What Is the Best Type of Stone for Countertops?
If you’re the type of homeowner who can appreciate the beauty, durability and environmental friendliness of a stone countertop in another person’s kitchen, then perhaps it’s time to consider one for your own space. However, choosing a stone requires some serious thought—not all stones are created equal!
As an interior designer, I frequently find myself visiting stone yards. There’s more to choosing a countertop than meets the eye. Check out my tips for selecting the best stone for your kitchen.
What is a Stone Yard?
A stone yard is exactly as it sounds: a yard that houses a variety of stone selections for your home.
Stone vendors will select stone from quarries around the world and showcase it in their yard. They often sell loose stones to be used for garden paths or water features, as well as slabs that can be installed in bathrooms or kitchens.
How to Pick the Right Stone for Your Countertop
This is a matter of personal taste and depends on how you intend to use the countertop.
When touring a stone yard, they will most likely have a variety of slabs to choose from. And you don’t need to be an interior designer to find this next part interesting:
The slabs will be displayed almost like a deck of cards. A crane moves them as if they were the pages in a very heavy book—this is how you sort through your preferences and find stones that suit your needs. Once you identify one, it’ll be transferred to a fabricator for cutting into whatever specifications you prefer.
You can get really creative with stone to create unconventional shapes, like this powder bathroom sink I helped design.
A stone yard does not create the final masterpiece, but it provides the materials to make that magic happen.
The best part about choosing a stone in person is that you have a chance to look at the intricate and unique details of each piece. When natural stone is cut, every vein and speck will be different from the next sample. So, make sure you take a trip to the stone yard if you’re particular about the tiny details!
What’s Next?
After you decide the stone that is going to work for you, a template for cutting is created. The fabricator will come to your home and measure with the precision of a laser exactly how wide, long, curvy or straight your stone piece will be. This information is entered into a BACA system, or a granite cutting machine; a fully automated robotic cutting system that eliminates errors while cutting.
What is the Best Stone for Countertops?
This is the best question to ask before selecting a stone. There are several answers, and they mostly depend on how you intend to use your countertops.
Using a particular stone against what is recommended could be detrimental to its longevity. Let’s assume you want to renovate your kitchen.
In this scenario, you know the kitchen is a focal point of your home. It’s where your family and friends gather, and where you spend a lot of time cooking for yourself and others. You want to invest in a beautiful stone for your kitchen island, and would like to make sure that it is easy to live with.
Granite – nearly indestructible, natural stone, should be sealed once a year, comes in a rainbow of colors but does not satisfy the client looking for the white countertop.
Marble – will patina and etch over time because it is more porous than granite, it will need to be sealed more often, natural stone, comes in variations of (mostly) white and gray.
Quartzite – sometimes appearing like marble this stone comes in a variety of soft swirly grays and whites but can also be pink, gold, and red, typically more expensive than granite as it is more difficult to fabricate, natural variation of sandstone, low maintenance and very versatile.
Quartz – man made of resin and stone dust, no variation in slabs within the type of quartz, may not withstand heat as well as natural stones, able to be produced as a white countertop option but is also made in a variety of colors and patterns.
Is Stone a Good Choice for My Countertops?
Having stone countertops in an updated, renovated kitchen is a must if you are trying to achieve a high-end look. Visiting the stone yard and selecting your favorite piece can be an intimate process between homeowner and home—one more chance to put your unique taste into the renovation.
A stone countertop, when selected wisely, can improve the overall feel of a room and change how you interact with it.
To get you started, here are some stone yards in Cincinnati that I like to use:
