LESLIE: Iris in Florida is on the line and has a question about a new countertop. Tell us about it.
IRIS: Oh, hi. First and foremost, Leslie, let me tell you I’ve loved listening to you and Tom for so many years. You’re just – both of you are just so wonderful.
TOM: Thank you, Iris. We appreciate that.
LESLIE: Thanks, Iris.
IRIS: You’re most welcome. Well, my husband and I built our current home about four years ago. We did not upgrade the granite counters in the kitchen. We are now putting in a wonderful click-in, waterproof, vinyl planking throughout the entire house. And of course, the counters are looking like they need to be upgraded, as well. So we’re …
TOM: What kind of counters do you have right now?
IRIS: We currently have granite but we’re very strongly favoring a quartz.
TOM: OK. OK.
LESLIE: OK.
IRIS: So, what do you think?
TOM: I mean the cost is about the same. It’s kind of a toss-up between those two products. The granite is probably a bit harder to take care of because it’s more absorbent. It’s a difference between, you know, solid stone and really engineered stone. The solid stone is what you have now and engineered stone is what you would be getting.
IRIS: We want to stay in this house fairly permanently, so – and we’re pretty contemporary. And there’s so many beautiful quartz patterns.
TOM: Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep.
IRIS: What are your thoughts about Silestone?
TOM: Silestone. Yeah, it’s beautiful stuff.
LESLIE: So, I think, Iris, the reason why – I really do like quartz as a product. We put it in – my mom has a vacation home out on the East End of Long Island. My whole family shares it. And we had a big flood due to a pipe bursting a few years back. And we renovated everything in the house and we had Formica countertops, laminate countertops that – from a gajillion years ago.
And we – all of us loved the look of marble but none of us wanted the maintenance of marble, so we ended up going with a quartz that looks just like a beautiful white marble. And it’s gorgeous, it’s durable, it’s stain-resistant. You can put a hot pan on it and not worry about it. We try not to but it – you can.
So we all love it. And we ended up also doing one that has a concrete look for a surround to a fireplace. And we’ve all been happy. This was trying to please three siblings and a mom. So, we all struggled on picking the right thing but I really do enjoy the quartz product. Truly, I love marble, I love granite but there is such a level of maintenance that goes along with it. And if you’re not willing to take on that maintenance, it’s just not going to stand up.
IRIS: Well, it sounds like you made an excellent decision based on so many people to please. And since we were leaning so favorably toward it, I think I’m convinced. So, thank you both so very much.
TOM AND LESLIE: Alright.
TOM: Yeah. Good luck with it. I’m sure it’s going to be beautiful when it’s done.
IRIS: Thanks so much, Tom. Take care.
