We're very unhappy with our quartzite island top and are just glad that we didn't do all the counter tops in it. It etches and scratches easily. It is beautiful - or rather WAS beautiful - but it's definitely not durable. Thank goodness our contractor is backing us up on this and we will be able to replace it with something more durable. BUYER BEWARE is right.

I know this is an older thread but 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 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. Had I known, I would have saved myself several thousands and gone with granite! ugh.

This topic is still as confusing to me as it was when I first posted. We are going on 2 years now with our quartzite countertop. Our slap came with resin on it and our fabricator sealed it, so I don't know how it's different from granite. It does have a few nicks and chips in it now, another thing I didn't expect to happen but I'm trying not to let it bother me. So now I'm wondering whether I need to get it sealed regularly like I would with granite. One of the reasons we chose quartzite was to avoid this. I too am questioning why we paid more for this material.

Dcangen12- it's tragic because it's only now that I am looking for threads with problems with quartzite that I see there a few that come up here on houzz within the last few months it seems...I will copy here a post from another thread I found on houzz that may explain why this is confusing/unregulated/bordering on criminal...

I apologize I didn't copy the link for the source since I just sent this to my husband for him to read earlier today and can't find the thread i found it on.

In a nutshell- one could say you don't really know what you are getting regardless of what they tell you...(and btw, I went to several high end, national stone distributors when I was shopping for my stone, nobody said anything like what you will read below)

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.

I also just saw a post from a kitchen designer here on Houzz who says her local stone dealers are now classifying quartzite as a kind of marble since there have been so many complaints, presumably. I could cry. :(

In 2013 we were convinced that we had discovered the next big thing and everyone would want quartzite in their kitchens in the future. Ha!

I look forward to being able to laugh along side with you, dcangen12- I'm still in the outrage phase-and in the "what do we do now?!" Phase! :)

think I am going to start a new thread and see if any stone people speak up and offer some advice...

I know this is a bit of an older thread, but I just wanted to add to it. The first picture is indeed a true quartzite. It's sometimes called perla or Taj Mahal. The thing to remember is, at the end of the day it is still a natural stone. No natural stone is completely scratch, etch, or stain proof. Quartzite is 20% denser than granite so it doesn't scratch or stain or etch as easily but when things are left on it for a long period of time or unfortunately scratched at with the right angle or force, accidents can and will happen. Sealing Will definetly help and you should do so once a year. (I tell my clients to use Bupoint Bullet Sealer). You can always ask your fabricator to come out and repolish a spot and have it re-sealed :). I hope this helps!

update: it's been over a year since the installment of my quartzite and I can say a few things now that the dust has settled!

My quartzite is very hard...it does not nick or chip easily. We have one tiny nick on the ogee edge that is a weaker edge since it is so fine.

We have yet to sustain any stains or etching. (Knock on wood!)

The silvery scratches that I originally posted about are not scratches per se, but it seems cheaper/softer metals will ostensibly "rub off" on the quartzite because it's so hard. These silvery marks only seems to come off with a very fine grit sandpaper.

We did get it sealed with the bullet proof sealer that Amala Raj Design recommends above and that helped wiping down the surface a little easier too...

It should be noted that we went with a honed surface rather than polished. From what I have heard, people who have polished quartzite do not have this silvery metal problem that we have. So i would advise to go with polished.

All in all, we are happy with its beauty. We are definitely more careful with it than I thought we would need to be but it is not the disappointment I initially feared it would be!