Kitchens
Countertop installation cost
About $84 a square foot in granite and $94 in quartz, installed. But the figure everybody quotes — dollars per square foot — cannot tell you the thing you will look at every day, because nobody buys square feet. Stone comes in slabs of about 110 inches, a ten foot run does not come out of one in a single piece, and that is where your seams come from. This works it out by nesting your actual runs onto actual slabs, and draws the result.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-21 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
The runs
Measure each straight stretch of worktop separately, along the wall. The lengths matter individually, not just added up — a slab is only so long, and that is what decides the seams.
Along the wall. Ten feet is 120 in.
25.5 is standard. An island is 36 to 42.
Leave blank if you have fewer runs.
Quarried stone, so every slab is different and the one you are shown is the one you get. Seams are visible because the pattern cannot be made to run through — which is an argument for fewer of them rather than for a different material.
Included in every quote. A slightly softened square edge, and on a thick slab it is the one that looks most like stone rather than like a product.
The opening has to be cut and then its edge polished, because you can see and touch it. That polishing is the whole price difference against a drop-in.
The rim covers the cut edge, so it is not polished.
A rectangle with radiused corners, and the corners matter: a sharp internal corner in stone is where a crack starts.
Usually two or three, and occasionally left off a quote.
Past the cabinet. Beyond the limit it needs corbels or a steel plate.
3 cm is the norm in the US and carries more overhang. 2 cm is thinner and often needs a plywood substrate.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
Installed
$3,206
38.3 ft² · 18 lin ft of edge · $84 a ft²
2 slabs · 1 forced seam
A 110 in slab gives 2 strips of standard depth, so 17.7 usable linear feet each. Your longest run is 120 in against 106 usable.
Why two quotes for this kitchen will differ
A fabricator buys slabs and sells square feet.
- Priced on their average waste$3,206
- Charged the 2 full slabs you force$4,541
- Your layout wastes62%
Offcuts go to other jobs — your leftover becomes somebody’s vanity top — which is how a per-square-foot price can exist at all. It means you pay the shop’s average waste, not yours, and that gap is most of why quotes disagree.
The same kitchen, every material
| Material | Slabs | Seams | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laminate | 2 | 1 | $1,889 |
| Butcher block | 2 | 1 | $3,532 |
| Granite | 2 | 1 | $4,541 |
| Engineered quartz | 1 | 0 | $3,863 |
| Marble | 2 | 1 | $6,757 |
The seam column is the one nobody shows you. Engineered quartz comes in larger sheets than quarried granite, so the same kitchen can need one fewer join — which matters more in granite, where the pattern cannot be made to run through.
Your kitchen, nested onto the slabs
To scale. The grey is what you pay for and do not install.
Shopping list
- Granite, 2 slabs
Standard slab, about 110 × 65 in · 2 strips of 25.5 in depth each, 17.7 usable linear feet a slab38.3 ft² finished - Cutouts
1 undermount, 0 drop-in, 1 cooktop, 2 tap holes. The opening has to be cut and then its edge polished, because you can see and touch it. That polishing is the whole price difference against a drop-in.$460
What it costs
National average. Slab, fabrication, edge, cutouts, delivery and fitting. Removing the old worktop, plumbing disconnection and reconnection, tiling a backsplash and any cabinet levelling are separate — and cabinets that are not level are the commonest reason an install day runs long.
$84 a square foot installed. And about $421 a decade in sealing, which quartz does not need at all. The splashback behind it is its own job — see tile.
Worth knowing
- 2 slabs for 38 ft² of finished top. That is not area divided by area — a 110 in slab gives 2 strips of standard depth along its length, so 18 usable linear feet each, and the pieces have to nest into them.
- You pay for 99 ft² and install 38 — 61 per cent of the stone you buy goes in the skip. That is normal and it is why two kitchens of the same area quote differently: it depends on how the pieces fall on the slab, not on how many square feet they add up to.
