What’s the Difference Between Quartz and Granite?

The best thing about building your dream home with Eastbrook Homes is that with us, you get to customize your home to fit your budget, lifestyle, and taste. As West Michigan’s premier homebuilder, Eastbrook Homes provides each of our homeowners with instant access to a variety of surfaces, finishes, and fixtures to choose from. Our expert interior designers walk you through each option and answer all of your questions in our Home Creation Studio. 

One of the most common questions we receive during the design phase of our building process is, “What’s the difference between quartz countertops and granite?” 

This question has become even more relevant with the announcement of a NEW Included Feature: Quartz Countertops! Now, when you build with Eastbrook Homes, your home comes with quartz countertops in two colors: Glacier White or City (Gray). You can of course upgrade to different quartz colors or to granite, but we are excited about this new addition to our Included Features family. 

Join Eastbrook Homes as we break down the different qualities, benefits, and maintenance features for these two popular surface options. 

Quartz VS Granite: The Major Differences

Sourcing: Quartz is an engineered material composed of about 95% ground, natural quartz stone and 5% manmade materials such as resins and pigments. Granite, contrastingly, is 100% natural stone, mined from the earth and cut and polished for various applications, including countertops, floors, mantles, and backsplashes. 

Hardness: Quartz is slightly harder than granite, coming in at a rating of 7 on the Mohs hardness scale compared to granite’s rating of 6. Granite is consequently at a slightly higher risk for cracks and chips when compared to quartz, although granite is still much more durable than other surface materials like soapstone or marble. 

Color and Texture Options: Quartz comes in nearly every color imaginable and because it is manmade, it’s easily customized to match your favorite color palette. You can also customize quartz textures and patterns easily, choosing a repeating pattern or random, more natural look. Granite also comes in a variety of colors and patterns, but these colors and patterns are quite literally set in stone. The natural granite formation process locks in variations so each piece of granite is one-of-a-kind. This is important to remember when visiting our Home Creation Studio; while you may find the perfect granite during your design experience, your actual granite surface will match in color, but showcase a completely unique pattern. 

Quartz VS Granite: A Quick List of Benefits and Challenges

The Pros and Cons of Quartz:

• Pros – Non-porous and resistant to stains, incredibly hard and durable, customizable colors, textures, and patterns, and environmentally friendly, especially if you use local stone and materials
• Cons – Can be damaged by excessive heat – heating pads required!

The Pros and Cons of Granite:

• Pros – Very hard stone, durable, one-of-a-kind designs and patterns, resistant to heat, scratching, and chipping
• Cons – Porus and susceptible to staining, environmentally straining due to mining and transport

Quartz VS Granite: The Matter of Maintenance 

One last item to consider when choosing between quartz and granite is the maintenance you’ll need to conduct to keep your surfaces looking their best. Quartz needs occasional cleanup, especially with hot spills, but as a non-porous surface, quartz does not need to be resealed. Granite, on the other hand, needs to be cleaned daily with mild soap and water, especially if you spill coffee, wine, or other colored liquids. Granite also needs to be resealed once a year to keep it looking new and to avoid etching the stone. Etching occurs when acids like lemonade, vinegar, or tomato juice come in contact with your granite countertops. A good way to check if it’s time to reseal is by splashing a little water on your granite countertop – if the water is absorbed instead of repelled, or if your countertop looks dull instead of shiny, it’s time to reseal. 

Interested in experiencing the look and feel of quartz and granite and exploring how these materials can elevate your dream home build? Connect with Eastbrook Homes to take advantage of our Home Creation Studio and learn how The Eastbrook Process can make your home, fixture, and finishes dreams come true!