With names so similar, it’s no mistake that people confuse these materials often. Other than their basic composition, they are quite different in many ways such as their look, how they are created, and even what potential damages they are susceptible to.
Question posed by Marla in person
Let’s Break it Down
Like really far down all the way to the chemical composition. Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). It is commonly found…everywhere. Unlike marbles, granites, and other precious stones, it is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust; second only to feldspar.
What are Quartzite countertops?
Depending on your countertop budget or durability needs, you may have never heard of natural quartzite countertops. Like marble, quartzite has been a choice countertop for upscale kitchen projects for many years due to its natural beauty and durability relative to other natural stone options available on the market.
Quartzite itself is created when pure quartz sandstone is placed under intense heat and pressure usually caused by tectonic shifts. The quartz granules bond under that heat to form hexagonal crystalline structures similar to how coal, or more precisely, pure carbon is turned into a diamond.
Quartzite countertops are mined out of the Earth in blocks and then cut into slabs like a really massive loaf of bread. In it’s pure form, quartzite ranges from dull-white to grey, but slab color can vary drastically depending on the other minerals that were present during the compression making it a wonderful option for countless color schemes and aesthetics.
What are Quartz countertops?
Relatively newer to the mainstream market this past decade, engineered quartz countertops were actually developed and patented back in 1963 by Marcello Toncelli who saw the vast potential based on the plentiful nature of quartz on Earth.
We drop the “engineered” part of engineered quartz for simplicity sake, but they are exactly that. Manufacturers engineer these stones by crushing natural quartz minerals and arranging them on a form in different patterns, adding pigments to create the colors, and adding resins to bind it together. These pre-slabs are placed in a vacuum so that all of the air can be removed and then it is heated to form the final slab. Since these slabs are created, the options are almost endless. Most quartz countertops will replicate the palette or veining structures of the infamous and highly desirable marbles that are on the market. Unlike marble, these countertops don’t need to be sealed, are resistant to surface etching, and they are a fraction of the cost.
Quartzite Countertops
- Colors are limited and vary based on what’s available at the quarries around the world
- Uniquely natural veining and aesthetic only found in nature
- Stronger than most granites
- Requires sealing
- Susceptible to staining
- Etch resistant
- Heat resistant***
- Medium to High cost per SF
Quartz Countertops
- Wide variety of manufacturers with extensive color palettes
- Man-made vein structures can look manufactured
- Stronger than granite
- No sealing required
- Non-porous, anti-bacterial
- Etch resistant
- Not heat resistant
- Low to Medium cost per SF
The Consultant’s Thoughts
*** There are very few stones I recommend putting heat directly on. I often tell my clients that they may do it a thousand times and never have any issues, but if the heat expanded a natural fissure in the stone, it could crack it. This is EXTREMELY rare, but I am always trying to look out for my clients and the longevity of their spaces.
Use. A. Trivet.