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We bought an apartment with the most beautiful worthless kitchen (the apartment had other qualities). The bench tops were Carrera marble. Any type of acid dulle
by Ma8ee 5y ago
We bought an apartment with the most beautiful worthless kitchen (the apartment had other qualities). The bench tops were Carrera marble. Any type of acid dulled the shiny surfaces and any type of food, like tomato or tea, stained it irreversibly.
- taneq 5y agoThat sounds like it wasn't sealed or surfaced properly? I thought that kind of bench top needed to be protected with some sort of sealant to prevent this kind of thing.
- Ma8ee 5y agoIt was carefully oiled with the special oil the manufacturer gave us. That still wasn’t enough.
- disgruntledphd2 5y agoIt really blows my mind that all these expensive ston(ish) surfaces stain so easily. Why in the name of God would you purchase something so expensive and put it in a room where most of the staining happens?
- doubled112 5y agoIt looks good in the brochure, and you don't realize how fragile it is until it is too late.
- jimmydddd 5y agoWe purchased a quartz (manufactured) countertop about fifteen years ago. It is robust to the point that you can cut on it and put hot pans directly on it. It looks almost as good as (or maybe the same as if you're not too fussy) a granite counter. At the time, it was significantly cheaper than the "natural" granite counters. But I looked recently and the quartz is now more expensive than granite. So I guess folks are starting to feel the same way you do.
- DamnYuppie 5y agoI love quartz countertops! You can even get them to look like marble or granite if you want now a days. As you mentioned that are incredibly sturdy! I even have them in my bathrooms.
- jader201 5y ago> and put hot pans directly on it. Really? We’re going to have to replace our quartz island countertop just from sitting a (hot) lid on it. And we were also told that we shouldn’t sit anything hot on it (I just wasn’t thinking when I sat the lid on it). A quick search [1] also shows that a downside to quartz is that it’s not as resistant to heat as other surfaces (including granite). [1] https://countertopguides.com/guides/pros-and-cons-of-quartz-countertops.html https://countertopguides.com/guides/pros-and-cons-of-quartz-...
- disgruntledphd2 5y agoSee that makes sense to me. Being able to put hot pans on my kitchen surface would be super useful to me. I kinda assumed that all stone surfaces were stain resistant, as otherwise why would people buy them?
- kansface 5y agoYou are supposed to periodically seal it.
- webmaven 5y ago> You are supposed to periodically seal it. Yeah, few people seem to realize how porous marble is. A really bad choice for counters. And floors. And shower stalls. It's almost as if using marble in spite of it's disadvantages was a conspicuous consumption signal. Oh, wait.
- Ma8ee 5y agoTrust me, we did. We got some special oil that was what we were told to use. But then some slightly drunk people made Margaritas a late evening. And my brother left a used teabag next to the sink. Then the cleaner managed to scratch the marble when emptying a bucket with water into the sink.
- Apocryphon 5y agoWonder if there’s anything about Veblen goods being intentionally fragile or otherwise impractical to use, to assert their rarity and expensiveness.
- stavros 5y agoProbably not, they just optimize for looks and not use.
- bradlys 5y agoStatus symbol. Also looks nice. Also - people in very rich homes tend to have things on display for areas that look like you’d do work but then they don’t ever work there. So, for the kitchen, you’d have a real kitchen in the back. That’s where your staff would prepare meals. The front kitchen is merely for appearance.
- frrlpp 5y agoReal stone like marble or granite needs to be curated prior to use, and maintained. The most you use them, the better it turns regarding stains and absorptions.
- Ma8ee 5y agoWe oiled them according to the manufacturer’s instructions. And it’s not like an iron pan that you naturally put oil and grease in as part of your cooking. I’m sure the countertop might become saturated eventually by use, but it would have a very different colour and surface structure after all it absorbed, and all acids that dissolved the surface.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoAs a general surface, I agree with you. But for specific purposes, cold stone is really the best working surface. Making pastry would be the canonical example, and marble has often been the preferred stone. But that requires a dedicated pastry prep area, so most people would just settle for a marble board they can pull out when required.