- 1 seam is unavoidable here. Your longest run is 120 in and a 110 in slab yields about 106 in of usable length — anything longer has to be joined. In granite the pattern cannot be made to run through, so a seam is visible however well it is made. Decide where it goes rather than letting the fabricator decide: not through the middle of a sink, not over a dishwasher, and not where you stand to chop.
- A fabricator buys slabs and sells square feet, and can do that because offcuts go to other jobs — your leftover becomes somebody's vanity top. So the quote you get is built on their AVERAGE waste, not yours. Yours is 61 per cent. If the shop has no use for your offcut and charges you the 2 full slabs your layout forces, the same kitchen is $4,541 instead of $3,206 — and that gap is most of why two quotes for one kitchen disagree.
- Granite needs sealing about every 2 years — roughly $421 a decade on this kitchen. A sealer soaks into the stone and slows a stain enough to wipe it up. It does not make stone waterproof and it does not stop marble etching, which is a chemical burn rather than a stain.
- $84 a square foot installed, everything in. Compare quotes on that number rather than on the material price, because the material is between a third and a half of it.
On this page — 5 sections
Nobody buys square feet
The short version
- About $84 a square foot in granite and $94 in quartz, installed, on a typical L-shaped kitchen.
- Stone is sold in slabs. A 110 in slab gives two strips of standard depth — about 18 usable linear feet — and your pieces have to nest into that.
- Seams are forced by length, not chosen. A ten foot run cannot come out of a nine foot slab, whatever the area says.
- Quartz often needs one fewer join, because it is cast in bigger sheets than granite is quarried in.
Every countertop is quoted at so many dollars a square foot, and nobody anywhere buys a square foot of stone. They buy slabs — one physical object about 110 inches long — and everything awkward about this job comes from the gap between those two facts.
usable linear feet per slab = strips × (slab length − end trim) ÷ 12
- strips
- how many runs of 25.5 in depth fit across the slab's height — two, on a standard slab
- end trim
- a couple of inches off each end, because the factory edge is neither straight nor sound
Worked through — A 110 × 65 in granite slab: two strips of 25.5 in, each about 106 in long. That is 18 usable linear feet — and an 18 linear foot kitchen sits right on the edge of it.
Natural Stone Institute, Dimension Stone Design Manual · checked 2026-09-21
Which seams are forced, and where to put them
Some seams are a choice. The ones that matter are not: if a run is longer than the usable length of a slab, it has to be joined, and no amount of paying more changes that.
Which makes the slab format a specification decision rather than a detail. Granite comes in about 110 inches; engineered quartz is cast rather than quarried and comes around 132. Those extra twenty inches are frequently the difference between a ten foot run in one piece and a ten foot run with a join in it.
