with sandpaper) and it leaves the grain on the stone somewhat open which stains and scratches easy. Now put that hone finish on black and every defect will stand out. Have you ever owned a car with a black paint job? Hard to keep clean and scratches stick right out right? Now take that paint job and make it a Matte finish that's what you will be dealing with. You will most likely be asked to sign a waiver by the fabricator if you decide on this finish because it's the designers that make this finish popular but the home owners that live with it after and end up calling back with complaints. Sorry if I'm causing any stress in your decision making, im just trying to inform not bash.

Tim, I've got a dark quartzite counter. I had the polished slab leathered before installation and it's the easiest counter I've ever had. I've had it about three years and it's amazing for its ease of care. Of course, quartzite is a very, very hard substance.

Yes quartzite is extremely hard, and leathered finish is not the same as honed, its achieved with a series of brushes which in the end close the grain with that textured "leather" finish also known as antiqued. Nothing negative to say about that finish!

Tim black granite does not scratch or stain easily... It's a very dense stone - in fact just the opposite which is what makes it an attractive choice if honed AND enhanced... The most honed black granite will do is show finger marks etc and having the stone enhanced minimises this a great deal... It's a great choice for a classic look

Yes absolute black is dense and not very pours I would choose it over solid black quartz in my house in a heart beat just not honed. It will leave finger prints because of the oil on your skin which is nothing compared to the oils and grease used in a kitchen every day. And it scratches easier than polish, Think of the finish honed absolute black as a chalk board for your counter tops. Why are they calling it enhanced? Are they using some product on the hone to bring out the color on top of the original hone?

Tim I agree I wouldn't ordinarily use honed black granite untreated….an 'enhancer' applied to the granite (the fabricator we got the samples from used Tenax Ager/ Tenax Tiger Ager) prevents the marks and makes it easy to clean up… I also saw a countertop in their showroom with honed black granite which had been 'enhanced' and I moisturized my hands before going in and couldn't leave a mark on the countertop… it deepens and enriches the color of the granite and also prevents all the things that typically would stop a person from using a honed substance (I'm not a fan of polished black granite - looks too 'slick' to me)… he also applied it to a sample of honed vermont danby marble - the sample honed was sealed and had one side with the enhancer and one side without…the side with the enhancer definitely showed the etching marks much less - something to think about for those who HAVE to have marble

I had read/heard that the leathering process does actually close/kind of seal the stone. I'm a bit surprised that I hear about honing on Houzz more often than leathering. I would have expected that leathering would have replaced honing in popularity due to its closing attributes rather than the opposite affect of honing.

The wide range of colors we have in granite now a days is thanks to resin there are a lot of exotic stones out there that just couldn't be worked without resin they are to brittle or too porous or full of micro cracks. After the block in cut into 2 and 3 cm they get a coat of resin before the polishing of the slab this fills holes micro cracks and also darkens the stone. This is where Ager comes in when the slab is cut to size the tops are dark from resin but the edges remain light so Ager was created to soak into the edges and darken them like the resin tops. This always does the job because the stones that require resin are porous and absorb the Ager. This brings me to our topic of honed absolute black. It's not as porous and doesn't absorb the Ager like the stones its intended for so over a short period of time your counter will begin to look blotchy and not uniform. It's like slapping makeup on a pig it will look better for now but it's still a pig under that makeup! Try rubbing 1/2 your sample with acetone or lacor thinner you will see what I mean.

Thanks for the positive spin Tim ;) We are still going with the 'enhanced' honed black granite…. other fabricators don't seem to share your view btw pour acetone on any sample and see what happens!

Ask a fabricator that's not trying to sell you the top! Sales will always be sales no matter what industry your in. And acetone is not harmless to stone or quartz we use it in the shop every day to clean a tops for inspection cause it degreases( oils like Ager) and drys right after you wipe it for fast inspection. Honed black still sells often enough an comes down to personal preference and how much maintenance you want your counter to be. The advice is there if you want it. Enjoy the beauty of what every you choose its a decision for quite a number of years. Either way you take it I've enjoyed sharing my experience in this thread. Good luck

I actually think that the granites look more interesting than the marble. Your scheme is very nice.

Can you do a leathered finish on white marble? I am thinking about refinishing my kitchen countertops. The etches are too visible! A honed finish, I understand, will absorb stains.