granite...I love natural stone, wood and rock

I tend to like granite better. In the interest of full disclosure, I personally am not a fan of the kitchen trends for the last few years. As an aside, heat can damage some granite.

It all depends on what you like and what is your style.

If you like something with more movement, you HAVE to go for granite, once you will never find it in quartz.

On the other side, getting a more modern and clean look kitchen requires a quartz.

Watch this quickly video to see what is WS GRANITE TOPS opinion about this topic.

I had granite but when we redid our kitchen I wanted a sleek and clean modern look. I wanted pure white counters with no movement so I chose quartz.

" I love putting my hot pots right on the granite."

jillk60532:

This is all I got to say to ya woman...

Seriously, the Natural Stone Institute, the 70-year-old trade association of the natural stone industry, recommends trivet use for all natural stones (soapstone not excepted).

Just like toilet bowl cleaner, a hot pot can pop the crystals in the granite. The shine will be there, but their will be a conspicuous ring of white colorless particulates. Replacement is the only cure.

We just finished our kitchen remodel. Previously we had beautiful granite for 20 years. I'm not a tidy cook, and that granite took a beating from our young kids, but it looked brand new when we removed it.
DH wanted quartz at the beginning of our remodel and I started doing some research. I found that because quartz is basically just plastic (resin) and crushed stone, it's not as impervious as it's marketed to be. Lots of complaints here re: chipped edges, staining, etc.. Some of that seems due to the quality of the quartz (some brands are better than others).
We had granite before so I knew what I was getting myself into if we went that route- I just had to make sure any stone we picked was dense and non-porous.
We thought we'd go with Ceasarstone quartz, but decided to stop at a stone yard 'just to see what they have' and of course we found a slab we both instantly fell in love with. The quartz was immediately out the window and we paid for that slab that day.
In our area, cost of granite and quartz is almost the same. The granite was only a couple hundred $$ more than the quartz would have been, but we also got a 3cm granite slab, as opposed to the 2cm quartz.
I think you just need to go with what you love (and are willing to take care of maintenance wise). Good luck!

I am one of the "old-timer Gardenweb" people. I have been reading posts on here that say granite is on the way out for the last 10 years. Yet it still isn't. The beauty of natural stone can't be beat. And if you get one of the tougher granites that need only annual sealing (there are more porous granites out there that are higher maintenance), or no sealing (I've never sealed mine), it's as carefree as can be.

For me it really depends on the style of the kitchen, but I do prefer more contemporary or modern kitchens with lighter and brighter countertops and quartz seems to usually work better for me for that. My parents used a granite when they renovated their kitchen (modern acrylic slabs, etc) but it was a very dark granite with good contrast to the white glossy cabinets and still lent it a rather contemporary look - though still darker and a lot more movement than I prefer. For our new build, the builder had many options in granite or quartz (both standard and in upgrades) and I went with quartz - though interestingly it is one Caesarstone says is “inspired by light granites”.

But I do still think granite is beautiful. I have seen many slabs of granite and quartzite I would just love to hang on a very, very reinforced wall and stare at and enjoy as art, rather than cut up and use as a counter :)

A good true quartzite would be my preference over either if money was no object.

Else, if I could find a granite that I actually loved, locally, I would consider it, although I really dislike the sealing requirement. But I have never seen a granite - in person - that I wanted in my kitchen. I've seen a few online, but never in the local yards.

With neither of the above two conditions existing, I would choose quartz, which is what I have. I love it. :-)

WS Granite Tops:

Your video needs some clarification.

Most granites are not 100% natural as you claim. Most have had a resin vacuumed in at the processing plant. It is deliciously ironic to me, as a former solid surface fabricator, to see stoners have to turn to the protection of plastic to make a better product.

Secondly, the 95/5 rule of quartz is by weight, not by volume. That engineered stone slab you're selling is 35% plastic which is probably just a bit more than Corian. I guess this "natural" thing is mostly sales hype.

