Your kitchen countertops are one of the most important spaces in your home. They have both functional and aesthetic aspects. After all, you spend part of the day cooking on them and the rest of it looking at them.

Furthermore, they can represent a significant amount of the value of your home. Having granite or marble countertops in your kitchen confers a lot of prestige and adds to the price that you could sell your home for. They’re also a significant investment in your property if you’re looking to (or need to) replace them.

For all of these reasons, the length of time you can expect your kitchen countertops to last is essential to know and plan around.

The Lifespan of Popular Kitchen Counter Materials

Many materials are popular for use as kitchen countertops, and each has its own aesthetic and practical benefits. They range from naturally occurring stone to rustic options like wood and even artificial variants. Depending on which is chosen, you’ll find a marked difference in how long a countertop lasts and how well they age over their lifetime.

Quartz Kitchen Countertops

Quartz countertops are a newer force in the kitchen countertop space, made from a mixture of tough plastic and crushed rock (usual byproducts from marble and granite quarries) that’s melted together at high temperatures. They are very strong and resistant to most damage, including scratching, staining, and corrosion. 

Quartz countertops also have a very long lifespan and shouldn’t ever have to be replaced as long as the house is still standing. 

Marble Kitchen Countertops

Marble countertops are made from natural stone, so we might think that it is impervious to any kind of injury. While marble seems hard, it is one of the softer and more delicate building materials (though it’s, of course, among the most beautiful). 

Even if you’re careful, marble countertops usually need to be replaced within 20 or 30 years. They stain easily, soaking up whatever happens to spill on them. Because they’re so difficult to keep clean and to prevent scratches, we don’t often suggest using marble in your kitchen.

Granite Kitchen Countertops 

Granite is one of the strongest natural stones in existence, and a countertop made from it will outlive you and the house they’re installed in. They are resistant to impact, staining, and everything that could go wrong in the kitchen. 

How Can I Make Sure My Kitchen Countertops Last?

The principles of caring for countertops vary across the different types of countertops listed above. Granite, for example, is very heat resistant and won’t generally suffer if you put a hot pan on it for a few moments, but things like laminate will melt in the presence of high heat. Similarly, marble is renowned for how easily it stains. Knowing about the properties of your countertop material will help you extend its lifespan. 

Likewise, these materials require different types of regular maintenance. Make sure you do your research about whether and how often your countertop needs to be resealed and do the work! 

How Do I Know When It’s Time to Replace My Countertops? 

The first thing to say here is that countertops can remain structurally sound while looking quite beaten up and heavily used. Even though you haven’t used the countertop for as long as we would expect the lifespan to be, bad habits, poor maintenance, or accidents might have created extensive scratches, stains, and chips that can’t be repaired.

In this situation, there’s a choice between sticking with the old, beat-up kitchen countertops or replacing them with new ones. But there’s no immediate need to replace them other than for the sake of improving how your kitchen looks. 

However, there are some more serious issues that mean you have little choice but to replace your countertops. These include:

• Large cracks that undermine the structural integrity 
• Areas of the countertop are eroding as a result of long-term use
• Smoke or fire damage from kitchen fires

Custom Installation

Here at Sanford Granite, we ensure that your natural stone countertops are to your satisfaction, whether you are remodeling or getting your property ready to be put on the market. Contact us to request a free quote and get your dream kitchen started today!