Corinne L. Casazza Courtesy of CaesarStone

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So you’re choosing a countertop for your new kitchen. Natural stone is beautiful — full of movement, color, veining and variation. But did you know that granite can break, marble is fragile and soapstone is easily stained? Check out what our experts have to say about the natural  and engineered products below to see which is right for your home.

Natural Stone

Granite
Granite is a natural and eye-catching stone — and today’s most popular countertop choice. It has a full color palette and no two pieces are alike. There’s a lot of movement and color variation. Its price runs from affordable to shocking: $55 per square foot to hundreds and hundreds of dollars per square foot. Granite doesn’t scratch and is extremely durable and heat-resistant. The down side is that it has a high breakage factor, and high color variation can cause fabrication issues. It also requires the yearly maintenance of sealing. “You have to explain every pitfall, splotch, glob and color variation to the customer,” says Tim Hovey of Top Master. “People have expectations of what granite can deliver, and the product many times does not measure up. It’s about a rock, albeit a beautiful one. It takes a countertop expert to explain and educate the customer.”

Marble
Marble is another stunning natural product. Because it is a mineral, it’s soft and fragile and requires extreme maintenance and care. It’s easily stained with almost no way to remove it. Oils and acids are the enemies of this stone. A simple spill of tomatoes, soda pop, lemons or vinegar will leave a permanent stain, so it must be sealed often. A good rule of thumb is to seal it when water stops beading. Clean up should be with soap and water only. Absolutely no chemicals should be used because most spray cleaners contain lime. Lime is calcium and so is marble — these cleaners will remove the finish.
Marble has an infinite color spectrum. It might come studded with sea shells or have ancient creatures embedded in it. “There’s everything from plain white to dinosaur stuff,” Tim says. It’s installed in smaller pieces because it’s so fragile. “It’s as fragile as an egg,” he adds. “You know it’s soft; you’ve seen statues without their heads.” At $60 to hundreds of dollars per square foot, one might wonder if it’s worth the risk, but it’s still popular. “White marble is really hot right now,” says Doug Kremers of STI Stone. “We’ve had a run on Carrara white marble countertops lately,” agrees Ann Kivett of TrendStone LLC.

Soapstone
Soapstone is soft. It doesn’t get as cold to the touch as granite or other types of material, and it requires sealing with mineral oil. The oil evaporates from the soapstone, so it needs to be done quite frequently the first year it’s installed. Soapstone is stain-resistant and though it can scratch, most scratches can be sanded off. It’s the only product approved for      constant heat shock — setting a hot pan down on soapstone is fine. The color palette is small — dark greens, charcoal grays and black. It’s priced from $55 to $200 per square foot. “It’s kind of a misnomer that soapstone comes from Vermont,” Doug says. “The type of soapstone used in counters is imported from Brazil.”

Limestone
Limestone has a soft color palette and is neutral and warm. The stone is easily stained from the oils in your skin and when cooking. Over time it will age and patina. It’s softer than granite or quartz and can scratch. It can withstand a certain amount of heat, but heat shock can crack a limestone countertop. It also requires a good bit of maintenance, needing to be sealed three or four times a year. “We’ve seen a lot of interest in limestone from designers  lately, but customers need to know about the maintenance it requires,” Ann says.

Engineered Stone

photo courtesy Cambria photo courtesy Zodiaq photo courtesy Silestone

Natural Quartz
It might be called “engineered,” but it’s really a natural product. All quartz is mined and manufactured on Breton equipment, an Italian machine manufacturer. Vibrations compact and heat the quartz, and it’s combined with resin, fillers and binders into slabs. Engineered stone is 93 percent quartz and 7 percent polymers. “Each manufacturer has its own cookie dough recipe and tricks of the trade,” Tim says. The advantages of engineered stone are color consistency, strength, scratch-resistance and no maintenance is required. In August of this year, Consumer Reports named quartz the No. 1 choice in surfacing for kitchens. Let’s take a look at some of the top brands.

Cambria
Cambria is the only engineered quartz made in the United States. “Cambria has done their homework in regard to colors,” Ann says. “The colors are definitely geared toward American trends and styles.” With close to 40 colors and 12 new colors just introduced, the palette continues to grow. The product is completely non-porous and sealing is not required. It cleans up nicely with soap and water. “If you spill nail polish, wine, tea or lemon juice, it won’t matter,” says Brandy Bolz of Cambria U.S.A. “There’s simply no staining.”

Priced like the least-expensive granite, it’s a very affordable counter. Cambria has one price for every color; there’s no tiered pricing. “Customers aren’t bound   by any price point since they’re all the same,” Brandy says. “It makes their decision easier.” Cambria is also certified by Green Guard and NSF International. “People are starting to choose products based on the green aspect,” Ann says. “But it hasn’t become a focus yet.”

The down side of quartz is a uniformed appearance. “Cambria has done a great job at duplicating natural stone, but the movement and veining of granite or marble are just not available in quartz yet,” Ann explains. Top-selling colors include black, dark green, brown and gold.

CaesarStone
CaesarStone is imported from Israel and has a European color palette. Americans prefer large particulates of quartz — big pieces of quartz — throughout the slab. Europeans like a choice of solid colors. “CaesarStone emulates the look of travertine and Carrara,” Tim says. These are high-maintenance stones in their natural form, but their look can be mimicked with the freedom of quartz.

CaesarStone features bold, bright colors. “They have a tangerine and a bright green apple,” Ann says. “These would work well in a very contemporary kitchen.” Best-sellers include Champagne Limestone and Misty Carerra. CaesarStone is priced higher than Cambria because of its import price.

Zodiaq by Dupont
“Zodiaq’s claim to fame is its Okite series. It has a lot of movement and emulates natural marble more than other lines,” Tim says. Zodiaq has added new colors in pastels, including Crema  Marfil, which has a pink tint, and Bianco Cararra, which, of course, emulates Carrara marble.

Silestone
Silestone by Cosentino is yet another option, with 72 colors in its palette, including a Zen series and mountain series, plus an addition to the family: Silestone Leather with Microban. Its distinctive texture and built-in antimicrobial protection make it the industry’s first.

When it comes to actually buying, “if people are making a choice based on  emotions, it’s fueled by color, texture and desire,” Tim notes. “If people are making  a practical choice, they are motivated by good service, value, and care and maintenance.” Whether your purchase is ruled by your head or your heart, there are plenty of options to choose from, with either the simple elegance of natural stone or the ease and beauty of engineered stone.

What’s Next in Stone Surfaces?

photo courtesy CaesarStone

Semi-Precious Stone Tops
For something that not every neighbor on the block will have, try Concetto by CaesarStone or Majestic Gemstone. In each process, stones and/or fossils are imbedded into the surface by hand, much like a piece of jewelry. CaesarStone has eight styles from which to choose. Majestic Gemstone has 20 stone types, which can be combined with backlighting for a “majestic” touch.