Try searching on the kitchen forum for quartzites and white granites. There are many who have used them. Some quartzites have similar characteristics to marble, i.e. they will etch. You need to get a sample and try various acids on them to make sure you're getting the durability you want.

I chose marble for my island and Caesarstone for perimeter counters - the best of both worlds.

We are in the process of looking at Granite and Quartzite for our kitchen. We have dark cherry cabinets. I want a leathered stone and am leaning toward Quartzite. Have people found it to be alot more expensive than granite? Wondering how people are feel about their installed leathered countertops. Are they holding up to stains and scratches? Any advice is welcomed and needed for this tough and expensive decision!

I don't have any experience using Quartzite but I know the price is less expensive than Granite. At my local stone yard Super White Quartzite is about $1,000 a slab. Compares to Granite that would be about $1,500-2,000 a slab.

Consumer reports rated all countertop materials recently. Quartz beat Granite by 2 points, but they're both widely regarded as good against chips, scratches, stains, and heat. Marble came in dead last with a 14/100 I believe. For comparison, Quartz and Granite were in the 90s.

Aren't quartz and quartzite two different things?

yes these are 2 different things. Quartz is something like Caesarstone. Which is stronger than quartzite and not likely to etch. And not to mention more expensive.

Quartzite is a metamorphic rock largely composed of quartz, which is a mineral.

Natural quartzite floors from China; granite counter

What most of us refer to as "quartzite," as used in kitchen counters, is a manmade agglomeration of crushed natural quartzite, resins and fillers.

I have used DuPont's Zodiaq brand manmade quartzite counters and natural cut quartzite flooring quarried in China.

I was happy with both. The counters required no maintenance and were easy to keep clean. However, they do chip from surprisingly small mishaps--even a ceramic mug slipping from your hand can do the deed. I liked the unusual colouring of the quartzite in a master bath.

Zodiaq quartzite kitchen counter. Polished slate flooring.(below)

This post was edited by worthy on Thu, Jan 16, 14 at 9:51

Mags438:

You are correct.

Quartzite is usually harder than granite and sometimes more expensive. It is the most expensive item in my kitchen. I believe granite was going to be $45.00 less per square foot. (at least the granite I had looked at.)

It all depends on which granite and which quartzite. I know some granites (blues) are super expensive. Some granites are rare so they are expensive. My Sea Pearl quartzite was not the most expensive stone. I think it was around $98.00 per s.f. One of the beautiful Labradorites was the most expensive slab in the huge slab warehouse where I went. It had been there for a year and no one had bought it yet. I have seen Cristallo or Kristallo for $175.00 per s.f.
I have seen other slabs going for over $250.00 per s.f.

Go to marble world online to see pricing. Your pricing will be higher due to fabrication costs, but it will give you an idea of which stones are in your price range and ideas of the various colors.

I fell in love with a beautiful quartzite that was as soft as marble. I hope to get it for my bathroom since it is too soft for a kitchen. My Sea Pearl was babied for several months. My husband had left spaghetti sauce splotches, mustard, and many more scary food products on the countertop. When I moved his tools, I found the splotches. They had been on the counter for 2-3 weeks by then. They wiped right off. No stains. Whew! I thought I was going to have to kill him. He also scratched my SS Bluestar rangetop when it was a week old and I let him live. LOL

Good luck in your search. Remember that sometimes the stone yard people really know about some stones and sometimes they don't. Do your own testing. Don't take anyone's word for anything. When I was looking, they called quartzite as a granite.

Here is a picture of my Sea Pearl quartzite. Left one is polished and right one is brushed. Some Sea Pearl slabs have linear stripes and some look like mine. You just have to look at every slab or have them send you a picture. Peke

Just a note above (and to reinforce what Peke wrote), many of us found that what was claimed to be Super White "quartzites" were indeed a dolomitic marble. Thus, in my experience the Super White was priced at the lower end of the spectrum (slightly above say marbles) but at half or a 1/3 the price per sq foot of commonly accepted true Quartzite. Thus, I found (for retail comparison on a full slab purchase), fake "Super White" at $19, real "Super White" at $50-60, White Macaubus at $36, and "Princess White" at $60-70. Comparably, certain lower tier granites were at $13-20 and quartz at $15 to 25.

YMMV, according to where you live.

My wife and I are looking to buy quartzite. We got this stone (not installed yet) and it has failed almost every test.

It stains
The polish is etched by lime juice, diet mt dew, ketchup, strawberry (also significant staining) red wine did not etch.

The glass cut test was slightly inconclusive. The corner of the stone wasn't very sharp and it had some scratching on the bottle, but not much.

After the etching test failure, I decided to try and cut the stone with an old crappy steak knife. I was able to cut into the stone quite easily. I was able to drop the knife on the stone from less than a foot and the stone was visibly marred.

Based on the rocks 101 -103 forums, I think this means I've got a marble slab with some neat crystalization. Could this be a granite? I'll post more pictures

More sample pics

@ILstinks, if your stone scratches or stains it is not quartzite. We had beautiful 'super white' quartzite installed last summer when we remodeled our kitchen and couldn't be happier. They are so durable!

They look like marble without the hazy patina. Nothing (so far) harms the
- hot pans, red wine, even sliced lemons! We love them! They were more expensive than granite but worth it. Work with a reputable stone shop because lots of places try to pass off impure quartzite which will scratch. Good luck!

How long do you let the acidic fluids sit on the stone for the test?

@v3ra, check kitchen forum threads, but some do a few hours, some overnight. Karin_mt has some good threads on natural stone.