At 2:06, your lovely spokesperson says granite will not be damaged by heat. This is false and I've got the pictures to prove it. The Natural Stone institute agrees with me.

i chose quartz for my kitchen redo 4 years ago. yes, its true, i chose it because it looked like marble. what was actually a fresh look 4 years ago has subsequently been done to death, and it annoys me that my kitchen will be dated simply because so many others followed in my footsteps. ah well.

i did a quartz vanity top eons ago. i chose quartz over granite because it was very colorfully beachy looking, it was for a guest bathroom at our beach house, and had lots of colors to work from. that, and it was a remnant in the fabricator's bin. all the bathrooms i've ever renovated have been with a remnant, a huge money saver.

i dont set hot pots on anything. except trivets.

I like marble, soapstone and Glacier White Corian. I accept patina and prefer to embrace the obvious engineered nature of Corian over the ersatz quartz trying to mimic stone.

Ninigret, I did Calacatta quartz top in a kitchen and Carrera in a bathroom. A few months ago, house sold in 3 weeks in a dead market and the buyer said she fell in love with the counters so you are not dated at all ...yet. That is my question, though.

I also have a different house with granite and set hot pots on my granite all the time. No problems and we only seal them 1x per year because we were told to.

I understand quartz has been the newer thing for awhile, but for me I pick granite. I like large movement patterns (which I haven't found to be available in quartz), and I like the idea of a natural product, to me that has more beauty and character and interest. I do traditional, I don't do trends, so I don't have to worry about that. I don't do white kitchens with subway tile and marble-looking counter tops (which is what a lot of people are doing with quartz). And I think you have to keep the price point in mind as quartz is more expensive. I just redid a large guest bathroom with the most beautiful slab of granite and I can tell you that every person that walks in that bathroom comments on how beautiful the granite is. I had a tile installer tell me that it looked like a piece of art, and it does. It's as much of the design as anything else in that space. So don't feel like you have to do something just because its on trend right now. Trends come and trends go.

oh i know, its not dated, "yet". but it will be for sure, for sure.

cpaul1:

Fads come and go, trends are trends.

ninigret

"i chose quartz for my kitchen redo 4 years ago. yes, its true, i chose it because it looked like marble. what was actually a fresh look 4 years ago has subsequently been done to death, and it annoys me that my kitchen will be dated simply because so many others followed in my footsteps. ah well."

Well there are only so many materials that exist to use in a home LOL. Or is it just the particular pattern you chose that you think is too "trendy"? I will say that there are a ton of granite counters out there that to me, look very very dated. But granite itself, will always be a fine material for counters. I feel the same way about quartz.

If there is a material that no one else has on their counters, there is probably a very good reason for that. :-) Quartz will no more "date" your home than white walls and cedar shake shingles.

I am a granite person and love my new Alaska white kitchen counters.

Quartz looks nice in pictures and can work in some spaces. In person, to me, it looks fake. I know it’s trendy but I don’t like things that imitate other things (marble looking quartz or wood looking tile) and I don’t think it will stand the test of time.

I like both and think it depends on the kitchen. Most of the pretty granites had too much movement for my wood kitchen and it was easier to find a quartz to work with the surfaces I had. Those same granites would look great in a different kitchen.

Pick what you love. There seems to be a lot of mass worry over what other people think of one's kitchen - driven I think by some HGTV shows. Most people don't care what other people's kitchens look like - just that the kitchen is reasonably clean if eating food prepared in it.

I could do both, and I chose quartz. I don't care if it's "trendy" and will be out of style in 10 years, because I didn't choose it for my kitchen because it's in style. I chose it over quartz mostly the maintenance/sealant requirements of granite, but I did struggle a little to find a quartz I liked - that didn't look like marble but at the same didn't look like nougat.

The issue of "real" vs "engineered" doesn't bother me at all, and I don't immediately attach a higher quality ranking to something just because it's "real".