When you’re in the granite cleaner and granite polish business, you hear a lot of homeowners ask about the difference between granite, quartz, and marble countertops. There are a number of great countertop products on the market that offer attractive and durable granite, quartz, and marble solutions for kitchens and bathrooms. And if you hire a good company to come into your home and give you a quote on a countertop, they’re sure to explain the differences between the three. But, for the sake of this blog article, we thought that we’d take a little time and tell folks what we know.
There are three main materials used for many countertops and design aspects in kitchens, bathrooms, and other high-visibility areas of the home. They are (in order of popularity) granite, quartz, and marble. All are beautiful additions to any home, but each comes with a number of functional considerations and a certain amount of care.
When it comes to countertops, granite has long been the choice of the discerning kitchen and bathroom decorator. Granite is a natural stone that is cut in slabs from a granite quarry. It’s dense, strong, and highly-resistant to cracking and chipping. Granite is one of the oldest and most durable building materials on the planet, beloved by architects, builders, and homeowners alike for its long-lasting color and texture. In addition, granite is known for its freedom from the kinds of natural deterioration that are inherent to other types of building materials. Of all the materials, granite has been the popular choice of homebuilders and designers.
By comparison, quartz is stain-resistant, non-porous and extremely hard. In fact, quartz has a higher rate on the hardness scale than granite. But although hard and glossy in appearance, quartz lacks the three-dimensional value of natural granite, making it less popular with some kitchen and bath designers. It should be known that most manufacturer-engineered quartz countertops products (of which there are many) are made from 93% ground quartz and 7% polymer resin. These engineered products are available in many colors and patterns not typically found in nature.
Marble, which is comprised of calcium, limestone, travertine and onyx, is a sedimentary material, meaning that it is formed at the bottom of a body of water. As such, marble is highly porous and can stain and scratch easily. Marble, by nature, requires a lot of care and is not preferred as a building material or a design aspect in most homes.
The day-to-day care of these stone and engineered stone countertop products is about the same from one to the next. Obviously, those products that are more porous must be watched and treated for any spills that may stain the surface. When it comes to general clean-up and polishing, an all-purpose granite cleaner and granite polish – such as those from Rock Doctor – will keep the surface of your countertops looking naturally beautiful.
This article was brought to you by Rock Doctor, which offers a line of specially-formulated Granite & Quartz Cleaner, Granite & Quartz Polish, and Granite & Stone Sealer aerosol products. Rock Doctor products are distributed out of the Kansas City area and can be purchased through a number of fine retail stores, including Wal-Mart, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ace Hardware, Do it Best Hardware, Hy-Vee, and Wegmans.