| Slab format | Usable length | Linear ft | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard slab, about 110 × 65 in | 106 in | 18 | The common format for granite and most quartz. Two strips of standard-depth countertop come off the height of it, which is the yield rule everything here turns on. |
| Jumbo slab, about 126 × 63 in | 122 in | 20 | Longer and slightly shallower. The extra sixteen inches of length is what removes a seam from a long run, and it is worth asking for by name. |
| Oversized quartz, about 132 × 65 in | 128 in | 21 | Engineered stone is cast rather than quarried, so it comes in larger and more consistent sheets. It is the reason a quartz kitchen often has fewer seams than the same kitchen in granite. |
What each material actually costs to own
| Material | Slab $/ft² | Sealing | Seams | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laminate | $9 | never | visible | Post-formed sheet over particle board, sold in pre-made lengths as often as cut to size. Cheapest by a distance, and the only one on this list you can fit yourself in an afternoon. |
| Butcher block | $24 | 2 yr | subtle | Solid wood, and the one material here that improves with sanding rather than needing replacement. It moves with humidity, so it is fastened to allow that, and it wants oiling a few times a year. |
| Granite | $28 | 2 yr | visible | Quarried stone, so every slab is different and the one you are shown is the one you get. Seams are visible because the pattern cannot be made to run through — which is an argument for fewer of them rather than for a different material. |
| Engineered quartz | $34 | never | subtle | Ground stone bound in resin and cast in sheets, so it is consistent, non-porous and never needs sealing. It also comes in larger sheets than granite, which is quietly why a quartz kitchen often has fewer seams. |
| Marble | $48 | 2 yr | visible | Softer and far more porous than granite. It etches from lemon juice and vinegar within seconds, and no sealer stops that — it is bought by people who accept a surface that records its own use. |
| Granite | Engineered quartz | |
|---|---|---|
| Installed, typical L kitchen | About $84 a ft² | About $94 a ft² |
| Slab length | 110 in | 132 in |
| Seams on a 10 ft run | One, forced | Often none |
| How a seam looks | Visible — the pattern stops | Subtle — the pattern is consistent |
| Sealing | Every 2 years | Never |
| Heat | Takes a hot pan | Resin can scorch — use a trivet |
| Every slab the same? | No — you pick the one you get | Yes — the sample is the product |
The honest summary: they cost within about ten per cent of each other installed, and the decision is not really about money. It is about whether you want a surface that is consistent and maintenance-free, or one where the slab you chose is the slab you get and no two kitchens are the same.
Marble sits outside that comparison. It etches — a chemical burn from anything acidic, within seconds — and no sealer prevents it, because it is not a stain. Bought knowingly, that is patina. Bought expecting granite that costs more, it is a year of being upset.
MaterialsEstimator, Countertop material and fabrication price survey · checked 2026-09-21
The lines that are quoted separately
The headline dollars-per-square-foot figure covers the slab and the fabrication. These are quoted on top, and between them they are where two quotes for the same kitchen most often diverge.
$14–52
Edge, per linear foot
Eased is included; mitred is not
$240
Undermount sink cutout
Against $110 for a drop-in
$150
Cooktop cutout
Radiused corners, or it cracks
$35
Each tap or soap hole
Usually two or three
Ask every quote for these, itemised
- Which edge profile is included, and what the alternatives cost per linear foot.
- How many seams, and where they will be. If the answer is 'wherever it falls', ask again.
- Whether the sink cutout is undermount or drop-in priced, and whether polishing is in it.
- How many tap and soap holes are included — this is the line most often left off entirely.
- Whether templating is included, and when it happens. It has to be after the cabinets are set.
- Who disconnects and reconnects the plumbing, and who removes the old worktop.
- What happens if a cabinet run turns out not to be level, which is the commonest reason install day overruns.
- Whether the price assumes a slab from stock or one you will choose at the yard — the difference can be large.
What goes wrong
01Estimating from total square footage
It cannot tell you the seams, and the seams are the part you will look at every day. Two kitchens of 40 ft² can need one slab or two depending entirely on how long the individual runs are.
Instead — Measure each run separately and check the longest against the slab length. The calculator above nests them for you and draws the result.
02Choosing the material before asking the slab format
A 110 in slab and a 132 in slab produce different kitchens. The longer format can remove a seam from a long run, and that is decided before anybody has looked at a colour.
Instead — Ask what format the material you like comes in, and whether jumbo slabs are available. It is a free question with a visible answer.
03Letting the fabricator place the seams
Left alone they place for yield, which is a reasonable thing for them to optimise and is not your priority. A seam through a sink cutout is the classic result, and it is also the weakest place to put one.
Instead — Mark where you want them on the template drawing. Beside a sink, at an inside corner, or in a short return — and never over the dishwasher.
04Comparing quotes on the headline per-square-foot figure
The edge, the cutouts and the tap holes are quoted separately and they are a real fraction of the bill. One quote may include an eased edge and another a mitred one.
