Stone/Synthetic stone kitchen counter tops

[Mr. Bill]

Hi.

Any and all may share their wisdom here. I am remodeling my kitchen and it is now time for the counters. My wife and I have gone 'round and 'round about what to use.

So, we found some Dupont Zodiaq (indus red) that we loved. Our kitchen is U shaped, with a dining bar and one small counter top opposite. We have a total of about 61 square feet f surface, and 33 feet of edge, plus a backsplach of maybe 25 square feet (up to the bottom of cabinets).

We picked a plain, 45 degree bevel on a doubled edge (instead of bullnose). Ouch! The bid was just under $8,000. OK $100 per square foot.

What am I missing? I have done countless hours of reseach on the internet to try to be an informed consumer, and I was thinking in the $50 - $60 sq ft range. What did I ask for that blew the lid?

Since there are now a number of granite fabricators in my city (northern california), I'm thinking of dropping by with my drawings.

I realize that some of the factors are shape, edge profile, amount of edging and of course area. Chime in because I am very flexible with respect to materials and design. I just can't seem to find someone who will confide in me the factors that effec price.

Thanks!

PS, while I can eaily see the prices for stone materials on the web, the synthetics are well hidden. Any clues as to material prices?

[bregent]

I'm no expert, but we just had a Silestone countertop installed last week, similar size as yours, 45 degree single bevel, also in Northern California. The Silestone we selected was from their mid priced group. We have 90 sq feet of surface and 31 linear feet of edge. Total cost for us was approx $5600.

As far as I can tell, you are correct - the only factors are area (including backsplash) and edge, plus any additional travel time. The double edge bevel may be costing you a chunk. Ask to see the cost sheet from the bidder. I had our fabricator fax the sheet to me which allowed me to see how everything priced out, and at the same time, found a major dimentional error.

[bregent]

Another thing I forgot to consider is your full height splash - there are probably some additional costs for cutting out for switches and outlets.

[Rick]

California. The

I too, just had Silestone (Blue Sativa - upper level price group) 48 SF w/

20 LF of ogee bullnose/undermount sink installed last Monday - Total cost of $3600 (or approx $80/sf). Can be viewed here \~pray\House.htm I'm in SoCal...

A co-worker had granite installed at about the same per sf cost earlier this year..

One thing I quickly realized, while the per SF cost of the material was down in the $50/sf range, this didn't include the edge treatment. And at $17.00 per LF, that quickly adds up...

Rick

[SQLit]

I replaced my counter tops with syn in my last home. Under slung sink and bullnose. Standard splash on the wall and then I tiled down to it. I hated the sink as it was impossible to keep looking new. I cleaned my Sharper image Ionic breeze in it once and the dirt/carbon stained the sink and the counter top. After trial and error I found that Simple Green out of the bottle would remove the stain. I could never keep the counter top clean. It showed every mark and pot set on it. just damp.

I will never own syn again. Stone maybe, syn absolutely not.

100 a foot is comparable here in Phoenix installed. Changing manufactures to a lesser known name might save you 10 -15 a foot.

With out the training the manufactures usually will not sell retail. They do not want the calls that "it screwed up".

If this is what you want then pay for it.

[Mr. Bill]

Thanks for the quick replies. I would really like to find out what the charges for various parts of the job are. There is a retail stone dealer in Sacramento that sells 8' x 26.5" slabs of granite that are bullnosed on 3 sides for ~$350 in the base group up to ~$650 for the more varied and colorful slabs.

I realize that additional cutting, polisshing etc can add more to the cost (plus installation), but with real stone at $17-$31 per square foot for stone, I didn't expect synthetic to be so much mor (or for the edges/holes to cost so much more).

I guess I'll drop by a couple of stone places and see about real stone...

[bregent]

Good idea. I would also check into other bids for Zodiak/Silestone. Even with the extra cutting and edge treatment, your bid sounds high.

One thing to consider with real stone is how the seams will look in your particular configuration. I'm guessing that by 'U' shape, you have continous countertop around the kitchen and you are going to have several seams. IMO it can be tricky to get things to look right. With synth stone, the seams can be nearly invisible.

[bregent]

Just to be clear, are you talking about solid surface, or a manufactured stone product (zodiak) like the OP is refering to?