Quartz Countertops Cost Calculator
Quartz Countertops costs $3,400 to $5,125 for a typical 40 sq ft job in 2026, against a national benchmark of $4,125. Labor runs 7 crew hours at $34.37 an hour. Enter a ZIP code to apply that area's measured wages for this work and its regional price level.
What makes up the price
Cost by size
National averages, before any local adjustment. Computed from the same model as the calculator above, so the two always agree.
| How much counter | Sq ft of counter | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 sq ft | 22 | $2,450 | $2,000 to $3,025 |
| 32 sq ft | 32 | $3,375 | $2,775 to $4,200 |
| 40 sq ft | 40 | $4,125 | $3,400 to $5,125 |
| 54 sq ft | 54 | $5,450 | $4,475 to $6,750 |
| 68 sq ft | 68 | $6,775 | $5,550 to $8,400 |
What it costs, and what moves it
| 40 sq ft installed | Per sq ft | |
|---|---|---|
| Low end of quotes | $3,400 | $85 |
| Typical | $4,125 | $103 |
| High end | $5,125 | $128 |
Most of that spread is the grade of slab. Quartz wholesales at $15 to $22 a square foot for builder grade, $22 to $32 mid-range and $30 to $40 for premium domestic lines, and the figures here assume mid-range. Shop fabrication — cutting to the template, profiling and polishing the edge, cutting the sink hole — adds $25 to $50 a square foot on top, and the two are quoted together because a fabricated top is the only thing you can buy.
The rest of the price:
| 40 sq ft | ||
|---|---|---|
| Baseline — eased edge, laminate coming out | $4,125 | |
| Nothing to remove, new cabinets | $3,975 | −4% |
| Removing an existing stone or tile top | $4,425 | +7% |
| Ogee, bevel or dupont edge | $4,375 | +6% |
| Mitered apron edge | $4,875 | +18% |
Heat is the one real weakness
Quartz is about 90 to 94% ground quartz crystal held together with 6 to 10% polyester resin. The resin is what makes it non-porous, consistent and maintenance-free. It is also the weak point, and this is the thing to know before you buy rather than after:
- The resin begins to soften around 300°F.
- Between 350 and 400°F it discolors or burns.
- A pan brushed across the surface usually survives. A hot pan parked on it for a few minutes leaves a permanent pale or brown scorch ring.
That scorch ring is the single most common quartz damage claim fabricators see, and every major manufacturer excludes heat damage from the warranty. The standard wording is that the surface should not be exposed to sudden or sustained high temperatures, which covers a cast iron skillet straight off a burner, a slow cooker left on all day, and a roasting pan out of a 425°F oven.
It is also not really repairable. A chip can be filled; a scorched patch of resin cannot be put back.
So: trivets, and mean it. If that sounds like a reason to choose granite, it is a legitimate one — granite will take a pan straight off the stove and do nothing at all.
Quartz does not belong outdoors
Not a preference, a warranty exclusion, and worth stating plainly because outdoor kitchens are where it goes wrong most expensively.
UV degrades the resin binder. In direct sun, quartz yellows, fades and can warp, typically within one to two years. Every major brand — Cambria, Silestone, Caesarstone, MSI — explicitly excludes outdoor installation from its warranty. One or two offer a specifically reformulated outdoor line, and those are the only quartz you should let anybody put on a patio.
For an outdoor counter, granite is the straightforward answer. It came out of the ground and sunlight does not trouble it.
Quartz and quartzite are not the same thing
The names differ by two letters and the materials behave in opposite ways. Showroom staff are not always careful about this and the price difference is large.
| Quartz | Quartzite | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Engineered: crystal plus resin | Natural stone, quarried |
| Heat | Resin scorches around 300°F | Takes a hot pan |
| Sealing | Never | Usually wanted |
| Consistency | Identical slab to slab | Every slab different |
| Outdoors | No | Yes |
| Price | $85–$128 / sq ft installed | Generally higher |
If somebody quotes you "quartzite" at a quartz price, something is wrong — most likely it is a marble-look quartz, or a softer stone being sold under the wrong name. Ask whether it needs sealing: a material that needs sealing is natural stone, and a material that never does is engineered.
