Granite vs Quartz

Granite vs Quartz is currently a dilema which everyone is facing when picking a kitchen counter. More and more people are asking this question: Which is the best option for my kitchen countertop Granite vs Quartz?


Well to simplify, as there is not a straight answer to it, I’ll do a quick comparison:


1. Water absorption


Quartz is near zero water absorption, while some granite have high water absorption indexes. It’ll be easier to stain a granite countertop than a quartz one.


2. Resistance to heat


Granite is more resistant to direct heat, I’ve seen superficial damages on quartz due to direct heat from pots and pans … on many granites this is not a problem.


3. Coloring and texture


Granites are limited to it’s natural coloring, although the black granite is very pure color, you can’t get whites or other fashionable colors with natural stone. With quartz you have no limits to your decoration and design. Although a natural pure black and a quartz black a normal household user can barely tell them apart.


4. Breakage


In theory quartz is 4 times less breakable than granite. However I’ve seen strange things happen to quartz, small cracks appear normally next to the cut outs … they say it’s due to tensions the material has … and to
improper cut out technique


5. Resistance to chemicals


The way they publicize quartz it seams it’s indestructable, I believe that there are some chemical agents that can ruin your fine quartz countertop, however the normal kitchen use it’s safe to use. Granite also is ok, the absorption is one of the main problems, although salesmen will tell you the sealer or the impregnator story, personally, it’s best to be on the safe side, you spill it you clean it asap.


6. Scratch


As I said before, quartz has a hardness superior to granite, however when dealing with scratching the surface, remember to scratch any surface you’ll need an object that’s harder than it. However I have had some complaints regarding dark quartz … if you rub the bottom of a glass bottle with some intensity you may be able to scratch you quartz countertop, on the lite colours you may not notice this, but dark colours it’ll look really bad.


7. Cost


Granite countertops in general are cheaper than the quartz, excluding the special colours in granite. The reason are: Raw material costs and managing left overs. The most common granite is relatively cheap in slab format compared to the quartz, in my country the difference is 20-25€/sqm for granite and 60€/sqm for quartz. Managing the left overs, producing more granite countertops, the odd ends of the slabs are normally used to make other countertops … while quartz is more expensive per sqm and no manufacturer will accept to support the odd end cost…. And their next shipment of quartz may have a slightly different shade.