Impact on cost:
The Worktop material you select, and the amount of Worktop area you need impacts your kitchen cost by a fair amount.
Natural stone kitchen Worktops are the most popular option today. Most homeowners select granite or marble.
Natural stone comes in different grades and thicknesses, and so cost varies based on what you choose.
The cost of natural stone Worktops varies based on the stone’s grain, colour, thickness, the area covered, the sizes needed to be in one piece, how well the grain matches at the seams, and their place of origin.
Contrary to its name, “Quartz” Worktops, are also very popular but are not “natural” stone counter material. They contain natural quartz, but it is ground up and bonded with synthetic binding agents.
Quartz Worktops vary in price based on the quality and durability of the Worktop material and its design. Lower cost quartz Worktops tend to have a lower quartz-to-binding-agent ratio.
They tend to look less like stone and are usually less durable. As a general rule of thumb, quartz Worktops are about double the cost of granite tops.
Low-end stone is less expensive than low-end quartz. But high-end quartz is similar in price to most high-end granite or marble.
Imported natural stone (which is not necessarily any better than domestic stone), and when you are very selective about the grain and colour of the stone and matching grain at joints, the natural stone becomes the most expensive of your choices.
From the lower end, basic natural stone to the high-end natural stone and high-end quartz, there is about 40% plus extra cost. If you select unusually expensive natural stone, such as imported, it can be even more costly.