What you actually get for choosing quartz
Three things, and they are real:
- No sealing, ever. The resin leaves no pores for water or oil to get into, so there is no annual ritual, no water test and no absorbent patch around the sink. Clean it with soap.
- You get what you chose. Quartz is manufactured to a specification, so the sample in the showroom is the slab that arrives. There is no yard visit, no reserved slab numbers, and no surprise on install day — which is the thing people find most stressful about buying granite.
- Colors stone does not do. Pure white, true black, concrete looks, and marble-look veining without marble's behavior.
That last one has a caveat. On a heavily veined marble-look quartz, ask for photographs of the actual slabs and ask explicitly whether the veining will be matched across the seam. Long directional veins are the one case where quartz needs the same care in layout that granite always needs, and a mismatched vein through a seam is the sort of thing you cannot stop seeing.
Brands and warranties
Quartz is one of the few building materials where the brand genuinely tells you something, because the resin formulation and the quality control differ.
- Caesarstone carries a lifetime limited residential warranty, and is one of the few with a line rated for outdoor use.
- Silestone carries 25 years, transferable to the next owner.
- Most other major brands sit between 10 years and lifetime.
Two things worth doing: get the brand and the series written on the quote rather than "quartz", and check whether the warranty has to be registered after installation — several require it, and an unregistered warranty is a warranty you do not have. Ask your fabricator to confirm they are a certified installer for the brand, because some warranties depend on that too.
What you are paying for
A 40 square foot kitchen in mid-range quartz, at $4,125:
| Quartz, fabricated, 40 sq ft | $2,400 |
| Sink cutout and polish | $150 |
| Seam kit, supports and sealant | $100 |
| Labor, about 7 hours | around $340 |
| Template visit and delivery | $75 |
| Overhead and margin | the balance |
Installation labor is 8% of the job. Nearly all of what you are paying for happened in a shop before anybody arrived at the house — which is why the saving worth chasing is the slab grade, not the install.
Questions worth asking
- Which brand and which series? Get both on the quote.
- What grade — builder, mid-range or premium?
- What does the warranty cover, how long, and does it need registering?
- Are you a certified installer for that brand?
- On a veined design: will the pattern be matched across the seams, and can I see slab photographs?
- Where will the seams fall?
- 2cm or 3cm?
- Is removal and disposal of the old top included?
- Who disconnects and reconnects the plumbing?
- How long between template and install?
Common questions
How much do quartz countertops cost?
About $4,125 for a 40 square foot kitchen in mid-range quartz, which is $103 a square foot installed. Builder-grade slabs bring that down toward $3,400 and premium domestic lines push it to $5,125. The slab itself wholesales at $15 to $40 a square foot depending on grade, and shop fabrication adds $25 to $50 on top — the two are always quoted together.
Can you put a hot pan on a quartz countertop?
No, and this is the one thing to know before buying. Quartz is held together with 6 to 10% polyester resin, which softens around 300°F and discolors or burns between 350 and 400°F. A pan brushed across the surface usually survives; a hot pan parked on it for a few minutes leaves a permanent scorch ring. It is the most common quartz damage claim there is, every major manufacturer excludes heat damage from the warranty, and the scorched resin cannot be repaired. Use trivets.
Can quartz countertop heat damage be repaired?
Not really. A chip can be filled with color-matched epoxy and polished back, and light surface marks sometimes respond to careful polishing, but a scorch is the resin binder itself discoloring through its depth and there is nothing to put back. It is also excluded from every major warranty. That asymmetry — chips repairable, heat not — is the practical argument for granite in a kitchen where pans come off the stove onto the counter.
Can quartz countertops be used outdoors?
