Should I use Marble or Quartz for my countertops?
It’s a recurring question when we are looking at kitchen projects at Variostone. Should I use marble or quartz for my worktops?
The case for marble
The main argument for using marble over quartz is of course it’s visual appearance. Quartz is quite flat visually looking and if you go for a marble effect one they tend to look quite fake. Interestingly unless you go for high end types, marble often tends to be cheaper than quartz on a worktop project.
Marble is available in far many more options than quartz. You can find your classic white and black marbles, but then also a wide array of colours from green and yellow, as well as blue or pink. And each marble slab is truly unique. Client’s can handpick themselves exactly which slab they prefer for their project and put their stamp on it.
The durability of marble is always a question. Sealants and other maintenance products can be applied to protect it. They greatly help but care should be taken. Leaving products like lemon, coffee,or wine could still damage the stone.
There are stone removing products on the market, but unfortunately their efficacy isn’t 100%. Marble can be repolished on site, and products can be applied to revive the stone with good success.
The case for quartz
Just in case you don’t know quartz well, it’s a man made material typically used for kitchen worktops. It’s also refereed to as engineered stone sometimes. Quartz is made of natural quartzite, resin and colour pigments which are combined to form slabs. There are dozens of brands of quartz out there with essentially an almost identical product.
If you are looking for a low maintenance options, quartz is the right choice for you. Be careful however, many brands give you warranties and tell you they are stain proof, or even scratch proof. I’m not too sure why manufacturers claim these things as I’ve seen plenty of damaged quartz over the years.
It’s better than marble for sure, but definitively not to the extent than some manufacturers claim. I would never recommend to our clients to cut straight on a quartz, nor put a hot pan or oven dish on the stone either, exactly just like with marble.
Quartz is available in many different colours, and as it’s man made has a certainty about it that natural stone doesn’t have. Marble is inspected can have defects in the stone
Conclusion
Overall, I will always prefer natural stone to man made ones and at Variostone we do push our clients towards that option. Marble has a natural beauty that quartz simply hasn’t. The maintenance that comes with natural stone can be off putting for some, but it’s really not a big task. The sealants and cleaning products to be applied regularly are very simple to use and do not require any special machinery. Marble is natural, and like all natural products it’s needs looking after just like you would expect with wood for example.
It’s good to point out that all quartz are made by large companies, and thus their marketing is aimed at pushing clients away from using natural stone. Carrara or Calacatta for example aren’t brands, they are simply types of stones quarried by various people which simply aren’t promoted.
