Black worktops - granite or quartz?

mogwai

We are looking to buy worktops soon for our cream/oak/green kitchen and want dark worktops.

We had settled on quartz as been advised that it was much more durable and less reactive than granite, but have also heard now that in darker colours granite is better - any reason why?

Also, we will be having a lantern roof over our kitchen - will this fade quartz worktops?

What is the average price difference between mid range granite and mid range quartz (I found some quartz I liked at £365psqm but not looked into granite brands)

Lastly, can anyone recommend any mid range quartz/granite brands?

abankerbutnotafatcat

Firstly, granite doesn't come in brands as it's completely natural but you will find one supplier can supply different slabs that you will prefer the look of to another and their service offices/price may will differ.

We had this debate for months. So much so that we had the entire new kitchen in situ and just waiting on us deciding which worktop we wanted.

My OH preferred the concept of quartz as being more modern than traditional old granite. There was no cost differential (or not enough to make a difference) between the two.

We wanted something 'modern-ish' looking, as that is our taste, and something that didn't show up every smear as pure gloss black can do I.e something with 'bits'.

It came down to black sparkly quartz vs blues in the night granite and after a holiday via Gatwick where they have the black sparkly quartz as floor tiles in the duty free we decided that it was a bit too bling and we could be overwhelmed by it and perhaps even end up hating it so we went with the granite *safer option*.

A google search will produce a lot of sites addressing the pros and cons of the question 'quartz vs granite'. In some situations there is a definite answer i.e. light coloured, quartz is better because it is 100% non-porous so won't absorb stains. But in most it's swings and roundabouts: fading, strength, joins, chips, heat resistence, maintenance. Perhaps quartz just about comes out on top of a rational analysis but of course there is the natural beauty and variation of granite which you just can't quantify.

In white we would definitely have gone for the mirrored quartz as we loved it but our units are white so we ruled that out.

HTH Good luck.

mogwai

Thanks - that does help, i think some of the black sparkly quartz would be a bit too blingy too!

Had a little look and from what I can see theres not a lot in the prices of quartz and granite! Im surprised I thought one of the advantages of quartz was that it was cheaper than granite..

cddc

You can have plain black Quartz as well as sparkly...alot less bling..but still modern. My only advice would be that if you live in a hard water area and dont have a filter or softener installed, plain black quartz or granite will drive you nuts in no time, as you will spend your life cleaning off watersplash marks and cup rings and getting annoyed by them.

In terms of overall properties, quartz beats granite, hands down in pale colours because of stain resistance. In dark colours there is less of a difference though, and as another poster says above, it is the visual look of granite that many prefer, and it would be more traditional with an oak kitchen......

tpt

take a look at diapol. we used them twice and they were great.

SUESMITH_2

i wanted black sparkly quartz but when i actually say it it was too much. in the end i went for grey sparkly quartz. ours was a good bit cheaper than granite and I'm very pleased with it.

being money saving i use the homes and gardens granite cleaner that home bargains sell for a couple of quid - it brings it up a treat, takes off any marks and makes it sparkle

abankerbutnotafatcat

I've heard good things about Diapol too although they do a set range of products they del with but that's how they manage to be cost effective. We used a local masonry firm recommended on Alan M's thread.

With Diapol can you actually view your slab? I ask this as we didn't like the original sample of blues in the night we got at all, it was completely different from what we expected (grey not black and with no real blue bits). We saw a different looking piece somewhere else and described it to the stonemason and he understood and went out to source it. He viewed a couple of slabs we wouldn't have liked before finding one that met our specifications and when he got us a sample it was indeed just what we wanted!

ablondon

Stay away from Rock and Co, we had an awful experience:

We bought a quartz kitchen worktop from Rock and Co in 2012. We were told via email that it was a Cimstone quartz worktop (which comes with a 10 year guarantee from Cimstone).

The kitchen worktop was badly fitted by Rock & Co - not sealed to the wall or oven. Our builders were horrified. Rock and Co said this sealant was not their responsibility. One of the sealants Rock and Co did do cracked within a few months. Again, they blamed this on the builders.

Worst of all, the worktop stains really easily - the stone is really porous. We've had it less than 6 months, but it looks more than 10 years old. I phoned Cimstone to complain. They told me that they did not supply to Rock & Co and we weren't the first person to call them with this problem.

Rock and Co are basically selling inferior kitchen quartz worktops claiming it is a reputable make.

When I complained, Rock & Co were not interested in any of the complaints and just washed their hands of us.

Stay well away from these cowboys. Daylight robbery!

mogwai

Thanks, I am now thinking we will go with quartz if it looks good in the colour we want (black with non sparkley bits) and is significantly cheaper otherwise granite if the price difference isnt huge..

Does anyone know about quartz colour fade though? We will be having a lantern roof over the big island in the middle -will this fade the black colour? Im assuming granite doesnt fade?

mogwai

Ok just a query - has anyone bought from mistermarble?

They say they sell granite at trade prices, and prices for black pearl is £100 psqm - this seems mega cheap! I had decided to bring diapol in once the units were fitted but seems like I can get the same product for less than half price here (black pearl is £238 psqm from diapol)..?

abanker - i think with diapol they bring samples with them when they come to measure up but not sure if you can view the actual slab you are buying

mogwai

Ok scratch that! i did a rough online quote from each and for some reason mistermarble came out almost double what diapol did!