Deciding about anything to do with your house can be difficult. The choice you make you are basically stuck with until you decide to redecorate again, and you don’t want to be throwing cash at a job which you’re not pleased with in the end.
When it comes to countertops or flooring tiles, you have two main decisions to make – material and colour.
Both are deal breakers, and both have similar routes to go down.
Whether you’re looking for a new countertop or you’re on the lookout for new floor tiles, there are similar options available to you in terms of material, and the natural stone route is the best one to go down. The subcategory in this decision is the type of material you’re going to go for, namely quartz, granite, or marble. Whilst granite is certainly a very hard-wearing and quality stone, there are many pros and cons between quartz and marble especially, and these are two of the most contested options.
Let’s check them out in a little more detail and pit them against each other.
Marble pros and cons
Marble is a beautiful stone and one which has been used in places of importance for centuries; the fact you will have it in your bathroom means you are joining the elite! Of course, each slab of marble, be it a countertop or a floor tile, is unique, and that means you won’t have the same appearance as your neighbour!
In terms of countertops, marble is a good choice is you like baking, because the naturally cool temperature is ideal for this. This is also a porous stone, which means it absorbs water – this is a pro and a con. On the upside, your floor tiles won’t be slippery, but on the downside, you will need to maintain them regularly to ensure that the porosity won’t become an issue over time.
Quartz pros and cons
Quartz on the other hand requires zero maintenance after it is installed, and it doesn’t need sealing like marble does. This is because quartz is non-porous, so it doesn’t absorb water and it doesn’t harbour any bacteria; overall this means quartz is more hygienic. The non-porosity does mean that floor tiles will be slippery if water is left on them, so you may need to mop up a lot more often with quartz.
For countertops, quartz is the ideal choice because it is highly durable, and doesn’t require as much TLC as marble does.
As you can see, there are pros and cons to both, but they are equally as fantastic as one another in different ways. Whichever you opt for, remember to shop around for the best price, and you may also be able to take advantage of lengthy warranties too, depending on where you buy your countertop or floor tiles from. This gives you extra peace of mind, which is always a bonus!
In terms of colour, both quartz and marble area available in countless shades, but quartz is perhaps more wide-ranging in this regard. It’s a good idea to check out colours in person in a showroom, rather than relying on pictures online in catalogues, because different shades of light can change the appearance of the colour very slightly from time to time.