Instead — Get everything itemised and compare the totals. The material is only a third to a half of what you are paying.
05Planning a breakfast bar without checking the overhang
Stone carries about 10 in unsupported. A usable bar wants twelve to fifteen, so most of them need corbels or a steel plate — and steel has to go in before the cabinets are closed.
Instead — Settle the overhang at cabinet stage, not at template stage. It is the difference between invisible support and brackets under your knees.
06Expecting sealer to make stone bulletproof
A sealer slows absorption so you can wipe a spill before it soaks in. It does not make stone waterproof, and on marble it does nothing at all about etching, which is a chemical burn rather than a stain.
Instead — Seal granite and marble about every 2 years and accept what the material is. If you want no maintenance and no surprises, that is the argument for quartz.
07Templating before the cabinets are finished
A kitchen is never as square as its drawing, and the template has to record the room as built. A template taken early is a slab cut to the wrong shape.
Instead — Cabinets set and level first, then template, then two to three weeks. Plan the kitchen being unusable for that gap rather than being surprised by it.
08Not looking at the actual slab
In granite and marble, every slab is different. The sample on the counter at the showroom is a three inch square of a stone that varies across ten feet.
Instead — Go to the yard and pick the slab, and ask for it to be tagged. In quartz this does not matter, which is one of its quiet advantages.
- 01Measure each run separatelyNot the total. The individual lengths are what decide whether a slab can do a run in one piece, and that is what decides the seams.
- 02Note the depth of each25.5 in is standard — 24 of cabinet plus the overhang. An island is 36 to 42, and that changes how it sits on the slab.
- 03Find the slab format for your materialGranite is usually about 110 in long; engineered quartz comes larger. Ask, because it decides the seam count before you have chosen a colour.
- 04Count the seams your longest run forcesAnything longer than the usable slab length has to be joined. Where the join goes is your decision to make, not the fabricator's.
- 05Add the edge by the linear footIt is quoted separately and it is a real number — a mitred edge on a big kitchen runs into four figures.
- 06Count the cutoutsUndermount sink, cooktop, and every tap or soap hole. Two quotes often differ by exactly this.
- 07Check any overhangPast the unsupported limit it needs corbels, and that is cheaper to know now than after the cabinets are set.
It goes on after the countertop is in and it is a separate trade with its own arithmetic — the trowel decides the adhesive, and the joint width decides the grout.
The splashback behind it- Slab
- The unit stone is actually sold in — about 110 × 65 in for granite. Everything on this page follows from the fact that you buy these and not square feet.
- Yield
- How much finished countertop comes out of a slab. Two strips of standard depth along the length, which is roughly 18 linear feet, and then whatever the leftover height band is good for.
- Seam
- A join between two pieces. Some are chosen; the ones that matter are forced, because a run is longer than a slab and there is no other option.
- Remnant
- Usable offcut. Fabricators keep a rack of them and sell them for vanity tops, which is exactly how a per-square-foot price can exist at all.
- Fabrication
- Cutting, shaping the edge, polishing and making the cutouts. It is priced by the finished square foot and it is a third to a half of the bill.
- Edge profile
- The shape machined into the visible front. Priced by the linear foot, quoted separately, and the line most often compared badly between two quotes.
- Undermount
- A sink fixed below the stone, so the cut edge is visible and has to be polished. That polishing is the whole price difference against a drop-in.
- Overhang
- Stone projecting past the cabinet. Beyond about 10 in on 3 cm stone it needs corbels or a steel plate underneath.
- Corbel
- A bracket under an overhang. Necessary beyond the unsupported limit, and the thing people discover after the cabinets are in and the bar stools have been bought.
- Etching
- A chemical burn on the surface from something acidic. It is not a stain, no sealer prevents it, and it is why marble records its own use.
- Sealing
- Impregnating porous stone so a spill can be wiped before it soaks in. About every 2 years on granite and marble; never on quartz.
