MARBLE, GRANITE, QUARTZ - WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
Marble, granite, and quartz are three materials that add elegance to any home.
They can be used as tiles on walls, floors, kitchen countertops, and bathrooms.
With today’s manufacturing technology, it is extremely difficult to spot the
difference with the naked eye.
Marble:
Marble is a kind of metamorphic rock made up of recrystallized carbonate
compounds, most commonly limestone or dolomite. It is one of the most elegant
natural stones. For ages, it has been used to construct palaces and statues
devoted to Gods. The pure form of marble will be solid white. However, the
majority of marbles include other minerals that can make them pink, yellow,
grey, bluish, or black. Any bright or vibrant colours likely signify that the
marble is artificial or that it’s a natural stone mixed with other substances.
Genuine marble also has an incomparable glossiness. On many occasions, this is
frequently imitated in synthetic stones by adding small bits of glass and other
materials, but they do not have the same long-lasting shine as marble. Marble is
also slightly translucent, which allows you to see a few millimetres past the
surface and gives the material more depth.
Marble is relatively soft and easy to cut and curve. This property makes marble
so popular among artists and architects. The most reliable way to tell if you
are looking at genuine marble is to test its hardness by cutting it with
something sharp, like a knife. Marble is naturally cool and much softer than
granite.
Granite:
Granite is a very hard natural igneous rock mainly composed of various minerals,
including quartz, feldspar, and mica. Granite is formed from magma that cools
beneath the earth’s surface. Granite is very hard and durable. Granite, like
quartz, can come in different colours. It can even imitate marble, with veins
and clouds.
Granite has also been used for hundreds of years in buildings, monuments, and
bridges. Because it contains a mixture of numerous minerals like quartz,
feldspar, and mica, it comes in different colours like white, grey, red, and
brown. Some granite possesses more of a veined look, like marble, but if you
take a closer look, the colour patches tend to be grainier and blurrier instead
of having distinct streaks. Unlike marble, granite is entirely opaque, so you
will only be able to see the outermost layer of the surface.
Testing granite’s hardness by cutting it with a knife is another method to find
out whether you are looking at granite or marble. However, it is difficult to
differentiate between granite and quartz; it takes a bit more of a sharp eye
since neither will scratch.
Quartz:
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral made up of silicon and oxygen atoms, while
marble and granite are rocks. It is the most abundantly found mineral in the
Earth's crust.
As granite and marble are natural stones, no two areas of the stone will look
exactly alike. But as quartz slabs are manufactured, they tend to have a
slightly uniform colour and consistency across the slab, with slight variation
in the patterns and textures. However, as innovative approaches to engineering
quartz slabs come up, the chances of what can be done with the material are
expanding all the time, making it difficult to narrow down.
Pure quartz is clear, but impurities give this mineral a vast variety of
colours. Top-quality quartz is used in making sculptures or even jewellery.
Quartz is the primary component in the engineered stone used to make
countertops, vanity tops, and backsplashes. Powdered quartz is blended with
resin and then formed into slabs. It is resistant to scratches, can withstand
hot pots and pans, and is resistant to etching by acidic liquids like citrus
juice or wine.
Conclusion:
Irrespective of which of the three materials you select, you will be getting one
of the best choices you can use in your home. By assessing the different factors
noted and elucidated above, you can know which material is the perfect match for
your home. All three materials, marble, granite, and quartz, have their own pros
and cons, but all of them will enhance the value of your home.
No matter what
stone you choose, Scape Rocks is here to help you find the best choice for your
home and your style. Visit our website: www.scaperocks.com for more information.