Kitchen Counter Tops

I agree on the quartz. I also like concrete, my sister put it in over 20years ago in a beautiful mansion by the beach and it still looks great. Goes with everytihing from industriall to hers which is cape cod.I knew granite would go out of style sooner or later and looks like it''s coming.

I love the quartz look - but remember lots of people out house hunting probably want granite - so that's just a thought. I say that because I hear it on House Hunters a lot!!

Granite.

We've had it in both homes we've lived in & we loved it.
Maintenance wasn't bad at all.
Shop around to get the right price.

I'd ask a realtor... Since you wno't be dealing with it, ask what is most desireable. We have white marble in our master and it is horrible. I'd never want marble again. Granite I thought holds up pretty well so as a buyer I'd be happy but my husband is against it. Our contractor recommended Caesar Stone. But again since you don't care about durability in a way, ask a realtor...

Some people don't *want* marble in their kitchens and I would definitely be one of them. A friend of mine installed marble countertops and they were a nightmare to keep up and stained easily. They ended up ripping them out after a few years because they did look bad.

I have quartz and absolutely love it. Impervious to stains, no sealing required. I especially love the beautiful creamy white colors, personally. Goes w/ everything!

I have a different take on granite than those who commented thus far ... in our area, it's no longer desired much. There is some ugly granite out there and personal preference runs the gamut. Plus everyone and their dog put it in and now it's lost a bit of its cache. At least here. That's what my real estate friends tell me. (And I've had it and it stains and chips)

We have quartzite counter tops, and I LOVE them! They were put in right before we moved here, and I'm so glad. My parents have granite and it's really high maintenance and stains easily. It also cracked :( If yo get granite, make sure it's dark, because it does stain.
We had marble in our last place, and I truly hated it.

Quartz, all the way. Low maintenance and high durability.

We have granite countertops in kitchen and baths. Love it.

We have marble floors in kitchen, entry, mud room/laundry room, family room, and one of the downstairs bathrooms. Big mistake, in my opinion. It was here when we bought the house and would have been a huge undertaking and very expensive to remove and replace.

While the marble is truly beautiful, it is high-maintenance, very expensive to have cleaned, polished, and sealed. If you spill red wine or similarly pigmented things and don't get it up immediately, there is a chance of staining. Even if you get the pigment out, there is often a spot residue that's left behind.
In short, it's a pain.

Stay away from marble for kitchen countertops and go with granite or quartz. They're both beautiful and durable. Quartz needs no maintenance. Granite just requires sealing once a year. Easy.

When we renovated two years ago, I researched both quartz and granite.
I liked granite because there are more color and pattern choices, although quartz has come a long way in that regard, and there are many beautiful options.

Since you're only putting the countertops in order to sell, go for a more neutral color and subtle pattern that will appeal to a wide variety of buyers. It would be a shame to spend thousands of dollars on a pattern only to have potential buyers feel it was too personalized.

Hope that helps and good luck with the sale.

I agree with your brother. I keep reading that granite is on it's way out. If you are planning to sell your house, use a countertop that is on the upswing in popularity.

By the way, I would be totally turned off by a kitchen with marble countertops. Although it looks beautiful, it is not very practical. Good luck!

I love my granite counter top! Since you are selling, then your choice could make a big impact on the sales process. I agree with another poster, check with a realtor and see what is popular right now.

We have granite. We absolutely love it..and get oodles of compliments on it.

I personally wouldn't choose anything else. Although I have heard of cement countertops and that sounds intriguing. I love the look of stained cement flooring. I so wish we could have stained cement flooring.

Happy counter top shopping!!

Granite, especially since you're getting ready to sell. EVERYONE wants granite!

I'd do quartz due to the level of upkeep. But people seem to want Granite. Although I am not sure if people know the difference. Just be sure it's sort of neutral.

Honestly, I'd ask a well respected Realtor. I know kitchens are a major selling point and granite has been desirable, but is it possible to let potential buyers know that you would be willing to include an allowance for new countertops? Some may prefer to pick their own, especially since it sounds like the rest of house is beautiful. Just a thought. Good luck selling!

We have granite.

Try Asper Granite in Burbank, off of 79th and Harlem. THey had a great price. We re did our kitchen 1.5 years ago. I love my granite.. but this is on of preferance.

I have Corian and I love it. If we were to re-do someday, I'd go for a lighter colored granite.

We just purchased a condo for our daughter and it has a dark granite in the kitchen and both bathrooms. Very sharp looking!

Marble is very expensive and doesn't hold up as well as granite. It is more susceptible to stains. You might consider Corian as well, esp if you're selling.

We are re-doing our kitchen right now and I'm trying to make this decision for myself! It's nerve wracking! But, I was happy to see this post and get an idea of what people have and like.

Love my granite. Still looks great after 10 years. I had wanted honed black but the consultant talked me out of it because it's high maintenance. So I chose a basic brown/black even pattern. Shiny. You can't tell if it hasn't been cleaned perfectly or if there are a few crumbs left behind. Great for letting the kids clean the kitchen, no worries.

We will be doing quartz when we update our kitchen next year. It is more durable, and doesn't need to be sealed every year.

Marble is way too high maintenance in a kitchen. Go with either granite or quartz. I put granite in when I remodeled my last kitchen and loved it. I'm remodeling my current kitchen as we speak and I'm using quartz this time.

I have black granite.
I love it.

We did our counters last year. They were laminate, and we decided on quartz, primarily because it's stain-resistant. I don't have the time to do lots of price-comparing check, so I went straight to Costco. There's basically one salesperson who services all Chicagoland stores, and he comes out to do a quote. As a bonus, we got cash back from both the Costco AmEx and the executive membership with a significant purchase!

We have been house hunting for most of the year, and nearly all homes have granite, even new rehabs. I have only seen quartz in very modern new construction. We only did quartz last summer because I could "enjoy" the counters for a year before we had to move and sell. A couple of people suggested offering a credit for granite because people are very particular about counters and the amount of graining in granite, etc. That's true, but as a potential buyer, I want to see an updated kitchen and wouldn't want to take on putting in new countertops after moving in (and waiting 3 weeks). If you are planning to sell your house soon, just go with granite.

Go with the quartz. That's what I have and love it.

I think granite has radon in it. Pregnant people do not like that.

I can tell the difference between quartz and granite. I prefer natural stone, not that it's the right choice for you.

We got our granite about 7 yrs ago. We have sealed it maybe 5 times and it still looks brand new. We have spilled red wine, red juice and it never has left a mark or any type of ring or stain.

I priced it with 12 companies for the exec same stone and edging. The price we got was so much less that we did a backsplash and window sill too. They also gave us a very heavy duty stainless steel undermount sink, imported from Italy. The company we used was American Granite in Elk Grove Village. We were so impressed with them, we also had them install bamboo flooring throughout our entire first floor and that too was way cheaper than any other company.

If it were me, I'd go with quartz. It's just as pretty, has a good number of choices and as you said, no maintenance. It's non-porous so you won't have to seal it (the no maintenance you get from it). I personally love granite BUT there's a lot more to it that I didn't know before compared to quartz (thanks to the DIY network). Good luck.

We have Corian. I love it. My parents remodeled their kitchen not long ago and put in Corian. It's amazing to work on and looks great.

I don't know about the others.

I have quartz in my kitchen and adore it- it is less (as in no) maintenance. But it is more expensive, so I think if I were putting it in to sell a home I'd go for granite just for the savings. Granite also has a lot more color choices than quartz. But I would ask a realtor. Seems like the homes I've seen for sale recently still list granite countertops as a plus and bragging right in the sale.