Granite
Natural stone
Granite
Granite is igneous rock. It cooled slowly underground, which is why you can see the individual mineral crystals in it. That crystal structure is what makes it hard, and it is also why no two slabs match.
It handles heat directly off the stove and it stands up to a busy family kitchen. It is porous, so it wants a sealer roughly once a year. That is a ten minute job you can do yourself with a bottle from the hardware store.
- Takes a hot pan without a trivet
- Every slab is genuinely one of a kind
- Works outdoors, which matters for desert kitchens
- Reseal about annually, ten minutes
Quartz
Engineered surface
Quartz
Quartz counters are roughly ninety percent ground natural quartz held together with resin and pigment. Because it is manufactured, the pattern is consistent and predictable from one slab to the next.
Non-porous, so it never needs sealing, and red wine or lemon juice sitting overnight will not stain it. The trade-off is heat. Resin scorches, so it needs a trivet, and it is not the right pick for a full sun outdoor counter.
- Never needs sealing
- Stain resistant against wine, citrus and oil
- Consistent colour when a run needs several slabs
- Use a trivet, and keep it out of direct sun
Quartzite
Natural stone
Quartzite
Quartzite starts as sandstone. Heat and pressure fuse the grains until it becomes one of the hardest surfaces you can put in a kitchen. It often looks like marble because the veining formed the same way.
This is the material people want when they love marble but have three kids. It is harder than granite and it takes heat well. It is also harder to cut, and a bad cut is expensive, which is a real argument for a shop that owns its own equipment.
- Marble's look with far more durability
- Harder than granite on the Mohs scale
- Dramatic veining that we cut to keep running
- Demands a fabricator who can cut it properly
Compare
Side by side
The short version.
Heat
Granite and quartzite take a hot pan. Quartz needs a trivet, because the resin binder scorches before the stone does.
Sealing
Granite and quartzite are porous and want a sealer about once a year. Quartz is non-porous and never needs it.
Consistency
Quartz repeats slab to slab. Granite and quartzite never do, so we lay out your actual slabs before we cut.
Outdoors
Granite is the safe desert choice. Quartzite works in shade. Quartz resin can discolour in full sun, so we steer away from it.
Next step
Still deciding?
Bring your cabinet door and a photo of the room. Twenty minutes with real samples settles it faster than a week of searching online.