Most sites tell you every stone is a fine choice. They are not. The stone that is right for a baker is wrong for a family with a toddler and a cast iron pan.
Working on the Eastside? There is a separate page for kitchen countertops in Bellevue, and the full list of cities we cover is on the service area page.
Countertop materials side by side
| Stone | Slab tiers | Stains | Heat | Upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quartz | $ – $$$ | Shrugs off wine, oil, coffee | Weakest of the five. A hot pan can scorch it | Soap and water. Never needs sealing |
| Granite | $ – $$ | Good once sealed | Takes a pan straight off the burner | Seal about once a year |
| Marble | $$$ – $$$$ | Stains and etches. Lemon leaves a mark | Takes heat well | Seal often and accept the patina |
| Quartzite | $$$ – $$$$ | Good once sealed | Takes a pan straight off the burner | Seal about once a year |
| Porcelain | $$ – $$$ | Shrugs off everything, including UV | Best of the five | Nothing |
The tier is the slab, and the slab is half of what you pay. The scale runs from $ to $$$$ and is explained once, on the pricing page. Inside a single material the spread is wide: a stock white quartz and a designer book-matched one are two tiers apart and both are quartz.
Who each stone is wrong for
This is the section other shops leave out.
Quartz is wrong for you if you cook on cast iron and put pans down without thinking, or if the counter runs along a south-facing window wall, or if you want a slab nobody else has. Quartz is made, not quarried, and the resin in it is the weak point on both heat and sun. Read the quartz page
Granite is wrong for you if you want a calm, even surface. Granite has movement, grain and the odd pit, and the light-colored ones drink oil unless they are sealed. It is also wrong for anyone who will never think about sealing again. Read the granite page
Marble is wrong for you if a ring under a wine glass will bother you in a year. It stains, and acid etches it dull. Nothing fixes that except accepting it or refinishing the top. Read the marble page
Quartzite is wrong for you if the budget is tight. It is the hardest of the five, it is slow to cut, and both the slab and the labor cost more. It is also the stone most often mislabeled at the yard. Read the quartzite page
Porcelain is wrong for you if you want a thick, heavy edge that looks like a block of stone. Porcelain slabs are thin, and the color on many of them is a printed layer, so an exposed edge has to be mitered. Read about porcelain and the other surfaces
If the piece is small, ask about a remnant
A vanity, a laundry room, a bar top or a small island rarely needs a full slab. We keep offcuts from finished jobs on a rack in the shop and sell them by the piece, often at a fraction of the slab price. See what remnant pieces we have
We will tell you which one is wrong for your kitchen
We are a fabrication shop, not a slab yard, so we have no rack to clear and no reason to push one countertop material over another. If you tell us you cook every night on gas and you want marble behind the range, we will say so in writing before you order it, and we will still fabricate it if you want it anyway. Your bid comes to you itemized by email, so you can take it to two other shops and compare it line by line.
Brands and collections we cut
Quartz from Cambria, Caesarstone, Silestone, MSI, Pental, Vadara, HanStone and Daltile. Granite and quartzite from the Seattle and Kent slab yards, including the ones people ask for by name: Taj Mahal, Sea Pearl, Perla Venata, Cristallo, Mont Blanc, Fantasy Brown, Alpine White. Porcelain from Dekton and the large-format lines.
If the slab you want is standing at a yard we do not usually buy from, we will still go and get it.
Thickness, edges and the parts of the bid people forget
All the countertop materials we cut come as 2cm and 3cm slabs. In a kitchen we default to 3cm, which stands on the cabinets without a plywood deck under it. 2cm belongs on vanities, or on a kitchen with a mitered edge built up to look thicker.
Edge profiles we cut: eased, quarter round, half bullnose, full bullnose, bevel, ogee, mitered and waterfall. An eased or quarter round edge is included in every quote. The rest add to it, and they are named and explained on the pricing page rather than turning up on an invoice later.
The other line items that surprise people: the sink cutout, the cooktop cutout, faucet holes, a seating overhang that needs support, and hauling away the old counters. All of it is listed here, with what is included and what adds to the price
Questions people ask when they are still choosing
What kind of countertops are popular right now?
White and light gray quartz with soft veining, then quartzite in Taj Mahal and Sea Pearl. Busy speckled granite has faded. Quiet, darker granite is coming back.
What's the best quality countertop?
Of the five countertop materials here, quartzite is the hardest and porcelain is the most stain proof and heat proof. Quartz is the least work. Marble is the best looking and the worst behaved. There is no single winner, which is why this page exists.
What is the difference between quartz and quartzite?
Quartz is manufactured: ground stone held together with resin and pigment, so the color is consistent and it never needs sealing. Quartzite is a natural rock cut from a quarry, harder than granite, and it needs sealing. They share a name and almost nothing else.
Which is more expensive, granite, quartz or marble?
In our shop, granite starts lowest, quartz sits in the middle, and marble and quartzite run highest. But a plain quartz costs less than a rare granite, so the material name alone will not tell you. Read the tiers in the table above instead.
What is the downside to quartz?
Heat and sunlight. The resin that holds it together can scorch under a hot pan and can yellow in years of direct sun. It is also harder to hide a seam in a plain quartz than in a busy granite.
Who has the best price on countertops?
Compare installed prices, not slab prices. A shop quoting a low number per foot and then adding the cutout, the edge and the tear out often lands higher than a shop that puts it all in one number. Ask every shop for one written, itemized quote, and compare the bottom line.
Your next step
You have narrowed the stone. Now the number.
See how a countertop price is built, and what is included
Book a free measure. Tell us the room and the stone you are leaning towards. We come out, measure, and email you an itemized bid the same week.
Call (206) 643-9354 or tel:+12066439354 · 18856 72nd Ave S, Kent, WA 98032 · Monday–Saturday, 8:00 – 5:00