WASHINGTON – Jan. 25, 2017 – Granite is falling out of favor with homeowners. The engineered stone of quartz instead is displacing the long-reigning granite as the top-choice for kitchen countertops.
“About 75 percent of our clients are opting for quartz over granite,” says Bill Millholland, executive vice president of the design-build firm Case. “More people want a contemporary aesthetic in the kitchen, and the clean look of quartz goes with that. Granite goes better with traditional décor.”
Quartz is harder and less porous than granite. It offers homeowners greater color consistency, is stain-resistant, and doesn’t require extra sealing during regular maintenance like granite and marble do.
Kitchen designer Jennifer Gilmer of Chevy Chase, Md., says the majority of her customers now opt for quartz over natural stones. It’s “partly because modern kitchens are hot right now,” Gilmer says. “In these kitchens, the less pattern the better, and quartz helps to keep the clean look.”
Gilmer says the most popular colors for quartz countertops are white, off-white, gray and black.
“There are good options for a marble-look that are getting better and better with all the quartz manufacturers, and we’re selling a lot of those,” Gilmer told The Washington Post.
But homeowners should be prepared to pay more for quartz. Quartz can range from about $65 to $135 per square foot, including fabrication and installation costs, says Eddie Castro, vice president of Stone and Tile World in Rockville, Md. Non-exotic granite, on the other hand, can range from about $50 to $60; marble is about $55 to $95 per square foot installed.
Source: “With Countertops, Quartz Has Supplanted Granite as the People’s Choice,” The Washington Post (Jan. 20, 2017)
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