Kate:

You need to do a little Googling here yourself. There are at least four or more threads documenting the horror of some quartzites. Some are fine, but there are too many that are absolutely unsuitable for use as countertops. The only way to know which are which is to personally test for porosity and hardness; the salesman's pitch won't due.

Not all quartzite is the same.

Some of the "white" or light gray quartzites act more like marble or are really marble.

You need to test any slabs you are considering. Search for the GEOLOGY threads by karin_mt.

I have used Taj Mahal quartzite in 2 homes and it has been bulletproof. Majority of TM owners are very happy with it.

You should not be placing hot out of the oven pans on any stone countertop (thermal shock) and it isn't difficult to use a trivet.

chispa , thank you. I loved TM, but not sure if it will fit in my color scheme. Going to take a closer look at it though.

I read though since the quartzite is a natural material that actually formed from exposure to high heat and thus safe for hot pots. Not saying i am going to heat pot and put them on my countertops :)) daily, but would be interesting to know about other people experience with hot pots vs quartzite countertops too.

Kate: You haven't read the Natural Stone Institute's stone care instructions which recommends trivet use for all natural stone countertops.

The only heat safe stone countertop material, is soapstone. Soapstone is temperature neutral. It will not suffer from thermal shock (cracking) from sudden extreme heat, or cold. And, of course it will not etch, stain, or melt.

Sure, the quartzites are pretty durable, but not worth taking the chance, without a trivet, when you place the hot pan on that one spot that might have an issue. I don't need or want the hassle of finding and having to replace a slab.

My Fascination quartzite looks as good as the day it was installed. And I always use a trivet. Why chance it?

A good ol wood bread board?

Set anything on it!

I’ve had quartzite since October and love it. It looks great and we have had no problems with scratches. I am careful but my partner is not perfect about hot pans but we have had no incidents with heat or scratches. However we are having oil stains near the cook top. We have had granite in two houses and Corian in this one before renovating the kitchen and never had this grease oil stain problem before. My partner and I split cooking and we have not changed our patterns. I am using various treatments which get the oil stains off within a few days and now using cutting boards or kitchen towels next to cook top when making anything that might splatter. Once I have a time when all the spots are gone I plan to reseal. Before installation the fabricator told me I didn't need to reseal. I got the spots out of the right side of the cooktop but then they cropped up on the left side when we started using the left while I had the poultice on the counter next to the right side.

I would never set a hot pan on any countertop. Grew up with formica and laminate counters and it was ingrained in us kids to always use a trivet or potholder. That and don’t flush kleenex down the toilet, lol

champcamp , thank you! I was wondering about oils and i can see why it can be an issue. I guess it 's a lottery ...

On heat issue - i was wondering just in case. I am not going to purposefully test the laws of physics , geology and common sense :)) , but there are situations when you just have to put a pot down or burn yourself, that's what i had in mind. Will this be a 'burn yourself but save the countertop' choice :)) or it will survive .

Kate:

It isn't a flash of heat from a pan that's the problem. It's leaving the pan on the stone long enough to create a disparity between the stone under the pot and the surrounding stone. If you put your entire countertop into a thousand degree oven, you probably wouldn't have a problem.

@champcamp, I wonder if your staining is from cleaning products when you clean the top of the range? I think you need to pull out the range and seal the edges of the counter along the sides of the range. I would try that and see if it makes a difference.

@chispa thanks for that. I will try that once I get rid of the spots I have when I am ready to reseal. I use Rangemeister spray for cooktop daily cleaning and will have to look at overspray. I also just found another oil spot away from cooktop near where my kids had served themselves caprese pasta so that may have been from the olive oil / red wine vinegar.

Joseph Corlett , that’s my answer then, thank you :). I am only worried about occasional spills or exposure to heat.

I've had white macaubas quartzite since 2011 and love it as much today as when it was installed. There are mild discolorations at the sink and cooktop but honestly I don't see them nor does anyone else. It does not stain with food or wine and I have never resealed it. I've had great luck with it. My island is soapstone which is greart for taking items from the oven directly to the stone- no worries of damage.

I can only speak from experience on Mont Blanc quartzite, but it is not fit for purpose in a kitchen as it stains from both water and grease. The stains are difficult to impossible to get out. I've had it less than a year, and it has staining in multiple spots. Heat resistance is a plus but doesn't outweigh the staining issue.

We have taj mahal quartzite counters. Been using them for 8-9 months now and they have been bulletproof so far. We're not a particularly careful family (except for using trivets).

Thanks everyone! After visiting several sights, nothing beat the slabs we saw in one place (by 'nothing' i mean nothing that would help achieve the look we are after in our kitchen), the fabricator said it's Perla Venata or Taj - according to them it's the same - but the long story short, we loved it most and got it.