- Seam quality
- How invisible a join can be made. Engineered quartz can be joined almost invisibly; quarried granite cannot, because the pattern does not continue across the cut.
Common questions
- How much do countertops cost installed?
- About $84 a square foot for granite and $94 for quartz on a typical L-shaped kitchen, all in — slab, fabrication, a plain edge, an undermount sink and a cooktop cutout. Laminate is nearer $34. On a 38 ft² kitchen that is roughly $3,200 in granite, $3,600 in quartz and $1,300 in laminate.
- Why is a countertop quoted per square foot if it is cut from slabs?
- Because the fabricator carries the mismatch. They buy whole slabs and sell finished square feet, and they can do that because offcuts go to other jobs — your leftover becomes somebody's vanity top. It is a real price, not a trick. What it means is that you pay the shop's AVERAGE waste, typically around 35 per cent, rather than your own.
- How many slabs do I need for my kitchen?
- Not area divided by area. A 110 × 65 in slab gives 2 strips of standard depth along its length — about 17 to 18 usable linear feet — and your pieces have to nest into that. An 18 linear foot kitchen sits right on the edge of one slab, which is why some fabricators quote it as one and some as two.
- Why does my countertop need a seam?
- Because a run is longer than a slab. Granite slabs are commonly about 110 in — nine feet — and a ten foot run of worktop cannot come out of one in a single piece, whatever the square footage says. That seam is forced, not chosen. What is your decision is where it goes.
- Does quartz have fewer seams than granite?
- Often, and for a reason nobody explains: engineered quartz is cast in sheets rather than quarried, so it comes in larger formats — around 132 in against 110. Those extra twenty-odd inches are frequently the difference between a run in one piece and a run with a join. It also seams better when it does need one, because the pattern is consistent.
- Where should a countertop seam go?
- Not through the middle of a sink cutout, which is where the stone is weakest. Not over a dishwasher, where heat and vibration work on it. Not where you stand to chop. A seam beside a sink, at a corner, or in a short return is much less noticeable — and asking for it is entirely normal, because otherwise the fabricator decides on yield alone.
- Granite or quartz?
- Quartz is non-porous, never needs sealing, comes in bigger sheets so seams are fewer and better, and is consistent — you get what the sample shows. Granite is quarried, so every slab is unique and the one you pick is the one you get, and it takes more heat. Installed they are within about ten per cent of each other. Granite needs about $440 a decade of sealing on a mid-size kitchen; quartz needs none.
- Is marble a bad idea for a kitchen?
- It depends entirely on what you want from it. Marble etches — a chemical burn from lemon juice or vinegar, within seconds, and no sealer stops it because it is not a stain. So it will record its own use, visibly, from the first year. People who love marble kitchens accept that; people who expected granite that costs more are unhappy within a month. The material is not at fault either way.
- How much does the edge profile add?
- It is priced by the linear foot, separately, and it is bigger than people expect. A half bullnose is about $14 a foot and a mitred built-up edge $52 — on 18 linear feet that is $252 against $936. An eased edge is included in every quote, so when two quotes differ, the edge is one of the first places to look.
- Why does an undermount sink cost more than a drop-in?
- Because the cut edge is visible and has to be polished by hand. About $240 against $110. With a drop-in, the sink rim covers the cut and nobody finishes it — which is also why a drop-in traps everything you wipe towards it.
- How far can a countertop overhang without support?
- About 10 in on 3 cm stone, 6 in on 2 cm, and 12 in on quartz. Beyond that it needs corbels or a steel plate in the cabinet. It is the detail that decides whether a breakfast bar works, and it is worth settling before the cabinets go in rather than after the stools arrive.
- Can I template the countertop myself to save money?
- No, and it is the one place we would push back. A fabricator templates on site after the cabinets are set, usually with a laser, because a kitchen is never as square as its drawing. A template error is a slab, not a callback — and a slab is most of the bill.
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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