Rating A Mention

   The big ratings story, I’m sure, passed a lot of you by in silence. Not only didn’t this make the national news; it didn’t cause a ripple on the online stone forum, either. And I probably wouldn’t know about it, except that I’m a subscriber to ….
   … Consumer Reports. Yes, the ultimate source for careful shoppers and the legion of buyers wanting value for every nickel they spend (something that often drives my spouse crazy when comparing frozen juice at the supermarket) put granite to the test for their August 2006 issue. In comparing ten countertop surfaces, granite emerged as the clear, strong runner-up.
   And what might dim this great affirmation from the nation’s best-known tough testers and advocates for better products? Just what did they pick as Number One for countertops?
   Well … um … quartz. Engineered stone. That stuff.
   Before walking out to the scraps to pick a nice remnant to fling at something (or someone, as I go get my hardhat), take a moment to simmer down if you’re only working with “real stone.” Second, in this case, isn’t bad at all, especially when you consider the rest of the competition. And there are parts of the Consumer Reports article that you’ll really, really like.
   And for those cranking away with quartz, it’s a nice bit of recognition. Just don’t go tooting the horn too loud with this one.
   The August 2006 Consumer Reports is now off the retail shelves, and the online reprint is at www.consumerreports.org; you’ll have to sign up and pay as an online subscriber to read it. It’s worth asking around to see if a friend, neighbor or relative has a copy, or you might do something truly old-fashioned and visit a library.
   To summarize the article: Quartz, as the top-rated product, came out looking the best. Granite did very well. Two other stones in the report – marble and limestone – finished farther back in the pack.
   Consumer Reports rates products on 0-100 scale – 100 being the absolute best – and quartz led the field with 84. Granite came close at 81; both surfaces were the only ones to score in the magazine’s “Excellent” sector.
   Ceramic tile came in third, but – with a score of 61 – it barely cracked the “Very Good” category. The rest of the pack scored farther down the score chart: stainless steel (57); laminate (50); solid surface (48); marble (45); concrete (41); limestone (39); and butcher-block wood (29).
   The results really aren’t much different from the magazine’s testing of vanity countertops from August 2005 (yes, another one that went under the radar). Aside from a few changes here and there with results at the bottom end of the substrate lineup, the magazine showed the same strengths and weaknesses.
   Quartz and granite did their best with the vaunted Consumer Reports testing laboratory, scoring a “Good” or better in the five categories of stains, heat, cutting, abrasion and impact. Quartz’s only Good rating came with the impact test, where the lab crew dropped blunt and pointed weights from heights up to 2’.
   Granite, meanwhile, earned Excellent scores in all categories except one: stains. Quartz took an Excellent in this round, where Consumer Reports attacked countertops with 20 common household products and measured resistance. (See below)
   In the Heat test, incidentally, the procedure gauged the resistance to damage and discoloration from a 400°F pot filled with oil, and both granite and quartz scored an Excellent. (For the record, so did ceramic tile, stainless steel, marble and limestone.)
   The stain factor probably put quartz over the top for Consumer Reports, as the copy noted that “quartz needs less care to keep its good looks.” Granite’s description cited its main detriment is that it “needs periodic resealing” … and that’s entirely another debate.
   The magazine also declared that, “finish doesn’t matter” when it comes to glossy and honed surfaces on sealed stone counters. “Contrary to popular belief,” cited the article, “our tests found that honed finishes resisted stains no better than glossy ones if stains dried and set overnight.”
   Marble and limestone’s lower scores, incidentally, didn’t come from a bias against the products. The magazine’s lab reported the stones fared poorly in cutting and abrasion tests, and performed below average in impact testing. And then there’s that sealing issue.
   Consumer Reports isn’t operating in a vacuum about the industry. It cited the idea of granite branding with warranted products from DuPont and Innovative Stone, and noted that Innovative’s Stonemark® product performed “slightly better” than regular granite in their tests. However, the article also noted that DuPont’s warranty doesn’t cover regular wear-and-tear; Stonemark’s warranty is for repairing stains and not replacing the countertops; and that the magazine couldn’t determine if the sealer used would hold up better over time.
   The magazine also offered some wise counsel to consumers, such as the fact the look of granite can vary from slab-to-slab, and even within a slab. (Consumer Reports recommends stone be picked personally at the stone yard.) They advocated checking references, and that the fabricator should do the measuring, not the customer.
   Overall, though, the Consumer Reports article is a strong vote for the harder, high-quality surfaces of granite and quartz. In the industry, we know these are the two materials that compete for choice building projects and remodeling jobs, and it’s good to see a general consumer publication give an important thumbs-up.
   It’s also important that this comes from an independent source with no particular bias or interest in any of the materials. There’s no iffy, secret-agenda “comparison” matrix or obvious touting of any product. It’s simple, and may not have all the answers a customer needs, but it’s an excellent start.
   Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your point of view – it’s not something that a particular brand or group can feed into a large promotional effort. Consumers Union of the U.S., the non-profit group behind Consumer Reports, is very picky about not letting their ratings get into marketing, and they’re quick to go to court to get cease-and-desist orders.
   It doesn’t hurt to show this kind of report on a one-to-one basis with customers as part the education process. Sure, it’s going to have some things that will make competing surfaces look good, but it’s a good base to sell granite or quartz, or reinforce the advice given to someone wanting marble or limestone. It’s also part of being honest with customers; besides, they may know about it already.
   For some time, I’ve heard that people really wanted a Consumer Reports-type job done on something in the industry. Well, you’ve got one now.
  
   P.S.: In the magazine article, the Consumer Reports testing didn’t specify those 20 common household products used for stains. So, I asked. Here’s the lineup:
   Acetone
   Ammonia
   Beet Juice
   Chocolate
   Coffee
   Crayon
   Drano® Liquid
   Grape Juice
   Ink
   Isopropyl Alcohol
   Ketchup
   Lemon Juice
   Lime-A-Way®
   Mustard
   Pencil Marks
   Rust
   Shoe Polish
   Tarnish Remover
   Tea
   Vegetable Oil

This article first appeared in the September 2006 print edition of Stone Business. ©2006 Western Business Media Inc.