Houzz Curated Piece: Quartzite Countertops
“When choosing a kitchen countertop material, many homeowners who might have gone with granite or marble are giving quartzite a second look,” – Jeannie Matteucci, Houzz contributor.
It’s true, more and more homeowners are starting to turn to quartzite for their countertop solutions. The biggest factor that hasn’t help spark the quartzite revolution, is simply the fact that it just hasn’t been talked about enough!
More homeowners seem to know about Quartz – a man-made, engineered material that combines glue and crushed minerals – rather than the 100% naturally made, Quartzite. While both these products contain the mineral known as quartz, quartzite countertops are the ones that are completely and purely made out of just the mineral producing a durability unseen in other natural stone products.
The article from Houzz provides excellent information about the differences and advantages of quartzite, however we felt that there were a few areas that we could add some more information and give you our 2 cents so when you have to make a decision about your next countertop material, you’ll make the most informed decision as possible.
Cost: “Around $80-200 per square foot installed”
Seeing that Houzz is a nationally renowned site, this is more of a generalization. In terms of our market in the Denver metro area, your cost for both the materials and the install can be as low as $50 per square foot.
So if budget is a limiting factor for your project, don’t discount Quartzite just yet.
Disadvantages: While very strong, Quartzite counters are costly and not indestructible.
As mentioned before, the pricing is more of an ambiguous factor that will be determined by your location, your fabricator and who or where you buy your materials from.
Keep in mind that no countertop material will be indestructible. Granite, marble, or any engineered product will always require a level of maintenance and upkeep to preserve the material and ensure that it sees all the years that are expected out of it.
This is critical to know when choosing your materials because if maintenance is playing a large role in your decision making process, then knowing that no material offers a virtually, non-existence maintenance requirement will keep your vision of your perfect, dream kitchen grounded and feasible.
Cleanings: Use a mild spray disinfectant when needed
Emphasis on mild!
As mentioned in other articles, using a non-mild detergent or cleaner can be incredibly harmful to your countertop. The abrasive chemicals in certain cleaners can ruin your countertop’s finish and seep into the stone, depending on how porous it is.
You can always purchase a stone specific cleaner, but those can be expensive and maybe you don’t want to spend more money. Which is all well and good because there’s a simple DIY recipe for an effective cleaning solution: a few drops of dish soap, warm water, and maybe a small amount of rubbing alcohol.
Concluding Thoughts
The information about Quartzite via Houzz was great, but we wanted to touch on a few things like pricing and maintenance. We had to include that the pricing was more of a generalization and not set in stone because this can affect how you budget your project.
Without taking into account that you can have those materials at $20-30 less than what Houzz stated, then you’d be completely ruling out a material just based on a general or assumed price, which is something you’ll want to avoid when trying to make a completely informed decision.
All in all, we want you to make the most informed decision to ensure that you are completely content and satisfied with the materials being used in your dream project.