Marble countertops in the kitchen?

[bcla]

Natural granite is "plenty" durable, but the Mohs hardness scale is more than marketing, it's science Granite is a 5-7 on the scale. Quartz is a 7. Quartz is harder, because as you mentioned, granite is only "mostly" quartz. It is that "mostly" that can make granite a bit softer than quartz, depending on its exact makeup and where it was found. That is why quartz is considered to be slightly more durable to heat, cracking, and chipping. They can both look new for decades.

They are both much more durable than marble which is closer to a 3-4.

Hard can also mean brittle. I remember the material engineering course I took, including the strength tester, which was rather fun. Most materials are chosen for toughness, which requires a combination of strength and ductility. Harder materials tend not to be tough.

Tungsten carbide is harder than granite - much harder. But it's also brittle. I remember seeing a jewelry store video demonstrating what could be done to it from a drop of a few feet onto a sidewalk. It shattered into several pieces.

I understand a want to justify one's choices. I do it all the time.

 

[cabanafrau]

Hard can also mean brittle. I remember the material engineering course I took, including the strength tester, which was rather fun. Most materials are chosen for toughness, which requires a combination of strength and ductility. Harder materials tend not to be tough.

Tungsten carbide is harder than granite - much harder. But it's also brittle. I remember seeing a jewelry store video demonstrating what could be done to it from a drop of a few feet onto a sidewalk. It shattered into several pieces.

I understand a want to justify one's choices. I do it all the time.

I wasn't justifying my choices, merely giving my opinion. Twill be a much colder day than any this winter before I need to justify my choices on a message board.

Fun fact, many times composite materials offer advantages precisely because they draw strengths from multiple sources instead of a single source. I believe that may be part of the reason for developing quite a few composite materials. I'll have to ask my DD a bit about that, she spent months learning and testing those concepts firsthand. Please forgive me for sounding condescending if I mention she was in high school at the time.

 

[rwdavis2]

We have, I believe, Cambria. It's a quartz-based, manufactured product. The advantages are that the sample you see in the store is what you get and no maintenance. It is a little pricier than granite but we love it.

 

[Snoozan]

I have Silestone quartz and absolutely love it. Lots of patterns to choose from and no worries on upkeep or protecting it. Best decision I made when remodeling my kitchen several years ago.

 

[JanaDee]

We have, I believe, Cambria. It's a quartz-based, manufactured product. The advantages are that the sample you see in the store is what you get and no maintenance. It is a little pricier than granite but we love it.

That is why we went with quartz. I wanted a uniform look and wasn't guaranteed that with granite. Due to the cost, I wasn't willing to gamble on "maybe" getting matching pieces.

With quartz, I knew exactly what it was going to look like and it would be uniform over all the countertop. We have a lot of counter space and I wanted it to all look the same.

 

[barkley]

if you are re-doing the kitchen and considering granite-take a look at the granite composite sinks. our appliances are all stainless steel but I didn't want a s.s. sink (water spots) or a white enamel (scratches)-we did the under sink mounted granite composite and it's great. easy to clean and blends in so well with the countertops (added one of the delta touch faucets as well-cool to use).

 

[JanaDee]

if you are re-doing the kitchen and considering granite-take a look at the granite composite sinks. our appliances are all stainless steel but I didn't want a s.s. sink (water spots) or a white enamel (scratches)-we did the under sink mounted granite composite and it's great. easy to clean and blends in so well with the countertops (added one of the delta touch faucets as well-cool to use).

We have a granite composite sink, too. Honestly, not a fan. We went with the darker brown coffee color and I'm just not a fan of the sink. It already has a couple stains in it, just from every day use.

 

[JanaDee]

http://www.lowes.com/pd_359986-1475...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

That is the sink we have. A Franke mocha.

 

[barkley]

That is why we went with quartz. I wanted a uniform look and wasn't guaranteed that with granite. Due to the cost, I wasn't willing to gamble on "maybe" getting matching pieces.

With quartz, I knew exactly what it was going to look like and it would be uniform over all the countertop. We have a lot of counter space and I wanted it to all look the same.

we didn't consider quartz so I'm not familiar with the process, but when we did our granite we went with our fabricator/installers to 'slab yards' where we had to hand pick our slabs. we weren't able to consider selecting any unless there were matching slabs on site (no ordering extra, might not match) sufficient to do our job. is this not common elsewhere?

 

[cabanafrau]

we didn't consider quartz so I'm not familiar with the process, but when we did our granite we went with our fabricator/installers to 'slab yards' where we had to hand pick our slabs. we weren't able to consider selecting any unless there were matching slabs on site (no ordering extra, might not match) sufficient to do our job. is this not common elsewhere?

Even across a single slab of granite there can be variations in the color and pattern, which oftentimes makes the look quite beautiful. When a slab is cut sometimes it may even appear the two pieces are entirely different depending on where the cut occurred and how much the color or pattern varies.

