Are you thinking of replacing your kitchen countertops? Then you may already have chosen natural stone as their replacement. No one makes ’em better than Mother Earth, after all.
Quartzite, and marble. These options pop up everywhere when you’re shopping for countertops. You may have heard of the two stones before – but now that you’re specifically in the market for countertops, what should they mean to you? And why care about their differences at all when they can look almost identical to one another, anyway?
Here’s the countertop buyer’s quick primer on quartzite and marble.
Quartzite: The Real Deal
Quartzite contains mostly oxygen and silicon (the primary element used to make glass). It is a metamorphic rock: formed over the course of millions of years under the earth’s intense heat and pressure.
Why the geology lesson? Because it’s important to distinguish quartzite from engineered quartz (which is often referred to as just “quartz”). Engineered quartz is an excellent product in its own right, although it is manmade and generally less visually distinctive.
Quartzite is 7.5 on the Mohs scale, meaning it is harder than a knife blade. The durable stone’s superior hardness also makes it more difficult to cut than a softer stone (such as marble or granite). In summary, you pay extra for quartzite countertop fabrication – but that investment rewards you with outstandingly hard counters. Moreover, quartzite countertops are resistant to ultraviolet light, heat, and staining. Maintaining one only requires occasional cleaning with soapy water.
Quartzite is available in a wide enough range of colors that it can please anyone’s senses. Gray, white and beige are perfect for subtler contemporary kitchens, whereas pink, blue, green and yellow all help statement countertops truly pop. Like all natural stones, each piece of quartzite has its own unique pattern. It also gives off a faint, shimmery sparkle courtesy of its many quartz crystals.
In fact, the greatest compliment you can pay to quartzite is that it can look just like marble.
Marble: A True Classic
Quartzite is so hard that cavemen used it to make tools wherever flint wasn’t available. Ancient stonemasons might have managed to hammer and point quartzite into impressive buildings and artwork – but they didn’t have to, because they had marble instead.
Compared to quartzite (Mohs 7.5), marble (Mohs 3) is relatively soft. It is easier to damage a marble countertop for this reason. And because marble has relatively high porosity, it also requires sealing every three to six months (a service graciously supplied by Gallery 77 throughout the greater Hudson, WI area).
Softer marble is easier to fabricate, which translates to appreciable upfront savings. More importantly, marble is gorgeous. Many civilizations have used it to create their greatest buildings and statues over the millenia, which is why our brains are practically hardwired to admire marble.
If you never saw marble before, you would immediately be taken aback by its rich sparkle (the product of the metamorphic rock’s large calcite crystals). In addition to its luster, marble is revered for its rich and colorful patterns, which create the illusion of great depth with their starkly contrasting colors. White, black, gray, cream, red, blue, brown, green, and yellow marbles are all available. Any one of them can elevate your kitchen into a space fit for a Greek god.
Remodel Your Kitchen With Gallery 77
We noted that quartzite countertop fabrication cost more than marble, and that marble countertops require more maintenance than quartzite. Please be sure that we are only speaking in relative terms. Either countertop is affordable, and also ready to withstand decades of everyday wear and tear with minimal care and cleaning.
Regardless of which natural stone countertop you choose – be it quartzite, marble, soapstone or granite – you are going to realize a massive return on investment. Your home will increase in value, without question. Just as importantly, you will be surrounded by greater beauty, and enjoy owning countertops that could outlast your lifetime as well.
If you live in the Twin Cities or greater Hudson, WI area, then Gallery 77 is here for all your kitchen remodel needs. Contact us or come visit our showroom today to discover our wide selection of natural and manmade countertops. We’re ready and waiting to remodel your entire kitchen, too. In addition to countertops, we provide high-quality and aesthetically pleasing kitchen upgrades by reputable local manufacturers, such as Medallion Cabinetry of Waconia.
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