" I fell in love with a slab today..."

There's yer problem.

Why

I think if you love it do it but honestly we need to see your space and the slab you love. Seeing it in someone elses space is never helpful since unless they have all the same space it does not help. For me fake plastic quartz in never a choice. when you can find fabulous real stone.

Thanks, Patricia. I should have added to the preface that I realize it will be different but I’d still appreciate any pictures. Do you have any?
The colors work well with what I’ve picked out. I’m not worried about that. I just want to see real life pictures if it looks like one big gray counter. Hard to explain. But I have in my mind how will help me :)
I’m very much with you on natural stone over man made. We actually did Super White Quartzite in my last house and it was beautiful so taking the plunge on quartz is a tough choice.

Joseph was referring to the issues so many quartzites have…as documented in the many threads here...water absorption, for one. Taj Mahal seems to be the only quartzite that’s been shown to be bulletproof. He’s been warning the readers here for quite some time, about the inappropriateness of quartzite as a kitchen counter material.

So here’s the interesting thing… 1 LOVE Taj my sister has it in her kitchen for a few years now and it’s beautiful. I seriously considered it, and it’s still there as a distant option.

2. I had Super White Quarterzite in my last house and was shocked by how well it held up. I had it for 6 years, left red wine on it longer than I should have at times and never had any issues, Plus many other spills and 3 very messy kids at the time ages 6 and under. I never had that experience. We actually know the new owners and have been inside and it still looks beautiful.

Listen, this was day one of me looking I’m not sold on anything yet. All I’m asking is if anyone has a few real life pics of the quartzite I mentioned. Thanks all!

@gtdj519… I’m with you on preferring natural stone and do appreciate the feedback on the quartz. I just feel so pressured sometimes to go with quartz because if it’s low maintenance but I’m hesitant for the reasons you mentioned. It just doesn’t compare.

Low maintenance doesn't mean no maintenance: in all honestly, you get a knock or scratch or chip in a natural stone, its is easily and simply fixed , and no one would see any indication of a repair. anything happens with quartz, its not so easily taken care of. for example….. had pure white quartz installed ( supposed to mimick rhassos marble) it arrived with these black specks in it, looked like coffee grounds. if they drilled and filled them, you would see a color difference and the fills would be matte. had to rip out and replace that too!! replaced it with the same quartz, but i sure do wish i would have just gotten real thassos . if that happened with stone, it could be sanded, buffed, etc with great results. not so much with quartz.

if it was my master, i would have used marble, , but i really had no other choice for solid white counters in that bathroom and how it would be used ( 2 teen girls that think bathrooms magically clean themselves )

places will push quartz, but id never consider it again. I am bitter i had to go with it - LOL stick with real stone- marbles, granite,… - be careful with quartzite , other than the ones that are known strong performers

Thank you gtdj519. That’s good to know!

You need to post a photo of the slab you saw. Many slab yards make up their own names, so not that easy to search by name. If you show a photo someone might recognize it, but know it as having a different name.

I've used Taj Mahal in my previous house and in my current house and been happy with all the slabs.

Chipspa that’s true. Here’s 2 photos. I know slabs vary, I really do. This isn’t my first kitchen remodel. I had super white in our previous kitchen. I was only asking for photos. I’m now leaning another direction anyway.

"and the fills would be matte."

No, they would not. I repaired a hot-pot mark in an engineered stone countertop years ago. I had to knock the gloss off the replacement "particulates" I'd created to get their finish to match.

@anne rambo_young curious what you decided as we also saw a slab of azzura bay today that we love…

@Anne Rambo_Young Hi! I'm in your exact position wanting to see pictures of various quartzite in real life im a VERY visual person with zero eye for design ha! I’ve been scouring social media snd the web fir examples. I’ve visited a Maldive Quartzite a few times but eorry it’s too blue. I am going to go look at Azzura Bay slabs soon. What did you end up doing? would love to see! I prefer leathered vs polished but pretty open at this point! and I’d like to do white cabinets but open to light gray. I’d love a navy but our kitchen is on the smaller side with standard ceilings. Thank you!

DO NOT GET AZZURA BAY! We just installed this quartzite and it has been an absolute nightmare. It requires an insane amount of sealings to be protected and even then it stains terribly. We are considering ripping it out...

@Matt M I’m so sorry to hear this! we ended up not liking the slabs and fell in love instead with a honed Mont Blanc. I hope you’re able to find a solution for your situation!

We used Azzura Bay beautiful, sturdy and virtually maintenance free quartzite sealed twice in 5 years. No issues at all. These countertops are amazing we put hot baking pans directly from the oven to the counter no issues. We would install again!