No, unless it is one of the few lines specifically formulated and warranted for outdoor use. UV degrades the polyester resin binder, so quartz in direct sun yellows, fades and can warp within one to two years, and every major brand — Cambria, Silestone, Caesarstone, MSI — explicitly excludes outdoor installation from its warranty. For an outdoor kitchen, granite is the straightforward answer: it came out of the ground and sunlight does not trouble it.
Do quartz countertops need to be sealed?
Never. The resin that binds the quartz crystal leaves no pores for water or oil to get into, so there is no annual sealing, no water test and no absorbent patch around the sink. Soap and water is the whole maintenance routine. Avoid bleach and abrasive creams, which can dull the surface over years, and that is genuinely all there is to it.
What is the difference between quartz and quartzite?
Two letters and opposite behavior. Quartz is engineered — ground quartz crystal plus polyester resin — so it is consistent, non-porous, never sealed, and vulnerable to heat and UV. Quartzite is natural stone, quarried, so every slab differs, it generally wants sealing, it takes a hot pan, and it is fine outdoors. Quartzite usually costs more. If somebody offers quartzite at a quartz price, ask whether it needs sealing: a material that needs sealing is natural stone and one that never does is engineered.
Is quartz or granite better?
Granite is cheaper at comparable grades — $3,475 against $4,125 for the same 40 square foot kitchen — and takes a hot pan straight off the stove. Quartz never needs sealing, is identical slab to slab so the showroom sample is what arrives, and comes in colors stone does not do. The deciding question is usually heat: if pans come off the burner onto the counter, granite forgives that and quartz does not.
Do I need to see the quartz slab before it is cut?
Usually not, which is one of quartz's real advantages — it is manufactured to a specification, so the showroom sample is the slab that arrives and there are no reserved slab numbers to chase. The exception is a heavily veined marble-look design: ask for photographs of the actual slabs and ask explicitly whether the veining will be matched across the seam. A mismatched vein through a seam is the one quartz failure you cannot stop noticing.
Which quartz brand should I choose?
Quartz is one of the few building materials where the brand tells you something real, because resin formulation and quality control differ. Caesarstone carries a lifetime limited residential warranty and offers one of the few outdoor-rated lines; Silestone carries 25 years, transferable to the next owner; most others sit between 10 years and lifetime. Get the brand and series written on the quote rather than "quartz", and ask whether the warranty needs registering after install — several do, and an unregistered warranty is one you do not have.
Does quartz stain?
Practically speaking, no. Being non-porous, it does not absorb wine, oil, coffee or lemon juice the way an unsealed natural stone can. What it can suffer is surface damage that looks like a stain: a scorch ring from heat, a dulled patch from bleach or an abrasive cleaner, or a film from a cleaning product left to dry. All of those are the surface rather than the stone, and only the scorch is permanent.
Is quartz cheaper in a bigger kitchen?
Slightly — $109 a square foot at 25 square feet, $103 at 40 and $100 at 60 — because the template visit, the delivery and the sink cutout happen once however much counter there is. The effect is small compared with other trades on this site, because the material dominates the total. Dropping a grade of slab saves far more than scaling up the kitchen ever could.
How long does a quartz countertop last?
Indefinitely in normal use, since there is nothing in it to wear out and nothing to reseal. The realistic failure modes are a chip at an edge or sink cutout, which fills, and a heat scorch, which does not. People replace quartz because they changed the kitchen, not because the counter failed — which is a reason to pick a quieter color you will still like in fifteen years rather than the most striking slab in the showroom.
Where these numbers come from
Nothing here is copied from a contractor directory. Labor is priced from what the trades are actually paid, materials from published producer prices, and both are adjusted to your area using federal cost-of-living data.
- Finish carpentry contractors, United States: $34.37/hour, August 2026 (BLS CES CES2023835003)
- Quartz countertop, fabricated: $60.00 per sq ft (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)
- Seam kit, supports and sealant: $2.50 per sq ft (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)
- Sink cutout and polish: $150.00 per cutout (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)