I am interested in this question as well. I have heard Quartzite was stronger/tougher than Granite and then also heard it is not as tough as Granite?? Thanks for any help on this one!

I have quartzite slab in my kitchen, it's called Silver Quartzite. It is a gray w green under tones and darker gray marbling. I totally know what you mean about the misinfo out there. The stone supplier had touted it to be harder than granite but they did not let us know it could be more porous like marble!
After using the coutners for a few days we noticed water and oils were penatrating the stone. While the water would dissappear after a few hours on its own the oil spots did not. So we contacted the fabricator/installer to ask about the sealant they had used and they said they had sealed it like a standard granite but did a couple extra coats. We were not satisfied with their response, we could tell they really did not know much about this stone and so began doing a bunch of research ourselves.
As you mention we also came accross conflicting information and after a lot of searchig we came in touch with a sealant manufacturer that seemed to really understand the unique properties of Quartzite. This guy was able to explain that quartize while very hard it is porous because it is made of layers which is different than how granite is made millions of years ago. I can't recall all the details (it was a lot of geology) but in the end he sold us some of his sealant (three steps) and told us to seal and seal until the stone absorbed no more. He basically said the granite installer guys did not apply the sealant enought times and the stone needed more and more until it couldn't take any more.
It has now been over a year and we are satisfied with the way our quartzite is standing up. Occassially I will see a small oil mark but the interesting thing is that over a few days the mark will actually dissipate into the stone. I guess the stone properties allow it to absorbe the oil and spread accross the stone until it is no longer noticeable.

I do LOVE how our counters look even though it was a little nerve wracking and frustrating at the beginning. I am also not a fan of many granites and love how Quartzite looks. I have SIlestone and Ceaserstone in my bathrooms which is fine but for the kitchen the Silver Quartzite is stunning.
We will probably reseal again in a few months just to insure the stone is resistant to oils. Resealilng granite is also advised so I don't really view this as that big of a deal.

If you go for the quartizte it would ask the fabricator to how many of these coutners he has done and let him know you want it to be sealed over and over until it can't take any more! I wouldn't shy away from if you like the look.

BTW - we did manage to put a very very small chip in ours when my husband dropped a cast dutch oven on the Island!! I also have not experienced any etching and the "expert" we bought the sealant from said he never experienced etching either. I think etching is not an issue. We drink lots of red wine and the wine has never left any markings.

Good luck to you

Can you please tell me what is the name of the product that you used? Our quartzite is dull, and I am wondering if our installer did not use enough sealant. Thank you for your help!

I have a dark quartzite and I had the slab leathered. It's been amazing. You couldn't stain it, etch it, or mark it if you tried. Although, Hubby put the heel of his hand on an overhang corner with lots of pressure and a piece of the corner broke off (must have been right on a vein). It was repaired and looks fine, but that was crazy. I've had it for a few years and it gets heavy use.

Hi Nelsons2012- I have to tell you, having just had my pricey "hard as granite" taj mahal quartzite installed 3 weeks ago and seeing that the slightest graze of metal (and I mean slightest as in a my son's stapled homework sheet leaving a scratch from just being moved across it!) leaves silvery scratches-- I am gutted! Not one of the 12 stone centers I visited (several high end, international stone distributors) while looking for my countertop said anything about it being anything other than 'hard as granite'!

I attempted to scratch the sample piece with glass, as many will tell you to do, just to be sure of its strength, and it passed with flying colors--

Waiting to hear back from my fabricator...have no idea what is reasonable to expect or hope for.

I will paste something I found here on Houzz earlier today that may explain all of the confusion. Frankly, I find it near criminal that one can pay so much money for something and ostensibly be ripped off. Where is the accountability? If I had gone to some back street dealer and paid cut-slash prices, well-buyer beware, right? But that's not what happened.

Once upon a time all stone sold as quartzite was actually quartzite. Gorgeous and durable, looked like marble...what could be better. Naturally, everyone wanted it, but supply from reputable and experienced suppliers was limited. So stone began to hit the market that was labelled quartzite, but maybe wasn't really "true". or "pure" quartzite. In fact, this new pseudo-quartzite had a lot of the problems that the true quartzite didn't. It was very porous and it etched when exposed to acids. So they began to coat the "quartzite" slabs with resin at the quarry. Made it look great, and at least temporarily prevented etching. Problem was, by filling the natural pores in the stone, the resin also prevented the sealant from being properly absorbed! So now this resined "quartzite" was hard to seal, and therefore prone to staining and then eventually etching as the resin wore off. I've even heard stories of thickly applied resin pealing off finished slabs!

There are still gorgeous slabs of durable, bullet proof quartzite out there, but it's buyer beware. Members on this forum seem to have either found it indestructible or very porous and prone to etching.

If it is etching, it isn't quartzite regardless of what the stone yard called If it is soft enough to scratch easily, it isn't quartzite. It sounds like you may have been sold a stone that is closer to marble., porous can be taken care of with sealing. Etching or scratching would be more of a concern - sealing won't change those. Quartzite shouldn't etch and it should take something about as hard as diamonds to scratch it. If you are interested in particular slabs, try getting a sample from the slabs to test. Put kitchen acids like lemon juice or vinegar on it for a few hours or over night. If you want to check for porosity, leave some red wine on it and see if stains. If something is very porous, just putting water on it will leave a water mark until the water evaporates. It means that the stone will need to be sealed.