There is something remarkably appealing about white kitchen granite countertops, which enhance the other all-white features of your kitchen. It's a sleek, clean, and inviting look, and it's basically being used in modern homes not only in the kitchen but also in bathrooms and other areas of your home that require granite countertops. The best of all natural stone countertops is the exotic look of quartzite stone.
To Know Quartzite Is To Understand Its Origins
Quartzite is a metamorphic rock that is essentially made of the mineral quartz. From a geological life point of view, quartzite originated as sand grains in riverbeds, beaches, and desert dunes. As time passed, these sand grains went through a compression process and thus stuck together and formed sandstone. Additional compression took place later when the sandstones ended up being buried deep under many layers of rocks.
Sandstones had the ability to get more hot and compressed when buried under the rocks. So the heating and continued rock pressure caused sand grains to lose their initial shape. They fused to what's referred to as their neighbors and formed a durable and highly dense rock known as quartzite. This durable stone also boasts additional minerals that are carried downstream by groundwater. Groundwater flow of water ejected hues of blue, green, or ion-red colors that mix in with quartzite sandstone. This mix adds a vivid beauty to quartzite.
Hardness Properties Of Quartzite
Quartzite stone is so unique that you don't have to be an expert geologist to recognize the durability and hardness of this natural stone. When measured on the venerable Mohs hardness scale, it rates a 7 score. That hardness score tells you that it's harder than glass or the sharp blade of a knife. Quartzite stone will not etch if lemon juice, vinegar, or other kitchen acids spill onto its surface. The product has an array of porosities. White Macaubas and Calacatta Macaubas are more porous and will benefit from added sealing. Taj Mahal or Sea Pearl are highly metamorphosed, and the minerals are already bonded tightly together.
Purchasing Tip About Quartzite Countertops
Here's a tip that you can use, which prevents you from purchasing a quartzite product that's labeled as soft quartzite. Soft quartzite is a misleading and mislabeled product. In fact, there is no known quartzite that is soft. That label might be intended for a marble product, but marble doesn't even come close to the hardness of quartzite countertop products as reflected on the Mohs measurement scale.
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