Quartzite countertop for bathroom vanity

last year

We visited a slab yard this week to look at quartzite for the vanity countertop and shower edgings for our next bathroom remodel. This is for the bathroom used by my young adult son. He said he was leaning toward a light beige, but he strayed somewhat from that goal. The cabinet and tiles have not yet been chosen.

My questions are:

1) The slabs are large and probably more than will be needed for this one bathroom -- I'm looking for ways to get the most out of it, such as adding a waterfall edge on the open side of the vanity, or extending the countertop lip overhang to 4 inches around the front and open side of the vanity.

2) I need to commit to the tile first, before reserving a stone slab. Unsure how to coordinate this, because I would like to choose the slab first.

3) This is for a secondary, upstairs hall bathroom. Is it better to try to match with other colors in the house, or is it better to choose something different, but in the same general color range?

We narrowed it down to the following colors:

Perla Venata (similar to Taj Mahal) -- creamy beige -- very similar to the quartzite used in our kitchen and guest bathroom on the first floor (Mont Blanc / Perla Elagante -- cream and beige mixed with grey)
Monte Azul -- bold veining, earthy tones -- in the warm color range -- this is the darkest stone we selected
Poseidon -- tranquil blues and grey -- it is difficult to capture the colors of this stone on camera -- lighter, more consistent, and quieter than the Monte Azul
Leblanc -- creamy with thin, light veins in beige and dark grey -- this is the most "marble-looking" of the slabs we put on our "short list"

The slabs were displayed such that it was not possible to take a photo of the entire slab -- these are closeups, in the above order -- I included one photo from each of two different slabs of Monte Azul, because of it having so much variation.

Featured Answer

Shasta

last year

Coastal, I can see how Perla Venata would skew more masculine. My boys bath is masculine too.

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Comments (6)

porkchop_z5b_MI
last year
Why quartzite specifically? Lots of problems with quartzite with water absorption and staining, and bathrooms = water. Simple board search and you'll get lots of hits on the subject.

You'd be much better off getting granite or a man-made such as quartz or Corian -- much less chancy than quartzite in a bathroom.
AnnKH
last year
Instead of looking at the stone yard, find a fabricator. They may have a remnant that is perfect for your bathroom.

I would not try to math the rest of the house - I've always felt that a bathroom is a place to do something different.
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coastal_vibe
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
mxk3 z5b_MI:

Granite: the slab yard I visited last week told me that they have very little inventory in granite. I have worked with them previously, and feel confident in their labeling of stones. They had a gorgeous crystallo slab (that can be backlit), but that's way above my budget.

Corian: I have not seen it used anywhere in my area; it would be a challenge to find a fabricator.

Engineered Stone -- Problem #1:

Initially, I selected three Cambria colors, but found issues with each one:

a) Inverness Frost in a matte finish -- the fabricator told me that they recommend matte because of the uneven texture of this e-stone -- lots of threads on the Kitchen Forum about problems with using Cambria in a matte finish

b) Everleigh in a polished finish -- lots of complaints on the Kitchen Forum about difficulty in templating this e-stone because of its bold veining -- cannot get edges to match

c) Macbeth -- I was not able to see a full slab of it -- the two samples I saw were very different from each other; and I think the white background color is too stark and cold-looking

Engineered Stone: Problem #2 -- yellowing

Ten years ago, I installed Caesarstone Blizzard in the upstairs primary bathroom (minimal use) and quartzite in the downstairs guest bathroom (daily use). The e-stone has yellowed from UV light and mineral deposits in the water (I have a full-house water softener). The difference is visible on the shower curb, which is more yellow on the side of the curb that is in the shower. No problem with the quartzite curb.

See photos below. The line down the center of the Caesarstone curb is not grout -- this is all one piece of the e-stone. I have tried everything -- including SoftScrub with bleach.

Engineered Stone: Problem #3: -- ban on e-stone

I live in Los Angeles County, which is considering a ban on e-stone (see a separate thread on this).
Shasta
last year
I love the Poseidon and would use it as a backsplash too. You could also use it on the shower dam and on top of the shower bench if you’re doing one.
coastal_vibe
Original Author
last year
I love the Poseidon, also, but I think my son is leaning toward the Perla Venata. I am not planning on a shower bench, but would use the stone on the shower curb and on the cap for the pony wall.