Marble vs Quartz Countertops

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Activity. Aesthetics. Affordability.

Day to day life can throw any number of challenges at a typical household and you should demand excellence from the surfaces that need to perform in the high-traffic areas of your home. Floors, countertops, bathrooms – these surfaces need to be strong, beautiful and easy to maintain. Armed with a little bit of information about marble and quartz and our three guidelines below, you should be able to determine which surface material best suits your home and lifestyle.

1) Activity

Take a careful look at the current activity levels and lifestyles of those in your home. It is unlikely that your habits will change drastically even after you have installed brand new surfaces into your home, so plan accordingly. Do you have kids that spill, clumsy adults in the kitchen or pets that require lots of clean up in your household? Are you avid chefs? Wine drinkers? Do you need a surface that is a workhorse or are you more inclined to treasure something that is truly one of a kind? Answering these questions can help to decide what material will be a welcome addition to your home.

If your home is more inclined to messes, you may want to explore the multitude of options that are available with quartz stone surfaces. Quartz has sturdier properties than marble with a highly scratch-resistant finish, a non-porous composition, and a natural resistance to liquids and acids. Quartz is also a great fit for public spaces, rental properties, and other places with increased traffic and less predictable day to day activity.

However, don’t rule out marble just because you expect your surfaces to be exposed to normal wear and tear. When armed with some basic knowledge on its unique properties, marble can be a gorgeous, timeless, and easy-to-maintain addition to any space. Learn more about cleaning and protecting marble in our Tips for Maintaining the Natural Beauty of Your Marble.

2) Aesthetics

Favored by some of the most famous artists and architects that have ever lived, marble is one of the world’s most coveted and luxurious surfaces. As with any natural stone, every slab of marble is unique and one-of-a-kind, bringing the organic beauty of the earth to any setting. Unique patterns, textures and veining are available in colors from across the spectrum and the addition of marble turns almost any surface into a piece of art.

New advancements in technology have also brought a multitude of engineered quartz countertop options to the market that can closely mimic the look of natural marble without any of the natural imperfections. By fusing natural quartz with polymer resins, quartz becomes more durable and requires less maintenance than natural stone. Quartz is also available in wide palette of colors, textures and finishes and has visual consistency between slabs for flawlessly covering larger areas. Quartz meets the aesthetic needs and technical expectations for a variety of installations.

3) Affordability

While historically the price of marble countertops has been higher than quartz countertops, this is not always the case. Always set a budget and compare your options with a well-known supplier.

If you’re ready to start exploring the incredible quartz (PentalQuartz® and MetroQuartz®) and Marble offerings at Architectural Surfaces, we invite you to browse our collection or stop into one of our gorgeous showrooms to get up close with some of the finest surfaces in the world.