I don't know anything about quartzite, but here are a few thoughts for your husband about granite: I recently had granite installed in my new kitchen and although I absolutely love it, it's not as durable as people think. I've already noticed tiny scratches appearing even though I am careful what I put on it and always use a chopping board for cutting. I don't know what colour you are thinking of having, but a word of warning; I have shiny black (called star galaxy) and although it looks fantastic I am forever cleaning it. I have no kids so generally I am the only one that makes it dirty again so it's not too much of a problem. It also gets bad water stains around the tap area but you can clean it off if you really put your back into it. The other consideration that we didn't anticipate is the fact that it is so highly reflective that we could see the cabling for the lights underneath the cupboards above it, reflected in it. we had to get our builder to replace his messy gaffer-tape affair with neat white conduit to house the cables in! I don't regret having it but it is a distraction when you can see dust, smears and finger marks on it all the time! Hope that helps making up your mind!