Are you excited for your new bathroom remodel, but need help choosing the right materials for your counters and other surfaces?
Are you excited for your new bathroom remodel, but need help choosing the right materials for your counters and other surfaces? You’ve likely already encountered the granite-versus-quartz debate. Both are excellent materials. Finding the right choice for your specific bathroom is usually clear once you understand what each material actually does well, and where each has real limitations. We have put together a guide to help you choose between granite and quartz for your bathroom remodel.
Understanding the Difference Between Granite and Quartz
Granite is a natural stone, mined from the earth and cut into slabs. Each piece is unique. The veining, color patterns, and mineral deposits are the product of millions of years of geological processes, so no two pieces of granite look the same. When you buy a granite countertop, you’re getting something that exists nowhere else in the world.
Quartz is an engineered stone product made from mostly ground natural quartz combined with polymer resins and pigments. The result is a product that looks like natural stone but has been engineered to address some of its limitations.
Consider Your Bathroom’s Aesthetics
Natural granite is beautiful in a way that engineered products struggle to replicate. The depth, movement, and variation in a quality granite slab are the product of nature, not manufacturing. Granite variations have a richness and unpredictability that engineered stone can’t quite match.
Over recent years, engineered quartz has become more sophisticated, color options have broadened, and some high-end products are genuinely difficult to distinguish from natural stone.
If the visual drama of natural stone is important to you, and you’re committed to maintaining it, granite may be best for you. If you want a beautiful, low-maintenance surface that performs flawlessly in a bathroom environment, quartz is the stronger choice.
Porosity and Your Bathroom
Granite is a porous material. Perfumes, hairspray, nail polish, and cleaning solutions are common bathroom products that can penetrate unsealed or poorly sealed granite, causing staining or surface damage over time.
This doesn’t mean you can’t use granite in your bathroom. However, it makes sealing a requirement rather than a recommendation. A properly sealed granite countertop, resealed regularly every 1 to 3 years, will perform beautifully. But it requires ongoing maintenance.
Quartz is non-porous, meaning the polymer resins that bind the crushed quartz particles create a surface that liquids cannot penetrate. No sealing required, ever. For a bathroom surface that comes into daily contact with a wide range of chemical products, quartz offers a practical advantage.
Heat Resistance is Key
Getting ready in the bathroom is part of most people’s daily routine. And this routine can include styling your hair with hot flat irons or curling rods. Granite handles heat well, as hot styling tools placed directly on its surface won’t cause damage in most cases. On the other hand, quartz is less heat-tolerant; the polymer resins can discolor if exposed to temperatures above approximately 300°F. For either material, be sure to use a trivet for very hot styling tools to protect your counters.
Trust Kenwood Kitchens for Your Next Bathroom Remodel
We’ve spent over 40 years helping Maryland homeowners beautify their homes with practical, luxurious, and inviting bathroom styles. Building and designing an attractive, practical bathroom doesn’t need to break your budget.
Our design team can help you balance efficiency and style, and suggest the right materials and decor for you. Contact us today to get started!
KITCHEN AND BATH REMODELING FROM KENWOOD KITCHENS
Ready to get started on your next kitchen, bathroom, or closet project? Kenwood Kitchens can help. Since opening its doors in 1974, Kenwood Kitchens has made a name for itself throughout Maryland as a complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling firm. We want our clients to get what they deserve: a quality installation with quality products at a fair price. Contact our expert planners today for a free consultation about your dream project.