Are Granite worktops More Expensive Than Quartz Worktops?

In our showroom here in London NW10, the most popular question we are asked within minutes of each customer arriving to look at our stock and samples is ‘Are granite worktops more expensive than quartz worktops?’ This article explains the answer, so read on.

THE ERA OF GRANITE WORKTOPS

Since we started our business in Paddington, London in 1997 we have seen many changes in the fashion and design of kitchen worktop counters. Our very first invoice was for a famous TV chef who required honed matte marble worktops and upstands in his family home and at this time this finish was very popular. Polished granite though was our very best seller due to its never-ending durability and high gloss shine. We really thought that nothing would ever compare to granite when used on kitchen worktops as it seemed indestructible and very good value for money.

A NEW TYPE OF KITCHEN SURFACE

At this point, little did we know that perhaps seven years earlier the very first quartz slabs were being made in Spain by a company called Silestone and they were about to hit the UK kitchen market. These new quartz slabs became increasingly popular over the years and now we sell far more quartz worktops than we do in either of the main natural stone categories of granite or marble.

FROM THE GROUND TO YOUR HOME

Granite being a ‘natural stone’ perhaps alludes to the price difference between a granite and quartz. Granite is a worktop material that is quarried from a mountainside or the ground using very basic tooling that could be found centuries ago. The huge blocks of granite that are extracted are merely cut into slabs of 2cm or 3cm thick and then polished using a series of abrasive discs. The granite slabs are then shipped from their country of origin to fabricators like ourselves who manufacture and install your new kitchen worktops.

NATURAL BEAUTY VS FLEXIBLE COLOUR CHOICES

Granite is also a universal but unique product, with each slab within a specific type never having the same characteristics or look. This element of granite some customers consider to be natural beauty, whereas other customers prefer the even tones and less bold look of quartz. This uniform look that quartz worktops have is brought about as the slabs are man-made and this is why we call quartz an ‘engineered stone’.

QUALITY INITIALLY CAME AT A COST

Being an engineered man-made stone means that quartz slabs need a huge factory, lots of man-power and a production line to take the elements required to turn them in to a useable quartz slab (and ultimately your new worktops). It is here at the manufacturer’s production line that the quartz material starts to get more expensive than its granite counter-parts. To add to this, the fact that quartz companies such as Silestone and Caesarstone have to have marketing staff on the road promoting their product, they have to have a good distribution network here in the UK and have to develop new colours each year, you can see how the costs begin to add up on the side of quartz worktops.

HIGHER DEMAND OFFERS COMPETITIVE PRICES

However, as quartz worktops have been available for nearly thirty years now, the older colours and styles available in quartz slabs move down each companies’ price list every year meaning that a colour that was popular a few years back might be available at a very good price here at Touchstone Worktops. Popular cheap colours in quartz would be the mirror-chip colours such as Silestone’s Stellar Series where you can find tones of white, grey, beige and black. Our biggest cheaper seller in the Caesarstone range would be Caesarstone Nougat 6600.

QUARTZ VS GRANITE

So, as we explain to customers here at the Touchstone showroom in London NW10, you can get a cheap quartz that can be the same price as a medium-priced granite, but you can also get a highly priced granite that would be the same as a medium-priced quartz. The materials we use overlap in price-range so the true test of whether granite worktops are more expensive than quartz worktops is to pick what you like and ask for an example quotation of both materials.

CONTACT US

Drop in to see us here at Touchstone or email us in your kitchen worktop plan and we will be very happy to price a competitive quotation of a mixture of materials for you. Touchstone Worktops aim to give you the best value for money with great service and minimal fuss. Touchstone are both domestic and commercial fabricators of market leading quartz brands such as Silestone and Caesarstone. Touchstone also work with natural granite slabs from around the world including the stain-resistant ‘Sensa’ granite range by Cosentino.