If you already know that and you want it, we will fabricate it properly. If nobody has told you yet, read the next two sections before you order.
What marble countertops cost here
Marble slabs run from $$$ to $$$$ on the tier scale we use for every stone. A workaday Carrara sits at $$$; a book-matched Calacatta cut from one block sits at $$$$, and there is no cheaper version of that slab anywhere. The scale is explained once, on the pricing page.
Included in every quote: template, sink cutout, an eased or quarter round edge, delivery, install and hauling away your old counters. Adding to it: a cooktop cutout, a mitered or ogee edge, and support for any overhang. Each is named on the pricing page and appears on your written quote before you sign, never after.
Marble slabs are softer than granite, so they break more easily on the saw and in the truck. If a slab cracks in our shop, we buy the replacement. That is our problem, not a change order on your bid.
See how the price is built, and what can add to it
What actually happens to marble countertops
Two different things, and people mix them up.
Staining is something soaking in. Olive oil, red wine, turmeric, a leaking bottle of vinegar. A good sealer buys you time to wipe it up. It does not make the stone waterproof.
Etching is acid eating the polish. Lemon juice, tomato, wine, a splash of orange juice, some tile cleaners. It leaves a dull ring that is not dirt and does not wipe off. Sealer does not prevent it, because it is chemistry, not absorption.
A marble kitchen used every day will collect both. In two years it will not look like the showroom slab. That is the deal.
Who should still choose marble
A homeowner in a thread full of marble regret put the whole argument in one line: it is a table, and it is supposed to be eaten on.
Buy marble if that sounds right to you rather than alarming. Specifically:
- You bake. Marble stays cold. Rolling pastry on it is a genuinely different experience, and there is no substitute that behaves the same way.
- You want a bathroom vanity. No lemon juice, no hot pans, almost no traffic. Marble in a bathroom stays looking new for years.
- You like patina. The people happiest with marble are the ones who read the marks as history.
- You want a fireplace surround, a coffee bar or a piece of furniture. All the beauty, none of the abuse.
Who should not
- You cook with acid every day, on gas, and put things down without thinking.
- A ring under a wine glass will bother you in a year.
- You have a house going on the market soon, where a buyer will read the etching as damage.
If any of those describe you, there are two honest ways to get the look without the behavior: a marble-look quartz such as MSI Calacatta Laza or Cambria Brittanicca, or Taj Mahal quartzite, which is a natural stone and much harder than marble. We cut both, and we will say plainly which one your kitchen wants.
Carrara, Calacatta, Statuario, Arabescato
Four names, one rock, very different prices.
- Carrara — gray-white with soft, feathery gray veining. The most common and the least expensive.
- Calacatta — whiter background, bolder and more separated veins, often with warm gold tones. Rarer, and priced like it.
- Statuario — bright white with dramatic gray veining. The one people picture.
- Arabescato — heavier, busier veining across a white ground.
Honed, polished or leathered
Polished is shiny. It shows etching most, because etching is the loss of that shine.
Honed is matte, with no shine at all. Etch marks barely register on it, which is why most of the marble countertops we build are honed. Stains show slightly more.
Leathered is a textured, low-sheen finish. It hides both better than either, and it feels good under your hand.
For a kitchen we recommend honed. For a bathroom, take whichever you like the look of.
Where the seam goes
Marble veining is directional, so a seam in the wrong place cuts a vein in half and your eye goes straight to it. After the template you get a seam layout drawing showing where each piece breaks and how the vein carries across the join. Nothing is cut until you sign off. On install day the seam is filled with color-matched filler and it is flat to the touch.
See how the template, the seam drawing and install day run
Questions people ask about marble
Which is more expensive, granite, quartz or marble?
Marble usually costs more than granite and more than most quartz, and less than the rare quartzites. The ranges overlap, so the material name alone will not tell you. Our table is on the pricing page.
What is better granite marble or quartz?
For a hard-working kitchen, granite or quartz. For beauty, marble, at the cost of accepting marks. For a bathroom, all three are fine and marble is the nicest.
What's the best quality countertop?
If quality means hardest and least reactive, marble is at the bottom of the list. If it means the material you will most enjoy looking at every morning, plenty of people put it at the top. Both are honest answers to different questions.
Who has the best price on countertops?
Compare installed, itemized bids from three shops rather than per-foot headline numbers. Ours already includes the cutout, the edge, the install and the tear out.
How long does countertop installation take?
Tear-out and install usually happen on the same day for a normal kitchen. The wait sits between the laser template and install day, and it moves with slab availability and the shop schedule. You get your install date at the template visit, before anything is cut.
Your next step
See what each material costs · See how the job runs, day by day · See finished kitchens and baths in marble
Book a free measure. We will look at how you actually use the room and tell you straight whether marble belongs there.
Call (206) 643-9354 or tel:+12066439354 · 18856 72nd Ave S, Kent, WA 98032 · Monday–Saturday, 8:00 – 5:00