 

[bcla]

we didn't consider quartz so I'm not familiar with the process, but when we did our granite we went with our fabricator/installers to 'slab yards' where we had to hand pick our slabs. we weren't able to consider selecting any unless there were matching slabs on site (no ordering extra, might not match) sufficient to do our job. is this not common elsewhere?

If you order it at Home Depot or another large retailer, you choose from a sample block and they'll probably cut it to order without allowing you to examine anything. However, the specialist stone companies should have all pieces on site for inspection. I frankly like the uniqueness of natural granite. Of course right now we've got a kitchen with a 45 year old Formica top that's right out of the 60s.

 

[pryncess527]

Hard can also mean brittle. I remember the material engineering course I took, including the strength tester, which was rather fun. Most materials are chosen for toughness, which requires a combination of strength and ductility. Harder materials tend not to be tough. Tungsten carbide is harder than granite - much harder. But it's also brittle. I remember seeing a jewelry store video demonstrating what could be done to it from a drop of a few feet onto a sidewalk. It shattered into several pieces. I understand a want to justify one's choices. I do it all the time.

Rofl, justifying my choices on the Dis, that's rich. thanks for the laugh.

The Mohs hardness scale specifically measures how hard it is to scratch a mineral, which seems like one of the most relevant characteristics for a counter and is why I used that particular measure, a scientific standard free of "marketing" issues. I'm aware of different types of toughness, which is why I referred to a specific scale.

 

[NewRVLady]

So what are the negatives about CoriaN?

I worry granite is too rich for my neighborhood - that I won't recoup the cost

 

[barkley]

Even across a single slab of granite there can be variations in the color and pattern, which oftentimes makes the look quite beautiful. When a slab is cut sometimes it may even appear the two pieces are entirely different depending on where the cut occurred and how much the color or pattern varies.

I understand that. with the company we used they came out and did the measurements/made the template first. then we met up with them and went to the slab yards. at the yards we only look at the color/style that we wanted that there were enough on site for our job. when we found some we liked the template came out so we could see the options on cutting. some slabs were ruled out b/c the pattern was such it wouldn't look right.


anyone else kept the large left over pieces from the slabs? we asked for ours b/c down the line we may want to do a matching coffee table or end tables (and the cost to fabricate the top pales in comparison to the granite itself).

 

[DVC-Don]

We are in the process of rehabbing our kitchen and are removing the granite that we had and replacing with quartz. We are going with Cambria quartz and it looks just like granite, these counters are stain and scratch resistant—and nonporous, so they never need to be sealed yearly like granite.

 

[barkley]

If you order it at Home Depot or another large retailer, you choose from a sample block and they'll probably cut it to order without allowing you to examine anything. However, the specialist stone companies should have all pieces on site for inspection. I frankly like the uniqueness of natural granite. Of course right now we've got a kitchen with a 45 year old Formica top that's right out of the 60s.

we avoided home depot and the like. I know too many people who have gotten into major legal hassles when an issue has come up with something they paid big $$$ to have these companies do. the store says the sub contractor is liable, the sub says the store is liable.....around and around. the cost to get legal help is crazy.

 

[cabanafrau]

I understand that. with the company we used they came out and did the measurements/made the template first. then we met up with them and went to the slab yards. at the yards we only look at the color/style that we wanted that there were enough on site for our job. when we found some we liked the template came out so we could see the options on cutting. some slabs were ruled out b/c the pattern was such it wouldn't look right.


anyone else kept the large left over pieces from the slabs? we asked for ours b/c down the line we may want to do a matching coffee table or end tables (and the cost to fabricate the top pales in comparison to the granite itself).

Sounds like you worked with installers who knew what they were doing.

I don't know if it was so much a case of leftovers, but a friend just redid her kitchen a couple months ago & carried the granite over into the adjoining family room by using it as the new fireplace hearth. It's very nice & helps pull the rooms together, which was a concern since they opened up a wall that divided them before.

 

[bcla]

Rofl, justifying my choices on the Dis, that's rich. thanks for the laugh.

The Mohs hardness scale specifically measures how hard it is to scratch a mineral, which seems like one of the most relevant characteristics for a counter and is why I used that particular measure, a scientific standard free of "marketing" issues. I'm aware of different types of toughness, which is why I referred to a specific scale.

Toughness isn't the same as hardness. If you have something that's tough but not necessarily hard, it might dent slightly without breaking. I've seen comments of people who have accidentally dropped something along the edge of a quartz composite counter, and they will chip. They can be repaired though, and the same techniques can be used to repair chipped granite.

I've got a sapphire crystal on my watch. Pretty much only diamond is harder. Not a scratch to be seen. But it can break.

 

[Caradana]

We just installed Curava for part of ours and it has blown my mind. We had it in a charitable showhouse recently and it was stopping people as they walked by. Recycled glass and seashells, nonporous/minimal sealing, supertough. Also attractive to home buyers who are into renewability ... We had Vetrazzo in our last house and I am pretty sure that sold our buyer.
http://www.curava.com
P.s. I don't sell it or anything. I just like it

 

[NewRVLady]

Wow Cara-that stuff is gorgeous! Thanks for the link