Granite Vs. Quartz Vs.?

[G]

I'm getting ready to purchase my first new build home. More than likely I will be purchasing the Beverly homes in Eastwood Village. I am a little overwhelmed at all the options available when you purchase a new home. I plan on completing most of the upgrades post close, but there are some things, like kitchen cabinets, I think I should do with the builder. One of the items I am debating on is whether to go with Quartz or Granite. I've Googled it and I find that there are a lot of benefits to granite, but I am not sure so I am turning to the TI community. The questions I have are:

What are the benefits of Quartz over Granite or vice versa?
Are there any other materials I should consider (e.g., Marble)?
Should I do the counters post build and what is the estimated costs?

Thank you all in advance for your input.

 

[aquabliss]

Definitely go Quartz.  Granite is porous, it can stain and needs to be resealed.  Quartz is permanently sealed and much more durable to heat, stains, wear, etc.

If you want marble get Quartz look marble instead.  Cheaper and wears well.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Actually, quartz is less durable to heat than granite from what I remember.

And there is granite product now that is pre-sealed and doesn't need maintenance like normal granite.

There is even light color granite that is less busy.

The advantages of quartz is that you can get a more consistent look, their is a wider variety of color/designs, and for smaller areas like your bathroom, you will spend less on prefab pieces because you don't need buy an entire slab for that particular job.

 

[dethman]

quartz is manufactured.  you can get a consistent look and huge slabs.  granite is real stone so patterns will be natural and inconsistent.  some like one, some like the other.  both are durable, stain/scratch resistant if sealed.

quartz is more 'in' nowadays than granite as people like cleaner lines and patterns, granite can be busy.  both are fine imo.

i would not suggest using marble as a countertop in a high use area.  far too prone to stains, etching.


you should do more reading on existing threads.  there is a lot of info to be learned from old threads as many people have asked the same questions about upgrades, builder vs post close, etc etc over and over.